Kindle. Inevitable after Enrigue's excellent You Dreamed of Empires (2024). Once again ably translated by Natasha Wimmer. Lengthy, too much so.
Notionally Enrigue is telling us about Geronimo, one of the last of the militant Apaches. He does this on a multitrack which allows him to defer many interesting bits to the end. The first story is an account of a Mexican recovery party on the trail of a woman who was abducted. (Those of us unfamiliar with Apache lore may harbour suspicions that she is Geronimo's mother, him being deemed so exceptional by all those who encounter him.) Another recounts Geronimo's eventual surrender to the U.S. Army in what struck me as a post-civil-war mop-up operation; putting to use the now-permanent army in settling and taming the southwest, completing the conquest of the continent. Some of the military manoeuvring and shenanigans are amusing. Other parts sink into the swamp of excessive research and/or Cloud Atlas (2004). Cinematic for sure.
Less vital but probably more important to the author is an interspersed present-day travelogue through Apachería. I struggled with his essentialism: the Apache bloodlines doubtlessly persist but I can't see this as any kind of victory if the culture has been so thoroughly disrupted if not destroyed. The ranking of manliness amongst the peoples of the area (Mexican, European settler, native American) was a bit trying.
Dwight Garner wrote a thoughtful review. "Enrigue is filibustering, leaning too heavily on his research." "This is a long book (456 pages) that feels even longer." Indeed Enrigue's take on his own citizenship status(es) could make for a great read. Goodreads.
