Novel
The Ships
Los barcos
Roberto Quesada · 1988
Synopsis
Near La Ceiba, Guillermo, a young man who dreams of being a writer, works in the Standard Fruit pineapple plantations alongside pickers such as Don Chago and the poet Santiago. While the Sandinistas overthrow Somoza in neighbouring Nicaragua, nothing changes for them: gruelling work, poverty, repression, conflicts with the company, and war psychosis spreads through the region. Guillermo falls for Idalia, but the forces of history weigh on their love.
Context
The author's first novel, the book was published in 1988 in Tegucigalpa by Baktun Editorial. Guillermo tells his story to his grandfather, a device considered new in Honduran literature, and the narrative alternates interior monologues and letters; the poet Santiago is based on José Adán Castelar. Hardie St. Martin's English translation, The Ships, appeared in New York in 1992 from Four Walls Eight Windows; the book has not been translated into French.
Who it is for
To read the lives of workers on Honduran pineapple plantations at the time of the Nicaraguan revolution.
Prizes and reception
On its American release, David Unger hailed it as a little gem, while Kirkus Reviews found it conventional.