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Normal Miguel
Miguel Hernández is a teacher who has left Mexico City to complete a one year student internship in the rural hills of Puebla. He came to the school intending to focus on his teaching and his students but quickly learns that it is impossible to keep his private and professional lives separate-particularly as his experience turns into a voyage of self-discovery. His students, the Directora of the school, the baker, and other people from the town all contribute to his growing awareness. But most important is Ruben, the owner of the candy store who progresses from merchant to friend to lover. He will be the man who has the most effect on Miguel-and who, in turn, is transformed by the impact of Miguel on his own life. This is a lyrical story that brings to life the countryside of rural Mexico, with its grinding poverty but care of the people for their native land; expressing prejudice and hate but at the same time affirming the power of love and acceptance in overcoming obstacles. As a slice of life in the year of Miguel, Normal Miguel will certainly capture the hearts and imaginations of those who join him on his journey in the pages of the book.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
125 people want to read
About the author
Erik Orrantia
13 books23 followersBorn in San Francisco in 1970, Erik Orrantia lived in the San Francisco Bay area until 1997. By that time, he had earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Counseling at California State University in Hayward. His original intention was to build a practice in psychotherapy.
He then felt a calling to explore the world and entered an International Study Program in Mexico City where he earned a teaching credential. He currently works as a middle school teacher in San Ysidro, California, along the Mexican-American border. He was voted Teacher of the Year in 2008 for his school district.
He has traveled extensively throughout Mexico. He now spends most of his time in Tijuana with his partner and dedicates his free time to writing.
He then felt a calling to explore the world and entered an International Study Program in Mexico City where he earned a teaching credential. He currently works as a middle school teacher in San Ysidro, California, along the Mexican-American border. He was voted Teacher of the Year in 2008 for his school district.
He has traveled extensively throughout Mexico. He now spends most of his time in Tijuana with his partner and dedicates his free time to writing.
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July 1, 2010
Normal Miguel is a delightful story about men, women, and children as they live, love, and triumph over hardships while celebrating life to the fullest. This is nominally gay fiction since the lead character is gay and there are certain themes and tensions relating to that, but the concepts are definitely more universal. The search for love, happiness, and a career are issues everyone tackles at one time or another. Miguel is a sympathetic and honest narrator, offering his views and struggles. Beautifully written with a lush prose that brings the Mexican countryside alive with stunning vibrancy, this is a wonderful story I think most will enjoy.
Miguel is a new graduate of the Normal school and he’s off to spend a year teaching as a student teacher in a small village. He’s trying to get away from the crowded, unhappy streets of Mexico City with his angry, disappointed mother and painful past relationships. Arriving in the small city, Miguel is not sure what to think, but soon finds a calling in teaching. He meets a local candy store owner and although the attraction is immediate, Miguel worries what will happen to his job and life if the relationship is exposed. Ruben has his own troubles as well with an ailing mother. Miguel’s year of internship reveals loves, loss, truth, and knowledge while exposing the joyful spirit of the people and the stunning rural setting.
From the beginning description of a loose bolt rolling on the floor of a lumbering bus, the lush descriptive prose reveals a vibrant setting that immediately entices. The writing here is truly wonderful and brings the Mexican countryside alive with a rare authenticity. Whether depicting sweltering heat, freezing rain, or high winds, the setting and weather are a character of their own. You really feel as though you’ve visited and experienced the country with its gorgeous landscapes, rolling hills, and sweeping vistas all described with simplicity and honesty. Instead of grandiose prose, the setting is captured with few well chosen words. If nothing else, this story is worthwhile reading for the experience of inviting small towns, bustling cities, and a rare glimpse into beauty not often seen.
The characters, however, are equally vibrant and absorbing. Miguel is the main narrator and his experiences range from frustrating and drama ridden to heart warming and satisfying. He is not without flaws and missteps as he struggles to balance his ideals of life with reality. He’s a sympathetic narrator, even as he makes mistakes, but he learns from his mistakes; sometimes too well as he tends to live on the extremes of life and emotion for most of the story. Miguel spends most of the story worrying, upset, confused, and going too far in any one direction. However, by the end he’s grown, matured, and really come into his own, finally making choices and decisions that will settle his life.
