The Diezmo: A Novel

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Oct 01, Christy rated it really liked it. Well-known outdoor writer Rick Bass tells the story of the infamous Mier Expedition, a group of wildcats who, in , crossed the Texas border into Mexico, attacked a village, and were captured. They were marched across Mexico, and most of them died. Hence, the "diezmo" The men who drew the black beans were taken out and shot. My great-great grandfat Well-known outdoor writer Rick Bass tells the story of the infamous Mier Expedition, a group of wildcats who, in , crossed the Texas border into Mexico, attacked a village, and were captured.

My great-great grandfather, Willis Coplan, was part of this group, and obviously drew a white bean. He's mentioned on pages and So naturally I recommend this book. But even without the personal connection, I would still recommend it, for its vivid writing and historical significance. Jan 21, Patricia Johnson rated it liked it. Sam Houston became the President of this independent country and as sentiments were still high against the Mexicans a band of mercenaries, unofficially sanctioned by Sam Houston, crossed the Rio Grand to annex Mexico to the 'Republic' of Texas.

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After a dismal defeat in Ciudad Mier, Mexico the entire band of Texans were captured. The book tells of the treatment of these prisoners, atte Just after the battle at the Alamo and the defeat of the Mexican army in San Jacinto, Texas became a 'Republic'. The book tells of the treatment of these prisoners, attempted escape s and their final return to Texas. Texas by this time had become a State of the Union.

Oct 22, Charles rated it really liked it Shelves: The first half of The Diazmo is flawless, engrossing and exciting. Then it begins to read like a cribbed, poorly integrated quotes from a stack of index cards. I was mortified and high expectations were dashed. The facts were interesting in an academic sense, but as a novel it was an essay.

The plot has been recounted by others, so I'll pass. It possible they share a common source.

Editorial Reviews

There is nothing that bothers me about that. I had expected much more and for a while I was happy thinking I was getting it. Mar 09, Jeff rated it liked it Shelves: I really enjoyed the first half of the book, it was similar to Blood Meridian which I never finished , but toned down, and with more heart and humanity from the narrator.

But the second half dragged. This review captured my thoughts: Jan 31, Shaun rated it liked it. This was a decent book about a kid from Texas who volunteered to fight Mexico in the mid 's during the Mexican-American war. He and his friend went out with an idea of how things would turn out, but it ended with a much different, unexpected outcome than the protagonist anticipated.

It was a well written novel. This was my first book by this author Rick Bass , but I'll probably check out more books by this author. Jun 10, Neill Goltz rated it it was ok. All his many books were sold out at across-the-street bookstore afterwards, but managed to check out this early novelette out of local library. It was alright, but I'm more interested in his other books, including the one about his dog!

Gonna get there, I promise. Aug 16, Will E rated it it was ok Shelves: I knew I wasn't bound to love everything Rick Bass has ever written, and so while I liked this fine, it's certainly my least favorite, and it's my least favorite because the language didn't feel quite the same- it felt a little shallow and not nearly as beautiful. Perhaps because he felt the need to keep throwing bits of his research in? Just wasn't quite the same, somehow. Jul 27, Brian rated it really liked it Shelves: A literary exploration into Historical Fiction about a raid into Mexico for revenge on bandits that raided Texas.

The main character relates the story of their adventures, capture, escapes, and imprisonment.

Jun 19, Monica rated it it was ok. No comparison- In the Garden of Beasts is a much superior historical fiction novel. I was never really engaged in the story or character for Diezmo. Feb 04, Kae Cheatham rated it liked it. Billed as a novel, it was more like a chronicle about ill-fated volunteers who invaded Mexico in the s.

Nov 10, Rose rated it liked it. A close look at the coming of age of two boys who go to war. Very credible snapshots of their thoughts and actions. Another great historical western; both literary and gutsy in the spirit and tradition of Cormac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry.

Jul 18, Travis rated it liked it Shelves: I understand Bass's need to expand his horizons a little past the nature loving books I just don't enjoy them as much. But the narrative is marred by certain limitations including the personal isolation of its narrator and the odd lapses in the memoirist voice.

Alexander tells us things he shouldn't know were he a real person, as when he describes a rock as being the shape of the map of Mexico it's unlikely a back country Texas farm boy would have had a good picture of the geography of that country, especially in a time of shifting borders like that was or when he provides precise details as to the distances of places. At such moments the author's own historically educated voice appears to creep in and overhelm the narrator's.

And yet, despite a slow and somewhat abstract start to the book, I found the tale compelling, particularly after their travails on the long trail to imprisonment in the south -- and, afterwards, during their time in the prison fortress into which they are finally thrust. There is a brief and hard-to-credit romantic interlude when young Alexander attracts the school age daughter of a Mexican officer who is building a road and for which purpose Alexander and his cronies have been impressed into service but it doesn't go far and, given the tale's stark ending, we are led to suspect that this was to be the high point of the Texas youth's romantic life due in part, at least, to the terrible toll the war and imprisonment imposed on him.

Overall the foolishness and emptiness of war's reckless violence and vanity are the real characters of this tale in which the various leaders, William Fisher, Thomas Jefferson Green and Bigfoot Wallace, legends in Texas history, come across as superficial and vainglorious fools, overbearing and in search of loot and glory above all else.

