Tula Station

by David Toscana, Patricia J. Duncan (Translator)

A hurricane ravages the town of Tula, and the author's friend is declared missing. When his totaled car is recovered, his friend's wife finds piles of papers inside. She determines that her husband is not dead, but rather has run off with his lover. She asks David Toscana to sift through the papers and make sense of her husband's disappearance -- the result is Tula Station .

The novel is three stories in the story of an orphan destined to live a Quixotic life in search of adventure; the life of a man who will forever be in love with the fantasy of a woman; and the almost true story of the once prosperous town of Tula, whose mountain location make it inaccessible to both trains and modernity in spite of the hopeful construction of Tula Station. Intelligent and subtle, Tula Station is a striking mix of old and new.

Genres: Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1995

About the author

David Toscana was born in Monterrey in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo León in 1961. After leaving school, he qualified as an engineer and worked in Ciudad Juárez. He started to write at the age of 29. His literary influences, in terms of reading for enjoyment’s sake, were classic Spanish writers like Cervantes and Calderón as well as classic Russian writers, but in terms of the obsession with writing itself, he was influenced by the new Latin American writers Juan Carlos Onetti and José Donoso. David Toscana describes his narrative aesthetics as "realismo desquiciado" (Engl: unrestrained realism) which breaks with magic realism. Neither rhyme nor reason determine his protagonists’ actions – what goes on in their world takes place in the imagination alone, albeit as an exchange between life and fiction unfolding on more than one level. "When writing, what is important for me is keeping an eye on the concrete experience of life", states the author, who puts himself in the place of his protagonists and strives to understand what is personally at risk for them so as to bring the situation back into the very uncertain realm of everyday life. He developed his literary sense for atmosphere through Onetti and Juan Rulfo, and for the lavishly strange through Donoso. Toscana’s first novel 'Las bicicletas' (Engl: The Bicycles) was published in 1992 and opened with the laconic sentence: "The path to the cemetery was long." He thereby immediately placed himself in the Mexican literary tradition that incorporates the death motif, which, as a regional writer, he sees as situated in the barren north. This was followed in 1995 by 'Estación Tula' (Engl: Tula Station, 2000), which was also translated into Arabic, English, Greek and Serbian. In 1997 he published the short-story volume 'Historias de Lontananza' (Engl: Stories of Distance), followed in 1998 by his third novel 'Santa María del Circo' (Engl: Our Lady of the Circus, 2001). His fourth and most recent novel 'Duelo por Miguel Pruneda' (Engl: Lament for Miguel Pruneda) appeared in 2002. International literary critics have praised his works of prose for the at times biting irony that gives authentic depth to the failure and solitude of his protagonists: "There is a very rich source in my region which no one else has really tapped, which is why I feel so good about working in my own storehouse, bringing forth lots of untold stories." Since July 2003 David Toscana has lived in Berlin, where he holds a guest scholarship from the DAAD.

Reviews

[julieta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta historia tiene dos personajes principales, Juan, alias Domenico, y Froylan. Aunque otros personajse importantes es el pueblo de Tula, y Carmen, la eterna pasión. El pueblo de Tula es creo que mi favorito, desde cuando no aceptan el himno nacional, y deciden imponer el suyo, cuando no gana, ni es mencionado en el concurso el que hizo el maestro de música, hasta cuando no aceptan las medidas que mandan desde la capital, prefiriendo varas por encima de kilómetros o metros, o cuando le tiran a la estatua del fundador por haberlos puesto en la sierra, lejos de donde se hizo la via del tren hacia tamaulipas y san luis potosi, o hasta cuando decidieron hacer su propia estación, pero solo les alcanzó para 200 metros de vía (y alguien pregunta que por qué no medirlo en varas!), y cuando el licenciado del pueblo les dice que necesitan más dinero para seguir, se tiene que esconder en la iglesia porque lo quieren linchar por ratero. Que bueno descubrir a este escritor mexicano con tanta facilidad para contar una buena historia , y de dejarte al final del libro preguntandote donde termina la ficción y empieza la realidad. Muy bueno!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not as strange as Toscana's circus trip in Our Lady of the Circus, this was a text that paraelelled that one in many ways. Almost as if Tula were Santa Maria del Circo. His characters are once again largely disagreeable, but not so much we won't see them through. In the end I'm not to sure if its the banality of evil or the everday character of weakenss that prevails.