The cast of secondary characters are eye catching, but in some ways too much so. The point of view bounces awkwardly among these characters and in confusing ways. It’s sometimes difficult to follow whose perspective you’re reading with the abrupt shifts but thankfully this doesn’t kill your reading enjoyment. From the school children to various adults, parents, and family members, there are numerous interesting characters introduced. These offer different views on family, society, and dreams for the future. They show the real joy of the people, their spirit, celebrations and hardships. Here poverty is depicted in honest, raw ways that could be depressing but the indomitable spirit of the people and their joy in life comes through. The celebrations offered show how important it is to embrace life in all ways and becomes an uplifting theme of the story.
While the main thrust is following Miguel and the various secondary characters in his orbit, there are several subplots that are introduced and subsequently dropped. Similar to the distraction of too many characters and confusing points of view, there are also too many conflicts introduced and never really resolved. Some of this is meant to show homophobia in small towns but when later totally dropped, makes me wonder why it’s included in the way it is. There are small details given time and attention only to be totally ignored later on – such as the dolls and drawings – which are distracting and better handled differently. This is a small compliant since I was totally absorbed in Miguel’s journey, but they did cause me to pause a few times with frustration.
Overall this stands out for the unique writing, lyrical descriptions, and vibrancy of the setting. Though the main relationship is between Miguel and Ruben, their journey separately and together is recognizable by a wide range of people. The struggles and celebrations of life are likely to resonate with all kinds of readers and if nothing else, the setting is one not to be missed.
This is another one that’s hard to pigeon hole with the star rating. The writing deserves close to 5 stars yet the wandering plot and point of view issues would bring that down. I ended up bumping up the rating some due to the uniqueness of the story and just being something different that I haven’t read before.
Miguel is a new graduate of the Normal school and he’s off to spend a year teaching as a student teacher in a small village. He’s trying to get away from the crowded, unhappy streets of Mexico City with his angry, disappointed mother and painful past relationships. Arriving in the small city, Miguel is not sure what to think, but soon finds a calling in teaching. He meets a local candy store owner and although the attraction is immediate, Miguel worries what will happen to his job and life if the relationship is exposed. Ruben has his own troubles as well with an ailing mother. Miguel’s year of internship reveals loves, loss, truth, and knowledge while exposing the joyful spirit of the people and the stunning rural setting.
From the beginning description of a loose bolt rolling on the floor of a lumbering bus, the lush descriptive prose reveals a vibrant setting that immediately entices. The writing here is truly wonderful and brings the Mexican countryside alive with a rare authenticity. Whether depicting sweltering heat, freezing rain, or high winds, the setting and weather are a character of their own. You really feel as though you’ve visited and experienced the country with its gorgeous landscapes, rolling hills, and sweeping vistas all described with simplicity and honesty. Instead of grandiose prose, the setting is captured with few well chosen words. If nothing else, this story is worthwhile reading for the experience of inviting small towns, bustling cities, and a rare glimpse into beauty not often seen.
The characters, however, are equally vibrant and absorbing. Miguel is the main narrator and his experiences range from frustrating and drama ridden to heart warming and satisfying. He is not without flaws and missteps as he struggles to balance his ideals of life with reality. He’s a sympathetic narrator, even as he makes mistakes, but he learns from his mistakes; sometimes too well as he tends to live on the extremes of life and emotion for most of the story. Miguel spends most of the story worrying, upset, confused, and going too far in any one direction. However, by the end he’s grown, matured, and really come into his own, finally making choices and decisions that will settle his life.
The cast of secondary characters are eye catching, but in some ways too much so. The point of view bounces awkwardly among these characters and in confusing ways. It’s sometimes difficult to follow whose perspective you’re reading with the abrupt shifts but thankfully this doesn’t kill your reading enjoyment. From the school children to various adults, parents, and family members, there are numerous interesting characters introduced. These offer different views on family, society, and dreams for the future. They show the real joy of the people, their spirit, celebrations and hardships. Here poverty is depicted in honest, raw ways that could be depressing but the indomitable spirit of the people and their joy in life comes through. The celebrations offered show how important it is to embrace life in all ways and becomes an uplifting theme of the story.
