Piñata by Leopoldo Gout
A Unique Possession Story
Leopoldo Gout’s Piñata is a fresh take on a worn-out storyline. It’s about an innocent young girl who gets possessed by an evil spirit. Sound familiar?
These stories always end the same way: with a cross-brandishing Catholic priest chanting encantations and hurling holy water in a frantic bid to cast the demon out. There’s nothing wrong with that – the original Exorcist is one of my favorite horror movies – but the storyline has been done to death.
Piñata takes a different route. It draws not from Christianity, but from the pre-Columbian folklore of the Aztec Empire.
The Beginning Grips Us Right Away
When the storm ends, the worst part is the absolute drowning silence; the silence of graves, of the defeated gods, of the broken musical instruments, of the mute poets.
The novel begins with a riveting flashback to `1621, when the conquistadors from Spain conquered the Aztecs. The invasion is seen from the perspective of a group of traumatized indigenous children who have been abducted by priests and pressured to renounce their religious beliefs.
A psychopathic friar berates the kids for their society’s ritual sacrifices, then shows how morally superior he is by beating a boy to death. Later, the friar meets a well-deserved end at the hands of a shadowy supernatural figure.
The Beauty and Peril of Modern Mexico
400 years later, Carmen Sanchez, a Mexican-born architect who lives in New York, returns to Mexico City to oversee the reconstruction of an ancient monastery. She is accompanied by her daughters, sixteen-year-old Izel and eleven-year-old Luna.
Carmen is delighted to give her kids the chance to experience Mexico for the first time. She takes them to a market, where they buy a piñata. Carmen befriends Father Veron, a kind Catholic priest who is involved in the architecture project.
As excited as she is to be back home, Carmen is understandably wary of the risks to her family. An early scene depicts her looking at the copious posters of missing young women and girls. She also runs into challenges at the worksite. Carmen struggles to gain the respect of the men working under her. She is eventually forced to return home after an accident at the monastery reveals a trove of ancient Aztec artifacts.
A Gradual descent into terror
After the accident, the usually happy-go-lucky Luna adopts a darker demeanor. Her personality changes are relatively subtle at first. But after the family is back in New York, they become embroiled in supernatural mayhem as the Aztec demon takes control and ramps up its quest for revenge.
Piñata‘s villain is motivated by understandable fury. It strikes out at both the guilty and the innocent. The spirit’s anger is justifiable, but many of its actions are not.
Ultimately, it is a gifted young indigenous woman who has the best chance to end the demon’s rampage. Yoltzi is a Nahua with psychic abilities. She is the novel’s most unique and compelling character: an Aztec descendant with the power to perceive spirits and ancestors. Yoltzi becomes convinced that she is the only person capable of saving Luna.
Lots of people think she’s either nuts or a con artist, but Yoltzi doesn’t let that dampen her determination. She undergoes a harrowing journey across the border, risking her life and freedom to face a malicious entity who believes that she is a traitor to their people.
Some Questions are Left Unanswered
Gout finds a satisfactory conclusion to Pinata‘s main storyline. Unfortunately, he leaves several other plot threads hanging. It’s hard to go into specifics without spoiling the ending, but I would have liked to have seen the novel’s many subplots (such as Carmen’s work situation) resolved as conclusively as its central plot.
So Why is This book called Piñata?
Modern piñatas, as we know them in the Americas, are Spanish imports (although they probably originated in China). The seven-pointed piñatas represented Christianity’s seven deadly sins.
It’s worth noting, however, that the Aztecs already had a piñata tradition. They performed a religious ceremony in which a small pot was filled with offerings and then broken as a tribute to the gods. This ritual is described in the novel’s prologue.
Piñatas have multiple symbolic meanings in the story. To the Sanchez family, piñatas are fun party toys and iconic symbols of Mexican culture. For the spirit who possesses Luna, they represent colonialism and oppression.
A Descriptive, Clear Writing Style
Looking into Luna’s eyes was like looking into two deep, dark caverns stretching endlessly into a mountainside. Deep within Luna’s hellacious face burned an ancient fire, whose flickering light was all but smothered by the thick darkness within.
Gout peppers the novel with vivid descriptions, especially of the supernatural events that occur. From the apocalyptic nightmare described in the prologue to the harrowing fury of Luna’s possession, Gout makes it easy for us to imagine what he is depicting.
Although Carmen is clearly the protagonist, Gout frequently switches points of view. Many novels have us locked into the main character’s mind. We never know what the supporting characters are thinking.
Thankfully, that is not the case here. We get the perspectives of Izel, Luna, Yoltzi, Veron, and numerous other characters. The novel would have been far less compelling if we were stuck in Carmen’s head the entire time.
Speaking of Carmen, she is surprisingly even-tempered considering the amount of insanity she has to put up with. Maybe Gout was worried about making Carmen seem hysterical or melodramatic, so he overcompensated by making her excessively placid.
I would have welcomed more rage, frankly. What person, regardless of gender, wouldn’t be going berserk in this situation?
Rating
Although its plot threads could have used tightening, Piñata is nevertheless worth a read. It’s an evocative and thought-provoking story that distinguishes itself by focusing on the forgotten spiritual traditions of a lost civilization.
Rating from 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (masterpiece): 8
