Reviews for The Kidnapped Saint and Other Stories

The average rating for The Kidnapped Saint and Other Stories based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-05-16 00:00:00 James Grider How strange that such great vignettes of the lives of Mexicans be written by a German anarchist in the early 20th century in English. This collection has a great informative introduction that provides a great crash course to the mystery that is B Traven. As the first I've read of him, he offers cutting poker faced observations into his travels through Mexico circa revolution through these small fictions. His most common subject through these deal with the nature of the Mexican Catholic faith. Through stories like the title story and "Reviving the Dead" and "Accomplices" he describes the curious blend of superstition, practicality, spirituality, and historicity in the faith of common Mexicans. That he manages to do this without casting aspersions seems to me the truest testament of his empathy for his adopted nation. Confusingly however, the second story "Submission" offers a heavy dose of mysogyny and machismo delivered in a way that suggests endorsement, which surprised me coming from an progressive anarchist. Sure it's probably reflective of Mexican society especially at the time, but how can Traven square his radical egalitarian beliefs with such rank mysogyny?

Review # 2 was written on 2020-03-30 00:00:00 Kenneth Maksimchuk Beautifully crafted stories set in Mexico. As in much of B. Traven's fiction that I've read, women don't fare very well. One story in particular, "Submission", is just awful, but I'll never forget it.