• Programs & Events
    • Full Calendar
    • Music at the Library
  • Our Services
    • Adult Library (Books, DVDs, CDs)
    • Teen & Young Adult Library
    • Children's Library >
      • Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
      • Children's Resources
    • Biblioteca Española
    • Digital Media Library
    • Library of Things
    • Online Resources & Research Databases
  • En Español
  • Library & Community
    • Meet, Study, Work
    • Community Resources
    • Job Seeker Information
  • Support
  • Online Catalog
    • Search Online Catalog
    • Account Login
    • Renew Materials Online
Basalt Regional Library
  • Programs & Events
    • Full Calendar
    • Music at the Library
  • Our Services
    • Adult Library (Books, DVDs, CDs)
    • Teen & Young Adult Library
    • Children's Library >
      • Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
      • Children's Resources
    • Biblioteca Española
    • Digital Media Library
    • Library of Things
    • Online Resources & Research Databases
  • En Español
  • Library & Community
    • Meet, Study, Work
    • Community Resources
    • Job Seeker Information
  • Support
  • Online Catalog
    • Search Online Catalog
    • Account Login
    • Renew Materials Online

"Tell Me How It Ends" by Valeria Luiselli

5/12/2017

0 Comments

 
​    The best books are able to transport you across borders. They put you in another’s shoes for a few moments and allow you to see the world in a new light. In Tell Me How It Ends, Valeria Luiselli has written a powerful and compassionate narrative about the Americas, about migration and our shared history seen through the eyes of children who have fled the poverty or violence of a homeland to have a chance at not only a better life, but in many cases, at life itself.   
   
    Though slender enough to carry in a coat pocket, the clear, precise prose of Luiselli’s essay contains multitudes:  the recounted stories of children who have miraculously survived crossing thousands of miles and entire countries, survived roofs of passenger trains, rail yards and detention centers only to arrive and have mere weeks to find a lawyer, and tell their story in hopes that the evidence of hardships they left behind is enough in the eyes of the court to be granted a chance at temporary relief in this country.

​
​    Valeria Luiselli became involved in writing about the child migrant crisis when in 2015 she began work as a volunteer interpreter for the federal immigration court in New York City. She asked each child a series of 40 questions (‘Why did you come?’ ‘Has anyone hurt, threatened, or frightened you?’) Their answers will be used as evidence during the child’s deportation hearing, if they are able to find a lawyer to represent them. Though, Luiselli writes, “Nothing is ever that simple… The children’s stories are always shuffled, stuttered beyond the repair of a narrative order. The problem with trying to tell their story, is that it has no beginning, no middle, and no end.”
    At times in the essay, Luiselli hints at the crisis in its broader historical context, though it resists a rational explanation. She writes of the Salvadoran Civil War that spanned thirteen years, in which the United States “funded and provided military resources to the government that massacred so many, and led many others to exile.” She writes of the birth of gang violence in Los Angeles in the 1980’s and the resulting deportations in the 1990’s that exported this violence back to Central America, and of the anti-immigration strategies adopted in Mexico which made a migrant’s safety much more tenuous. She writes of continental arms trafficking and how drug consumption in the U.S. fuels the drug trade across the continent.  In essence, Luiselli conveys the perpetuation of a tragedy, and the root causes that would force a child to attempt such a dangerous journey. She writes, “The whole story is an absurd, circular nightmare.”
​
    The real emotional impact of Luiselli’s writing comes as she describes her personal involvement -- sitting across from a child, asking them questions. She remembers asking two girls, age five and seven, in dresses “Did you stay in touch with your parents?” and of  a young boy telling her why he fled (“They kicked my door open and shot my little brother.”) There is an emotional difficulty of listening to these stories, and she has to remind herself “to swallow the rage, grief, and shame; remind myself to just sit still and listen closely.”  Later, she asks “How do you explain any of this to your own children?”
 
     “Tell me how it ends, mamma?” her young daughter inquires. Luiselli does not know the answer. She does, however, get us to ask ourselves the crucial questions: what is our collective responsibility towards these children, and, what can we do? This is a heartbreaking and essential piece of writing.  If there is going to be a semblance of a happy ending to this story, Luiselli suggests, it will have to be a continental effort and an acknowledgement of our role, and each country’s role in this humanitarian crisis.  In effect, we are still at the beginning.

​-Nathan Child
This review originally appeared in the Aspen Daily News on May 12, 2017.

More by Valeria Luiselli:
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Adult News & reviews

    Library news, info about upcoming events, reviews of books and films, and a look at the topics that affect us as a library.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017

    RSS Feed

Picture
​​Library Location
​
14 Midland Ave
Basalt, CO 81621
​970-927-4311
Library Hours
​Mon-Thur: 10AM - 7PM
Fri & Sat: 10AM - 5PM
​Sun: 12- 5PM
Let's Connect!

General

Jobs
​Remote/Wireless Printing
Service Pricing
Friends' Book Store
News & Reviews Blog
​Newsletter Signup
​Full Calendar

Borrowing

Get a Library Card
​Store your Library Card Digitally
​Checkout Times
Renew Materials Online
​Update Your Account
Comments & Suggestions

About 

Staff Directory
​Fine Free Information
Board, Committees, Minutes, and Reports
Financials & Budgets
​Policies & Bylaws
​
BRL District Map
Strategic Plan
  • Programs & Events
    • Full Calendar
    • Music at the Library
  • Our Services
    • Adult Library (Books, DVDs, CDs)
    • Teen & Young Adult Library
    • Children's Library >
      • Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
      • Children's Resources
    • Biblioteca Española
    • Digital Media Library
    • Library of Things
    • Online Resources & Research Databases
  • En Español
  • Library & Community
    • Meet, Study, Work
    • Community Resources
    • Job Seeker Information
  • Support
  • Online Catalog
    • Search Online Catalog
    • Account Login
    • Renew Materials Online