entertaining, but something seems wrong

books:

	• The Milagro Beanfield War: A Novel John Nichols Owl Books, 2000 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 34 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Very Good Read

I absolutely loved this book - a great story and excellently written.

WWIII New Mexico Style

When Joe Mondragon illegally irrigates a puny beanfield, he starts WWIII and becomes the unwitting, reluctant symbol of this battle between the haves and the have nots. The book is absolutely hilarious with its wry yet rich descriptions of the people and the cultures clashing in Milagro, NM. But underneath, the end is near and everyone knows it, is resigned to it, but will fight to hold on for as long as possible. I've read this book several times and have come away with something new every time. Nichols' description of Kyril Montana's initial stealthy and secret foray into Milagro will always hold a special place in my heart. Que viva, Snuffy!

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entertaining, but something seems wrong

The Milagro Beanfield War is a book that starts out very well. Nichols knows
the people and the area he is describing. The stories that he uses to introduce
the location and the characters have a touch of magic realism, and for the
first 100 pages I really thought this would be one of the best books I read
this year. I felt that after that the story got bogged down. As Nichols notes,
this is really a book with an agenda, and this becomes perfectly clear very soon.
Unfortunately this means that the characters and their lively stores that show
such promise in the first part of the book get pushed aside. What
remains are stereotypes of the people (on both sides) and language ("Ai Chihuahua!")
in service of an indictment of capitalism and large scale landownership. While
I agree with some of the points made, I thought that the approach was
heavy handed, and the story suffered as the result.

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Great Story

If not considered a classic it should be. It is a great story about the never ending struggle between those with and those without.

Tears in my eyes funny

This is my second copy of this book. It touches on everything from problems farming the southwest and water rights to differences in values of towns people dealing with big business. It is written in such a masterful way these issues are woven into a funny and entertaining read. The characters are identifiable and the book does a good job bringing them together for the climax. READ THE BOOK FORGET THE MOVIE.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Joe Mondragon, a feisty hustler with a talent for trouble, slammed his battered pickup to a stop, tugged on his gumboots, and marched into the arid patch of ground. Carefully (and also illegally), he tapped into the main irrigation channel. And so began-though few knew it at the time-the Milagro beanfield war. But like everything else in the dirt-poor town of Milagro, it would be a patchwork war, fought more by tactical retreats than by battlefield victories. Gradually, the small farmers and sheepmen begin to rally to Joe's beanfield as the symbol of their lost rights and their lost lands. And downstate in the capital, the Anglo water barons and power brokers huddle in urgent conference, intent on destroying that symbol before it destroys their multimillion-dollar land-development schemes. The tale of Milagro's rising is wildly comic and lovingly ter, a vivid portrayal of a town that, half-stumbling and partly prodded, gropes its way toward its own stubborn salvation.

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