The story told, focused mainly on the XIX and the XX centuries of this region abounds with anecdotes, milestones, political considerations through a narrator, tireless Peregrine aimed to establish a biography of Walker whimsical, romantic and utopian character a tad megalomaniac who left his mark in the revolutionary mythology of Central America.
Through its various meetings, the narrator distills a wealth of information on local politics in different eras (Nicaraguan particularly in eras Somoza and Sandino in XX century; Francisco Morazan Honduras, Narciso Lopez and Simon Bolivar in Venezuela and the region in the nineteenth century) and the literary life that is closely related to it (general history of William Walker in the nineteenth century authors more or less committed such Roque Dalton in El Salvador and Honduras Eduardo Bähr in XX century ...) .
The discovery of major historical figures and descriptions of the political rivalry, domination bloody dictatorial regimes in these states, geopolitical tensions (conflicts wood, football between Honduras and El Salvador) during the XX century in overlap the presentation of the singular itinerary and totally unknown adventurer William Walker, a disciple of Lord Byron.
President of the Republic of Baja California and Sonora, and the Republic of Nicaragua in middle 1850s, William Walker enjoys tasty descriptions Patrick Deville, especially when exposed under the burlesque angle. Printing accompany an amateur in his quest for power, supported by this unusual ability to engage in large shipments with a fortune of logistics (a meager contingent of mercenaries), predominates in the course of his life and the analysis of his political project in Nicaragua, "the crossroads of East and West US via the digging of a canal Interoceanic" ... A tempting inveterate project based on the will to restore slavery accompanied d a permanent distrust in the place of the leaders of neighboring Central American nations would only entail an early death.
Pura Vida does not just educate authentically a readership interested in the revolutionary context of the targeted ages and states, it is also a story of atmosphere, served by a fluid style, chastened, imaged and nurtured an atmosphere often fatal and languishing, which reports from a time without falling into the encyclopedic display.
Some disappointments however, minor in view of the meticulous restoration of the work: the domination of informative character on the sequences somewhat superfluous, devoted to the narrator, his meetings, crushed under the burden of historical information; Higher interest given to the first part of the book regards the follow the adventures of W.Walker less addressed and detailed thereafter and finally the lack of geographical map to locate easily.
A brilliant ensemble story that extends to other lands through the following works of the author, Equatoria and Kampuchea.