While the main thrust is following Miguel and the various secondary characters in his orbit, there are several subplots that are introduced and subsequently dropped. Similar to the distraction of too many characters and confusing points of view, there are also too many conflicts introduced and never really resolved. Some of this is meant to show homophobia in small towns but when later totally dropped, makes me wonder why it’s included in the way it is. There are small details given time and attention only to be totally ignored later on – such as the dolls and drawings – which are distracting and better handled differently. This is a small compliant since I was totally absorbed in Miguel’s journey, but they did cause me to pause a few times with frustration.
Overall this stands out for the unique writing, lyrical descriptions, and vibrancy of the setting. Though the main relationship is between Miguel and Ruben, their journey separately and together is recognizable by a wide range of people. The struggles and celebrations of life are likely to resonate with all kinds of readers and if nothing else, the setting is one not to be missed.
This is another one that’s hard to pigeon hole with the star rating. The writing deserves close to 5 stars yet the wandering plot and point of view issues would bring that down. I ended up bumping up the rating some due to the uniqueness of the story and just being something different that I haven’t read before.
February 11, 2011
Orrantia, Erik. “Normal Miguel”, Cheyenne Publishing, 2010.
Discovering Self
Amos Lassen
I really love to read new authors and one writes a book that stays with me, I feel as if I have received a double blessing. Such is the case with Erik Orrantia’s, “Normal Miguel”. The search for identity is certainly nothing new in literature and especially in GLBT literature so an author has to find a new twist to keep the reader involved.
Miguel Hernandez goes into the rural area of Puebla so that he can finish his student teaching requirement. Like all new teachers he is idealistic and certain that he will succeed. (I remember those days so well). However, he soon learns that it is almost impossible to separate his professional life from his private life and since he is on a journey of self-discovery, everything he does gives him thought. Aside from his responsibilities at school, there is Ruben who owns the candy store on town and with whom a relationship progresses from acquaintance to friend to lover.
Miguel lives in fear that his students will discover that he is gay but he also struggles with the idea that he is not good enough as a teacher. Like all students, he is challenged by them but he soon wins them over. He realizes that he can learn from them just as they can learn from him. However teachers cannot live just by the love of their students and when Miguel meets Ruben, the attraction is immediate. As the two men get to know each other, we watch love blossom and I must say that Orrantia has handled this beautifully. So often in gay literature, sex is the base of a relationship but here we see the two men getting to know each other, learning about each other and eventually and slowly falling in love. This happens in the midst of wonderful descriptions of the town of Comalticán that are almost poetic. Orrantia’s prose is lush, gorgeous and very real and a contrast to the poverty of the people as opposed to the wealth of the beauty of the location.
It is the people with whom we are concerned and it is the triumph of humanity that makes this novel succeed. This is a lovely story of a journey to self as Miguel learns just who he is. As Miguel finds himself with Ruben, we are introduced to a wonderful cast of colorful supporting characters and they add to the story just by being there. While not integral to the plot, they are important to the backdrop of the town. Miguel is the chief teller of the story and I picture him as much the same kind of idealist that I was when I began teaching—his nervousness and his fears are very familiar–he is a teacher as well as a student of life.
The story itself is simple and we have seen it many times but it is told with such beauty that it is impossible not to love this book. Miguel is a simple man living a simple life in a place where everything is quite simple so what makes this book special? I have already said that the prose is wonderful and the descriptions bring us to a new place. Miguel is a kind of a simple everyman looking for himself dealing with the typical problems of a community living in near poverty. He finds love and with it finds himself and the way Orrantia paints the scene, we are there with him. The town as the backdrop for the story is a microcosm of the larger world where things may not be so cut and dry but the problems are the same.
This is Orrantia’s first book but it is an important one. He has jumped into the pool of literature with a gorgeous swan dive and this book is proof that he will stay afloat. I understand that another book is in the editing stages now and we will have it soon. I, personally, cannot wait and once you read this book I am sure you will agree.
