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Pancho's Dilemma
"In the circlet of golden sunlight shone an even brighter light, reflected from a solid gold pocket watch, which glinted like a great eye from the brown dirt where it lay ... Pancho gazed at this splendid object as if it had fallen from the pocket of the Almighty himself"So begins a chain of events that lead to sham and scandal in the sleepy southern village of Erin, arced around a blue seacoast dotted with fishing boats.In this collection of linked stories, popular historian Angelo Bissessarsingh turns his hand to fiction, drawing on a fund of knowledge to recreate the colourful village characters and huge changes that overtake their way of life as a new century unfolds. This portrait of Trinidad goes beyond nostalgia to bring alive the harsh reality of the days when cocoa as king - until the oilmen came.
184 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2016
14 people want to read
About the author
Angelo Bissessarsingh
5 books8 followersAngelo Bissessarsingh was an historian and author from Trinidad and Tobago. His written works include A Walk Back in Time: Snapshots of the History of Trinidad and Tobago. He wrote a column entitled "Back in Time" for the Trinidad Guardian.
https://globalvoices.org/2017/02/03/t...#
https://globalvoices.org/2017/02/03/t...#
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 18, 2018
A very enjoyable and surprisingly educational read, the kind of book that will have Trinidadians - or at least Trinis who are as uneducated as I am about our local history - Googling references constantly. Angelo is remarkably knowledgeable about all things Trinidad, and it shows, despite the fact that this is a work of fiction.
I did not think that I would be fond of the fact that the book is a series of loosely related stories, rather than one cohesive narrative, but Bissessarsingh pleasantly surprised me with how he handled it.
As a white man whose immediate ancestors had strong ties to the Caribbean plantocracy, the first story was particularly touching, and it was not difficult to imagine a similar incident happening on my own great-grandfather’s plantation, where he was an overseer.
All of Angelo’s characters are sympathetic, even occasionally the villains. He manages to write characters with complex personalities and backgrounds in the span of the few pages that are dedicated to each story, which is an amazing feat that speaks volumes about how talented he was as a writer.
My only qualm with the book is that it rather suddenly flips from giving realistic accounts of plantation life to incorporating less believable elements from local folklore, like douen, and obeah. While this is a nice touch, I feel like it would have been a less jarring addition if there was some level of consistency across all of the stories - in other words, roughly the first half of the book makes no mention of Trini myths, and by the third or fourth story, the douen play a central role in the events that occur. That’s not a bad thing in and of itself, but the book would have been more enjoyable if there was a sprinkle of folk beliefs in each one of the stories instead.
I was also surprised at just how dark the book was. This was a wonderful foray into fiction, and it is depressing to think that this will be Angelo’s first and last fictional work. Rest in peace. This and all of his other works deserve international attention.
I did not think that I would be fond of the fact that the book is a series of loosely related stories, rather than one cohesive narrative, but Bissessarsingh pleasantly surprised me with how he handled it.
As a white man whose immediate ancestors had strong ties to the Caribbean plantocracy, the first story was particularly touching, and it was not difficult to imagine a similar incident happening on my own great-grandfather’s plantation, where he was an overseer.
All of Angelo’s characters are sympathetic, even occasionally the villains. He manages to write characters with complex personalities and backgrounds in the span of the few pages that are dedicated to each story, which is an amazing feat that speaks volumes about how talented he was as a writer.
My only qualm with the book is that it rather suddenly flips from giving realistic accounts of plantation life to incorporating less believable elements from local folklore, like douen, and obeah. While this is a nice touch, I feel like it would have been a less jarring addition if there was some level of consistency across all of the stories - in other words, roughly the first half of the book makes no mention of Trini myths, and by the third or fourth story, the douen play a central role in the events that occur. That’s not a bad thing in and of itself, but the book would have been more enjoyable if there was a sprinkle of folk beliefs in each one of the stories instead.
I was also surprised at just how dark the book was. This was a wonderful foray into fiction, and it is depressing to think that this will be Angelo’s first and last fictional work. Rest in peace. This and all of his other works deserve international attention.
March 28, 2019
What a wonderful collection of short stories revolving around life deep in the south lands! I quite enjoyed reading this novel. Colourful mix of folklore and culture providing a snapshot of daily life on a cocoa estate. Each story is linked in some way. Lovely to see the characters age and how their lives change as oil becomes prominent. It's a beautifully written book Must read for lovers of Caribbean literature as well as those wishing to know about the history of T&T !
April 11, 2019
I enjoyed this book immensely. I read it in two hours. I live not too far from Erin and visited there quite recently so it was great to read a book about this beautiful village. Truly a fantastic read!
July 12, 2019
A wonderful collection of stories of days past...stories of a sleepy village that reminds me of Cedros. This is a must-read for all Trinbagonians if at least to maintain our folklore and remember how life is or was in rural villages.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews