Book Review: “The Bullet Swallower” by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
Magic in Mexico?
There’s been a recent spate of fiction set along the Texas-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley with magic realism elements. First, there was the contemporary fiction of Fernando A. Flores’ short-story collection Valleyesque. Then, there was the historical Western Valley of Shadows by Rudy Ruiz which had magic elements to it. Now comes another Western that has a slightly fantastic flavour to it: The Bullet Swallower. The novel is based on historical fact: it tells a fictitious tale of the author’s real-life great-grandfather, who was a Mexican bandit at the end of the 19th century and is ultimately a story of revenge and family traits passed down the bloodline. It’s also a book about fathers and sons and the uneasy relationship between Mexico and the United States. There’s a lot that’s been thrown into this stew of a novel. Does it all work? Well, that might be in the eye of the beholder. While the publicity materials boast that The Bullet Swallower is what you’d get if you crossed Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian is cited as an influence in the author’s notes for this) with Gabriel García Márquez, the truth is that this is more a Western than it is a work of fantasy. The magic realist element doesn’t kick in until the very end of the book! Thus, one may be disappointed if you’re coming to this for any sort of weirdness because what you get here is a generally straightforward genre tale.
The story is told in two alternating timelines. The first is set in the year 1895 on the Mexican-U.S. border and involves a man named Antonio Sonoro who, though he is a family man with a wife and children, is living in squalor due to a drought in his homeland of northern Mexico. Thus, he sets out with his brother, Hugo, to rob a train over the border that is believed to be carrying a priceless amount of gold jewelry that Antonio intends to make himself rich with. However, Hugo is shot and killed by Texas Rangers and Antonio takes a bullet to the face (hence the name “the Bullet Swallower”), leading the latter to embark on a case of vengeance for his fallen sibling once he recuperates. The other timeline is set in Mexico City in the year 1964 and involves Antonio’s grandson Jaime, who is a movie star known by his nickname “the Rooster.” He is given a book about the family’s sordid history and sets out to make a movie about his grandfather. However, Jaime is dogged by a stranger who may ask him to exact a price for his lineage. Together, these two narratives make up the bulk of The Bullet Swallower, save for some extracts from the book Jaime is given, which seem to be superfluous at best to the point of the novel.
When it comes to books that I’m less than enamoured with, I’m trying these days to say something positive about them — lest I get sued for libel or come across as being little more than a grump. I will say that The Bullet Swallower was probably not a book for me — even though I was interested in the magic realist element and have read my share of Cormac McCarthy in the past. The good news is that if you’ve read every book that Louis L’Amour ever wrote, you might find this book to be enjoyable as a genre exercise. Gonzalez James has a singular masculine voice, which is neat to see coming from a woman, and some will love the rough-and-tumble adventurousness of the 1895 storyline. However, I must be critical and say that while Gonzalez James strives for authenticity by using Spanish words to describe certain things, it comes at the cost of having Anglophone readers baffled by what’s on the printed page sometimes. I also found that the book painted its characters into corners one too many times as well: Antonio finds himself frequently outnumbered and outgunned but somehow finds a way to escape from whatever predicament he gets himself into. Thus, the read sometimes feels quite incredulous, and that’s before the fantasy element kicks in in earnest.
Still, despite its deficiencies, The Bullet Swallower can be entertaining. My highest compliment might be that I read the book in two sittings, which is not only to say that it is a fast read but one that is propulsive and puts you on the edge of your seat as well. I, however, just waited for the magic to show up and was crestfallen that it only did when most of the book’s action was behind the reader. Even though the book isn’t perfect, there is a lot to chew on here. I’m wondering about the significance of certain animals being brought up in the book, such as scorpions and alligators, and the dynamics of the relationship Antonio has with other men that could be symbolic of a father-son relationship. (This dynamic is rendered a bit more literally in the Jaime storyline.) Thus, I suppose essays could be written on the topic of this book, which might be one reason to read it. In the end, I’d say that if you can overlook the hype and see this book as more of a literary fiction take on the Western in some respects, you’ll get far more mileage out of it than by believing that bullets somehow possess magical powers to cut through swaths of men in one shot. All in all, The Bullet Swallower is an interesting read — and, yes, I’m banding that word around as a means of saying that I’m not quite sure of what I thought of it. But if you like Westerns, you’ll want to tag along for the ride and say, “Hi-yo Silver, away!” to this as you gallop merrily along. It’s certainly something a little different, at least, which is maybe all that needs to be said.
Elizabeth Gonzalez James’ The Bullet Swallower will be published by Simon & Schuster on January 23, 2024.
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