Discovering Self
Amos Lassen
I really love to read new authors and one writes a book that stays with me, I feel as if I have received a double blessing. Such is the case with Erik Orrantia’s, “Normal Miguel”. The search for identity is certainly nothing new in literature and especially in GLBT literature so an author has to find a new twist to keep the reader involved.
Miguel Hernandez goes into the rural area of Puebla so that he can finish his student teaching requirement. Like all new teachers he is idealistic and certain that he will succeed. (I remember those days so well). However, he soon learns that it is almost impossible to separate his professional life from his private life and since he is on a journey of self-discovery, everything he does gives him thought. Aside from his responsibilities at school, there is Ruben who owns the candy store on town and with whom a relationship progresses from acquaintance to friend to lover.
Miguel lives in fear that his students will discover that he is gay but he also struggles with the idea that he is not good enough as a teacher. Like all students, he is challenged by them but he soon wins them over. He realizes that he can learn from them just as they can learn from him. However teachers cannot live just by the love of their students and when Miguel meets Ruben, the attraction is immediate. As the two men get to know each other, we watch love blossom and I must say that Orrantia has handled this beautifully. So often in gay literature, sex is the base of a relationship but here we see the two men getting to know each other, learning about each other and eventually and slowly falling in love. This happens in the midst of wonderful descriptions of the town of Comalticán that are almost poetic. Orrantia’s prose is lush, gorgeous and very real and a contrast to the poverty of the people as opposed to the wealth of the beauty of the location.
It is the people with whom we are concerned and it is the triumph of humanity that makes this novel succeed. This is a lovely story of a journey to self as Miguel learns just who he is. As Miguel finds himself with Ruben, we are introduced to a wonderful cast of colorful supporting characters and they add to the story just by being there. While not integral to the plot, they are important to the backdrop of the town. Miguel is the chief teller of the story and I picture him as much the same kind of idealist that I was when I began teaching—his nervousness and his fears are very familiar–he is a teacher as well as a student of life.
The story itself is simple and we have seen it many times but it is told with such beauty that it is impossible not to love this book. Miguel is a simple man living a simple life in a place where everything is quite simple so what makes this book special? I have already said that the prose is wonderful and the descriptions bring us to a new place. Miguel is a kind of a simple everyman looking for himself dealing with the typical problems of a community living in near poverty. He finds love and with it finds himself and the way Orrantia paints the scene, we are there with him. The town as the backdrop for the story is a microcosm of the larger world where things may not be so cut and dry but the problems are the same.
This is Orrantia’s first book but it is an important one. He has jumped into the pool of literature with a gorgeous swan dive and this book is proof that he will stay afloat. I understand that another book is in the editing stages now and we will have it soon. I, personally, cannot wait and once you read this book I am sure you will agree.
Read
July 22, 2010If you analyze this story, really it’s a very simple one, Miguel is a young teacher living in Mexico City and blaming himself for being gay; he is trying with all his own to make his mother proud, the same mother who is probably reflecting all her disappointed hopes in him; no father around to balance her, in a good or bad way. When Miguel leaves Mexico City for Puebla, in another effort to achieve something worthy in his life, even the job as teacher in a rural boarding school would be better than nothing, he is not expecting to find a new life and love in that rural town. But it’s probably quite simple, in the small community where he arrives, nothing is pointless and everything is known, and it takes no much time to find out that Ruben, the local candy store owner, is also gay, and that he will the perfect partner for Miguel.
In the big city being gay is something dirty and forbidden, it’s abnormal, and Miguel wants with all his heart to be normal. In the little community where he arrives, being gay is a sin, sure, but in a way, being in the open, it’s not possible to hide anything in that situation, makes it more “normal”, more ordinary, and a normal life with his very normal boyfriend, having a very normal relationship, is possible. Ad Absurdum, for once, it’s the impossibility to be anonymous that makes possible for Miguel to be happy; in the big city he had the chance to hide, and in hiding he had no chance to find happiness; in the small town, he has not place where to hide, and he is forced to come out. He is indeed lucky, since he is in a situation where it’s possible to cohabitate, and despite some threats, he will be always the teacher from the town, a somewhat privileged role, and some sort of protection.
