American Century
3 total works
The Rebellion of the Hanged is the fifth of B. Traven's six legendary Jungle Novels which together form an epic of the birth of the Mexican Revolution. Set in the slave-labor mahogany plantations of tropical Mexico in 1910, at the time of the uprising against the rule of Porfirio Díaz and the beginnings of revolution, Rebellion is a powerful and somber tale of the tortures suffered by downtrodden Indians. But here it culminates in a revolt by the long-oppressed workers against the owners and overseers of the camps, and in a treacherous march through the jungles at the height of the rainy season—a human feat of epic proportions. In addition to his great storytelling ability, Traven's work has a special resonance today because of recent uprisings in the Chiapas highlands of southern Mexico, the very locale for many of Traven's writings. "Readers who ignore the genius of B. Traven do so at their peril."—New York Times Book Review. "Traven is a riveting storyteller."—Philadelphia Inquirer.
The locale is "huts by the river," a nameless Indian settlement deep in the Mexican bush, too small to appear on any map. Just as a party that has attracted many Indians from neighboring settlements is about to begin, death marches silently in. A small boy has disappeared. As the intimation of tragedy spreads among the people gathered in the jungle clearing, they unite, first to find the lost boy and then to console the grieving mother. The Bridge in the Jungle, regarded by many as B. Traven's finest novel, is a tale of how a simple, desperately poor people come together in the face of death. Traven never allows an iota of sentimentality to enter his story, but the reader finishes the book with renewed faith in the courage and dignity of human beings. "B. Traven is coming to be recognized as one of the narrative masters of the twentieth century."—New York Times Book Review. "Great storytellers often arise like Judaic just men to exemplify and rehearse the truth for their generation. The elusive B. Traven was such a man."—Book World.
With General from the Jungle, the sixth and last of B. Traven's legendary Jungle Novels, Ivan R Dee completes the republication of this multivolume fictional epic of the birth of the Mexican Revolution. In General, a masterpiece on guerrilla warfare, Traven tells the story of Juan Mendez, perhaps the youngest and greatest of the Indian rebel chieftains, who leads an ill-equipped and hungry band against the government forces. With brilliance and cunning, Mendez brutally attacks the federally protected fincas. The book is filled with marvelously drawn characters, yet the true hero is the army itself—illiterate, uneducated, and poor, but resourceful and dangerous. Beyond his great storytelling, Traven's work has a special resonance today because of recent uprisings in the Chiapas highlands of southern Mexico, the very locale of his writings.