While many of the narative facets of the story have likely been acheived somewhere else better. It is still nice to see Toscana work his magic with queasiness and a critical eye.

[Daniel Polansky]

A failing novelist writes a potentially fictitious biography of a man who is probably not his Great-Grandfather, becomes obsessed with a woman as men are bound to do, leaves his wife. Or maybe not, a lot is left unresolved in this strange, playful novel about love, and the hope for love, and its destructive and redemptive power. I quite enjoyed it, then again I am a self-destructive romantic in the classic mold, more reasonable people might cotton to it somewhat less.

[nimrodiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very different from the books I have been reading recently.

The book follows three different stories. First is the tale left behind in a journal by the friend of the author about his interviewing Juan Capistran (who says he is his grandfather), and the events leading up to the night of the hurricane when the author of the journal disappears. The second story is that of Juan Capistan and takes place in Tula, Mexico in the late 1800's to early 1900's. The third story is that of the town of Tula and it''s rise in Mexican politics and eventual decline during the war for Independence...

The book alternates between the intertwined stories and lets us see the love, and hatred and pain that shapes the lives of the individuals and the town. I actually loved this aspect of the plot best. You get to learn each of the main characters over a period of years (even though the whole book covers a matter of weeks in the modern time). The book was written using papers given to the author by his "dead" friends wife who after finding them many years after his disappearance believes her husband did not die during the storm but instead ran away with another woman. As we read the story further the reasons that influence this decision become more evident.

[Javier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Después de leer Estación Tula comprendí que me encontraba ante un escritor que dejaría huella. Desde ese entonces no sólo me convertí en aficionado a sus libros, sino que me obsesioné con Estación Tula en particular.

Además llegó a mí de la forma más rara. Un amigo lo encontró y, desde ese entonces, esa bendita copia a pasado de mano en mano por todo mi círculo de amistades. Y es raro porque por más que he buscado el libro no he podido encontrarlo en México.

Así es que si alguien me puede conseguir una copia, les estaré eternamente agradecido.

[Antonio Rubio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una bella novela.

Estación Tula es la primera novela importante de David Toscana. En dicho relato, Toscana configura todo su universo narrativo y ciertas espacialidades que se repetirán a lo largo de su obra narrativa, Lontananza especialmente (título de su siguiente obra).

Qué imaginación la de Toscana. Cómo juega con sus textos, con sus personajes, con su propuesta poética. Quizá no exista otro narrador mexicano con la misma capacidad re-inventiva.

8/10

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una novela anegada de nostalgia, con la maestría de David Toscana para reflejar emociones tan humanas como el abandono, el deseo,el amor.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mezcla de tramas, algunas mejores que otras, y en general se deja leer.

https://liblit.com/david-toscana-esta...

[Yoko Robles · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Excelente! David Toscana cuenta historias con un estilo que te atrapa en todos sentidos.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although a very interesting and quiet plot, I had difficulty keeping track of the many narrators and their stories. Overly complex. I became lost and unconnected, even while I continued to read and enjoy the characters. When I finished, I re-read the back cover, and thought: "Oh yeah-- that's how it fit together." A book shouldn't need an explanation to tell you the story, but this one is worth reading even so.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good quick read...it had the same kind of "Storytelling" quality as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and other Mexican authors...kind of magical & fate related. Timeless ideas...beautifully told.

[Apple Austria · Rating 4 out of 5]

made me want to pick one hundred years of solitude again..

[Tower Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, entertaining, curious, full of light, love and latin american spiritness. Read!

[Milly Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

me fascina, pero no como su santa marta del circo

[Maria Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irate at the moment. But a definite good read.