Nahuatl Fiction / ficcion Nahuatl

[Frances Karttunen]

> I, for one, believe that the narrative [Jennings] accomplished what no other
"fictional"
> treatment and or narrative on the Mexica had done to date, and that is that it
> made Aztec
> civilization readily available to those who might not otherwise have cared to
> examine it on any other level.  Let's face it, few scholars in the realm of
> Nahuatl studies ever manage to do that...


Which is exactly why I suggested Clendinnen's [nonfictional] book.  If you
are looking for color and emotional intensity, you will find it there.

Whereas you say that Jennings makes "Aztec civilization readily available,"
I feel that what Jennings has made available is his particular set of lurid
fantasies, set forth with an eye to commercial success.

There is, by the way, another completely accessible book that used to
actually be sold in the Mexico City airport and may still be for all I know.
It is both accessible and accurate: Fernando Horcasitas's "The Aztecs Then
and Now."  A really lovely little book.