There was a out of time feeling in the story, if not for some hints of modernity (like Christina Aguilera), the novel could have been well be set in the ’50 of the XX century. There are no cars, no modern sounds to overcome the voice of nature; Ruben, Miguel’s boyfriend, moves on a horse, and he still bakes candies from scratch. The dangers for the people, especially for the children at the school, are all from nature, not from modernity. Even if Miguel sometime refers to music, I had not heard television or radio sounds. What instead was quite palpable was the hot and cold of the weather, the feeling of the rain on the skin when Miguel takes a walk under it. You sometime felt even what the author didn’t describe, like the sweat or the smell of it.
Miguel is not a strong man, he is not a hero; on the contrary he is sometime weak, and he has for sure a lot of self-esteem issues, probably a baggage from his youth and the love/hate relationship with his mother. Often Miguel tries unconsciously to find a way to punish himself, like with his abusive relationship with the Captain, or when he almost manages to destroy his relationship with Ruben having an affair with Tomas; it’s clearly a punishment since both times he doesn’t find pleasure in those acts, they are degrading, and Miguel is nothing more than an object for those men. It will be a long way for Miguel to admit that he is not to be punished for being gay, that he can enjoy his love with Ruben, that he is normal even if he is not ordinary.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0979777399/?...
In the big city being gay is something dirty and forbidden, it’s abnormal, and Miguel wants with all his heart to be normal. In the little community where he arrives, being gay is a sin, sure, but in a way, being in the open, it’s not possible to hide anything in that situation, makes it more “normal”, more ordinary, and a normal life with his very normal boyfriend, having a very normal relationship, is possible. Ad Absurdum, for once, it’s the impossibility to be anonymous that makes possible for Miguel to be happy; in the big city he had the chance to hide, and in hiding he had no chance to find happiness; in the small town, he has not place where to hide, and he is forced to come out. He is indeed lucky, since he is in a situation where it’s possible to cohabitate, and despite some threats, he will be always the teacher from the town, a somewhat privileged role, and some sort of protection.
There was a out of time feeling in the story, if not for some hints of modernity (like Christina Aguilera), the novel could have been well be set in the ’50 of the XX century. There are no cars, no modern sounds to overcome the voice of nature; Ruben, Miguel’s boyfriend, moves on a horse, and he still bakes candies from scratch. The dangers for the people, especially for the children at the school, are all from nature, not from modernity. Even if Miguel sometime refers to music, I had not heard television or radio sounds. What instead was quite palpable was the hot and cold of the weather, the feeling of the rain on the skin when Miguel takes a walk under it. You sometime felt even what the author didn’t describe, like the sweat or the smell of it.
Miguel is not a strong man, he is not a hero; on the contrary he is sometime weak, and he has for sure a lot of self-esteem issues, probably a baggage from his youth and the love/hate relationship with his mother. Often Miguel tries unconsciously to find a way to punish himself, like with his abusive relationship with the Captain, or when he almost manages to destroy his relationship with Ruben having an affair with Tomas; it’s clearly a punishment since both times he doesn’t find pleasure in those acts, they are degrading, and Miguel is nothing more than an object for those men. It will be a long way for Miguel to admit that he is not to be punished for being gay, that he can enjoy his love with Ruben, that he is normal even if he is not ordinary.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0979777399/?...
May 28, 2011
A sweet, gentle fairytale of rural Mexico—and I’m not using that label lightly. There is a fairy godmother, assorted magical Dwarves/Elves, an old Crone/Hag, an Ogre, and even a Prince Charming (who at one point “rescues” our hero atop a noble steed). Of course, it’s all been updated and “normalized” but all the elements are there.
There’s little not to like about Orrantia’s novel, which tells the tale of Miguel leaving the big city for a year of student-teaching in a very rustic area of Mexico. He encounters adversity (the aforementioned Ogre, for instance, as well as a Dark Prince who flits in later in the story), but mostly suffers wave after wave of instructive good fortune. In fact, there were times I felt like I was reading the literary equivalent of a Renoir painting—the dark side of life was but grudgingly acknowledged...and quickly dispelled by light. Even the Ogre, who receives a big build-up, virtually disappears a third of the way in and is only nominally mentioned afterward, without ever actually being confronted, let alone vanquished.
