La noche de Tlatelolco

Rating:
Summary: It ain't necessarily so!
Review: 25 years after the Tlatelolco tragedy, Luis González de Alba, then jailed and interviewed in prison by Poniatowska, said she ought to make several amendments to her now-classic book to make it more historically accurate and less militantly oriented. Turns out to be, Poniatowska credited many others for things González de Alba told her in his cell. He thought that was O.K. then for propaganda reasons, but now history demanded a more straightforward approach.

What happened next? Poniatowska resigned her seat in NEXOS magazine -where González de Alba writes- and threatened to do the same thing to La Jornada, Mexico City's main leftist paper, unless they sacked him on the spot, which they promptly did.

So, all that talk about freedom and liberty and tolerance and stuff you read in the book has to be taken with a big grain of salt, since it seems the author can't even take one single comment, not to mention a critic!

Rating:
Summary: A thought-provoking account of the Tlatelolco massacre
Review: Elena Poniatowska re-creates and recollects in this book the events leading up to, during, and after the massacre of civilians in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, Mexico City, in October 1968. Divided into three parts, Poniatowska's book provides a fascinating insight into the general mood in Mexico City at the time. The author conducts a range of interviews with the students involved in the demonstrations and with their families and friends both before and after the event. Their voices are heard in the form of stories which tell the tale of Tlatelolco. Doctors, nurses, residents of the Plaza where the killing took place, servicemen and soldiers, all bear witness to an event which has up until recently, been obscured in Mexican history books. A compelling read.

Rating:
Summary: The voices speak for themselves
Review: This book is incredibly moving. Because it's a compilation of quotations from various participants and observers it takes on the quality of a film or poetry. The reader is not scarred by the writer's bias. The book puts forth a collective emotion that comes directly from those interviewed. As to the truth of the facts, I don't know, perceptions vary, but I highly recommend this book.