Retablos: Stories From a Life Lived Along the Border – Octavio Solis

(Reviewed by JD Jung)

“…the shit on the border never changes. There will always be those who want to come across, and those who want to keep them where they are…I think it’s really a condition of our culture: it’s how we live now, it is our particular mythology, replete with gods and monsters, heroes and fallen angels, troubadours and exiles.”

American-born playwright Octavio Solis recounts his life growing up in El Paso, Texas in his memoir Retablos: Stories From a Life Lived Along the Border. Though the stories are based on factual events, he admits that he took some poetic license. This isn’t just for the purpose of conveying life around the Texas/ Mexico border in the 1960’s and 1970’s, but also he couldn’t guarantee that he remembered the events with 100% accuracy.

Solis is a masterful storyteller, and as I finished one story, I couldn’t wait to get to the next. Some are lighthearted, as his childhood obsession with trumpeter Herb Alpert. He shares his vivid imagination as a child along with remembering his first love as a preteen. There were his trips to Juarez, Mexico where he couldn’t understand why he was treated like an American, seeing himself as a victim of stereotypes and not really fitting in anywhere.

Some stories provide insight on his strained relationship with his father and brother. At one point he compared his connection to his brother to that of events on the border. When off to college, his brother occasionally asked his mom about him “…maybe it’s his way of digging under the wall, his way of chipping at the wall’s need for grudgers and rancor between brothers.”

One border-related event that stuck with me was when he observed a teenage Mexican girl trying hide in the Texas fields. Another one was when he returned home from college and naively picked up a pregnant prostitute. I admit that it’s difficult for me to give examples of these fascinating stories as there is so much to pick from.

That said, readers will find much that they can relate to. When he returned to El Paso from college, he was ashamed of his hometown, but realized that it will always be a part of him. Certain people he grew up with never left, which brought out his own inner conflicts.

“This is my city, they seem to say. I run and run but here I am. Where are you? What are you running from? Who left you behind? The prodigal bitch is you.” Solis continues “It is then I see that pride and shame are the same sin.”

As you can tell from the above quotes, Solis is able to express both pain and ambivalence with skill. As I was reading, I felt that Solis was still trying to find himself while writing this book.  In fact, those who wish to explore self-discovery will learn a lot from Retablos: Stories From a Life Lived Along the Border.