But I don’t mean to disparage the book. The story works quite well and I heartily recommend it. Stylistically, I have a few quibbles: some of the POV shifts were a bit disorienting which always pulls me out of the narrative momentarily, and the front end was heavily loaded with assorted backstories; but generally it was a warm, cozy novel that left me feeling quite contented.
RECOMMENDATION: READ THIS!
There’s little not to like about Orrantia’s novel, which tells the tale of Miguel leaving the big city for a year of student-teaching in a very rustic area of Mexico. He encounters adversity (the aforementioned Ogre, for instance, as well as a Dark Prince who flits in later in the story), but mostly suffers wave after wave of instructive good fortune. In fact, there were times I felt like I was reading the literary equivalent of a Renoir painting—the dark side of life was but grudgingly acknowledged...and quickly dispelled by light. Even the Ogre, who receives a big build-up, virtually disappears a third of the way in and is only nominally mentioned afterward, without ever actually being confronted, let alone vanquished.
But I don’t mean to disparage the book. The story works quite well and I heartily recommend it. Stylistically, I have a few quibbles: some of the POV shifts were a bit disorienting which always pulls me out of the narrative momentarily, and the front end was heavily loaded with assorted backstories; but generally it was a warm, cozy novel that left me feeling quite contented.
RECOMMENDATION: READ THIS!
September 23, 2013
Incredible job describing the setting. I really felt like I was living in a small town in Mexico. Not only that but also living the lives of these small town people. I really want some tortillas and beans now :-)
I really liked reading Miguel's journey of self-discovery. However, I felt like the book had a lot of telling and now showing. Dialogue felt very sparse which made for slow reading.
I really liked reading Miguel's journey of self-discovery. However, I felt like the book had a lot of telling and now showing. Dialogue felt very sparse which made for slow reading.
Want to read
December 26, 201912/26/19 Currently FREE via Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
January 7, 2017
I really couldn't help but be charmed by this book, even though it felt very slight at times and I would have liked to see it dig a bit deeper. It felt very honest and heartfelt, and one of the things I actually loved best were the little detours in the text that explored the lives and backgrounds of the people that Miguel encountered, so that we might understand them better. Everyone deserves compassion, even those who don't always behave like they do.
August 4, 2015
FiveStars
This story is both moving and beautifully written. The story of a student teacher in a rural Mexican village may be an unfamiliar one to most readers, but the truths Miguel learns about himself and about human nature are universal.
Miguel’s struggles will be familiar to any teacher. How can he meet the needs of so many diverse students? How does he belong to the school, to the town? And how does he balance a personal life with his professional life? At times Miguel’s idealistic enthusiasm is heartbreaking. His observations of his pupils are precise, his care for them almost obsessive (something all teachers will remember from the beginning).
The adjustment of the urban teacher to his village setting is fascinating. Miguel grew up impoverished, but rural poverty is a harsh shock. Miguel’s perceptions of the people in the village change dramatically over the course of the year. Slowly the eccentric characters become real and very human as Miguel begins to see a shared humanity rather than divisive differences.
I know this book won awards as a gay romance, but this story is so much bigger and more important than most romances. Orranta has the observational skill of Louis De Bernieres in his stories of Latin America or Turkey. Orranta’s characters and places are real. The lessons Miguel learns about himself and about the people around him are beautiful. And the relationship he develops with Reuben is too honest, too human for a romance. To call this a gay romance is to marginalise something important. This is a haunting, delicately written coming of age story.
I received a free copy of this book to read and review for Inked Reads.
Sarah
This story is both moving and beautifully written. The story of a student teacher in a rural Mexican village may be an unfamiliar one to most readers, but the truths Miguel learns about himself and about human nature are universal.
Miguel’s struggles will be familiar to any teacher. How can he meet the needs of so many diverse students? How does he belong to the school, to the town? And how does he balance a personal life with his professional life? At times Miguel’s idealistic enthusiasm is heartbreaking. His observations of his pupils are precise, his care for them almost obsessive (something all teachers will remember from the beginning).
The adjustment of the urban teacher to his village setting is fascinating. Miguel grew up impoverished, but rural poverty is a harsh shock. Miguel’s perceptions of the people in the village change dramatically over the course of the year. Slowly the eccentric characters become real and very human as Miguel begins to see a shared humanity rather than divisive differences.
I know this book won awards as a gay romance, but this story is so much bigger and more important than most romances. Orranta has the observational skill of Louis De Bernieres in his stories of Latin America or Turkey. Orranta’s characters and places are real. The lessons Miguel learns about himself and about the people around him are beautiful. And the relationship he develops with Reuben is too honest, too human for a romance. To call this a gay romance is to marginalise something important. This is a haunting, delicately written coming of age story.
I received a free copy of this book to read and review for Inked Reads.
Sarah
February 13, 2012
This was a fine first book from a new author. Some of the characters weren't as fully developed as I would have liked, but for the most part, the main characters were rendered competently and thoroughly. There was however, a certain choppiness in the flow of the storyline, and some unresolved situations that I would have liked to have seen fleshed out. In particular, I would have liked some continuing narrative of the friendship between Teresa's family and Miguel. We were also left out in the blue on what affect the disappearance of Abimael's family might have had on this particularly sensitive young boy. Minor shortcomings, to be sure, but ones that left me wanting to know more.
The relationship between Miguel and Ruben was touching and realistic, although actual dialog between the two was often stilted and clumsy. Much better were the passages that related emotions and thoughts taking place within Miguel's head. The physical relationship between the two was sensitively related without lurid or graphic details. That might disappoint some readers, but I'm perfectly happy to let my imagination fill in the details, without having them spelled out on the page.
Mr. Orrantia is a fine story teller, and I look forward to reading future works, which I'm sure will get better as his writing skills develop. All in all, this was a very enjoyable read.
The relationship between Miguel and Ruben was touching and realistic, although actual dialog between the two was often stilted and clumsy. Much better were the passages that related emotions and thoughts taking place within Miguel's head. The physical relationship between the two was sensitively related without lurid or graphic details. That might disappoint some readers, but I'm perfectly happy to let my imagination fill in the details, without having them spelled out on the page.
Mr. Orrantia is a fine story teller, and I look forward to reading future works, which I'm sure will get better as his writing skills develop. All in all, this was a very enjoyable read.
January 23, 2015
I read this because it recently won a Lambda Literary Award. Liked the story, but the writing wasn't anything special.
April 8, 2018
I read this years ago, probably not too long after it came out. Didn't like it, didn't review it (of course,) and then promptly forgot the title and author, only to have the darn book keep popping up in the back of my mind like a particularly stubborn weeble.
Me (13655th time): What was that weird book again? *thinks furiously for about twenty seconds* Dang it! *moves on to next random thought*
Anyway, I found it again completely accidentally this week.
Me: OMG IS THAT IT? /klonk
So I don't remember a whole lot (beyond that I found it, like, really weird and not romance novel-ish at all - I was super duper NOT into other genres at the time,) but I do remember feeling completely distanced from the characters and the action, like some kind of robot reader, except that I knew I should be feeling stuff and wasn't.
Like I said. WEIRD.
Even at the time, I don't think I could have told you if the writing was good or if the writing was bad. But I did keep reading. I finished it. It wasn't painful. And I haven't forgotten it, so I guess...two stars?
Mostly I don't want to forget it again, then spend another near-decade wondering what the hell the name of it was.
Me (13655th time): What was that weird book again? *thinks furiously for about twenty seconds* Dang it! *moves on to next random thought*
Anyway, I found it again completely accidentally this week.
Me: OMG IS THAT IT? /klonk
So I don't remember a whole lot (beyond that I found it, like, really weird and not romance novel-ish at all - I was super duper NOT into other genres at the time,) but I do remember feeling completely distanced from the characters and the action, like some kind of robot reader, except that I knew I should be feeling stuff and wasn't.
Like I said. WEIRD.
Even at the time, I don't think I could have told you if the writing was good or if the writing was bad. But I did keep reading. I finished it. It wasn't painful. And I haven't forgotten it, so I guess...two stars?
Mostly I don't want to forget it again, then spend another near-decade wondering what the hell the name of it was.
December 1, 2023
a cute, slice of life type of book.
August 4, 2015
This story is both moving and beautifully written. The story of a student teacher in a rural Mexican village may be an unfamiliar one to most readers, but the truths Miguel learns about himself and about human nature are universal.
Miguel’s struggles will be familiar to any teacher. How can he meet the needs of so many diverse students? How does he belong to the school, to the town? And how does he balance a personal life with his professional life? At times Miguel’s idealistic enthusiasm is heartbreaking. His observations of his pupils are precise, his care for them almost obsessive (something all teachers will remember from the beginning).
The adjustment of the urban teacher to his village setting is fascinating. Miguel grew up impoverished, but rural poverty is a harsh shock. Miguel’s perceptions of the people in the village change dramatically over the course of the year. Slowly the eccentric characters become real and very human as Miguel begins to see a shared humanity rather than divisive differences.
I know this book won awards as a gay romance, but this story is so much bigger and more important than most romances. Orranta has the observational skill of Louis De Berniere's in his stories of Latin America or Turkey. Orranta’s characters and places are real. The lessons Miguel learns about himself and about the people around him are beautiful. And the relationship he develops with Reuben is too honest, too human for a romance. To call this a gay romance is to marginalise something important. This is a haunting, delicately written coming of age story.
Miguel’s struggles will be familiar to any teacher. How can he meet the needs of so many diverse students? How does he belong to the school, to the town? And how does he balance a personal life with his professional life? At times Miguel’s idealistic enthusiasm is heartbreaking. His observations of his pupils are precise, his care for them almost obsessive (something all teachers will remember from the beginning).
The adjustment of the urban teacher to his village setting is fascinating. Miguel grew up impoverished, but rural poverty is a harsh shock. Miguel’s perceptions of the people in the village change dramatically over the course of the year. Slowly the eccentric characters become real and very human as Miguel begins to see a shared humanity rather than divisive differences.
I know this book won awards as a gay romance, but this story is so much bigger and more important than most romances. Orranta has the observational skill of Louis De Berniere's in his stories of Latin America or Turkey. Orranta’s characters and places are real. The lessons Miguel learns about himself and about the people around him are beautiful. And the relationship he develops with Reuben is too honest, too human for a romance. To call this a gay romance is to marginalise something important. This is a haunting, delicately written coming of age story.
August 30, 2016
Review rating: 4.5 stars
Normal Miguel by Erik Orrantia is a beautiful story of a young man's journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance. It is an extremely well written novel that transported me to the rural hills of the Puebla and the impoverished rural Mexican village of Comaltican and into the lives of not only Miguel and Ruben, but also the many colourful secondary characters that make up this community.
The complete review of Normal Miguel by Erik Orrantia is available at Indie Reviews.
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September 4, 2010I couldn't rate this because (1) I didn't finish it and (2) I just couldn't decide on a rating; or for that matter, what I think of it. Some of the writing and descriptions are wonderful, but the very slow, very pensive tone made it drag. I gave up on it about 30% through the book when I realized I was MAKING myself continue. Also the the frequent changes in points of view were confusing and irritating; sometimes it'd change POV within the same paragraph!
I might give it another try later ...
I might give it another try later ...
March 25, 2012
Normal Miguel is a delightful book. In rural Mexico, a young, gay, student teacher, Miguel, begins a one year internship at a residential school and he learns what it takes to be an adult. The book is very well written and edited, and even though, at times, it became a bit schmaltzy, I'm glad that I read the book. I look forward to reading more from this author. I give Normal Miguel three and a half stars, rounded up to four because goodreads doesn't trust us with half stars.
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July 9, 2010I did something wrong here. I meant to mark it "To Read" (I don't have a copy yet)but it popped up like this, needing a review. Well, there will be one eventually, but not yet! I love the cover and the blurb.
May 19, 2013
Link+ due May 22, 2013
August 3, 2010
I'd have given this between 4 and 5 if I'd had the option.
January 1, 2017
4.0 stars
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