It's an antidote to the oft imagined glory of war and yet it is finally one-sided since it cannot stand as a proxy for all wars ever fought. After all, if the Texans are brutal and racist in their aggressive behavior in crossing over to loot the Mexican town of Mier, then can the Mexican soldiery who defended Mier and beat the rampaging Texans be equally bad? If one side is the aggressor, whichever side we think it to be, then there is a good side in war, too, found finally in those who stand against the aggression.

Bass offers credit to neither side, however, in his narration which focuses on war's futility through the eyes of this young Texan while ignoring the value of defending Mier and other communities against those men who have come to the town for rapine and pillage. It's a quandary for all those who condemn war out of hand and something that may never be easily reconciled for war is, finally, a brutal and dehumanizing thing that plays no favorites in the violence it visits on winners and losers both.

Bass recounts the story of a troop of sometimes reluctant, but always relentless men ostensibly fighting for their new nation of Texas. The historical incident, obscure to most of us, is well known to Texans, the retaliation for the Battle of San Jacinto. We come to know what drives some of them and the regrets of others. Mostly, we marvel at their capacity for survival.

The Diezmo Summary

When everything is taken away from them; when they live day after day in toil and torture, infested with an army of lice and tested by disease after disease, they still have the ability to experience the small joy that comes with the minutest reprieve. There is little joy in reading the book, though the author presents the story as well we could expect.

Like castor oil, though, it may be good for us to see those so eager for war get their wish, then regret it for every minute of their lives. I was reluctant to continue after hearing some of the horrific deeds commited by the men who after reading the dustjacket I thought to be Texas heroes. But just as I was appalled I was mesmerized into reading throughout the night in hopes of learning how their fates played out. And as I write this just a few minutes later I am wondering how the survivors fared, the ones that were less critical to the story at hand but may have played a more powerful and less publicized role.

Overall I recommend this to anyone with an interest in Texas I found this book to be an excellent historical novelation or is it a novelation of a historic event? Anyway, as someone who is familiar with Texas history, I still found much to admire about this novelisation novelization? It is made more interesting by the centering of the story on one fictional character, intermixed with real, historic figures.

I would recommend the book highly to anyone wanting to learn about this tragic event in Texas history, as well as anyone wanting to read an exciting, bloody story in its own right. See all 7 reviews. Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway.

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THE DIEZMO

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The Diezmo by Rick Bass

Get to Know Us. English Choose a language for shopping. Not Enabled Word Wise: Not Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Willis, however, wrote that the men who drew the black beans joked about it. One said, "This beats raffling all to pieces," while another said, "Boys, I never failed in my life to draw a prize.

Nevertheless, this is a wonderful novel. I'm grateful to Rick Bass for bringing to life a story that, for me, had almost become a fable. One person found this helpful. A workmanlike retelling, in the form of a survivor's memoir, of the filibustering excesses of a group of Texas patriots who set out to defend the borders of their new republic but stumble, instead, into a confrontation with vastly superior Mexican forces on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande; this tale captures the naive eagerness and unabashed savagery of the glory-crazed Texas combatants through the eyes of a diffident and surprisingly passive narrator.

Fifteen year old James Alexander and his boon companion James Shepherd respond to the call to glory and the defense of their newly born nation when a contingent of Texas irregulars arrives on a recruiting mission in their small rural community. Excited by the promises of glory they are swiftly swept up in an ill-conceived and badly executed campaign which rapidly descends into looting and pillage of Mexican communities along the border and then, after a riotous slaughter in the town of Laredo, devolves into an excursion on the Mexican side against the Mexican town of Mier.

But the leaders of the unit of irregulars fall to quarreling and indecisiveness as one of their number refuses to cross the river and takes his troops home while the others conceal their orders which proscribe atrocities against the indigenous Mexican communities as they lead their men on a mission of brutal slaughter and theft. The remaining troops with the two rogue leaders pursue a dream of military conquest, only to stumble into a Mexican force that is many times the size of their own.

Undaunted and without regard to the reality of this mismatch, and after much bloody fighting, the Texans are borne down by the greater numbers arrayed against them. Their inevitable surrender begins what is to become a long nightmare of brutal captivity as the Mexicans force them to clean and rebuild the town they have destroyed and then march them south, ever deeper into Mexico, parading them before the local towns and villages where they are further brutalized. Forced labor and even more horrific imprisonment await them. After an abortive attempt at escape, the remnants of the Texans is forced to participate in a lottery wherein one in ten of their number will be shot, the rest to suffer endless and degrading imprisonment.

The story follows the awakening of the fictional James Alexander to the foolishness of his choice to pursue war and glory and of his failure, after the horrors of the enterprise began to strike home with him, to yank himself free of the passivity that allowed him to be swept along in the atrocities of his associates until their comeuppance before superior Mexican forces. More forethought on the part of their leaders alone would probably have spared them their defeat while certainly sparing the Mexican villagers the rapine and pillage wrought by the Texans before the Mexican army overwhelmed them.

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More energetic assertion of his own intentions would have likely removed young Alexander from the ensuing carnage and suffering. Young James comes of age in his captivity, realizing all that he has lost as he tells his story from the vantage point of advanced age many years afterwards. When we leave him at the end, we see only a lonely and isolated man who has retreated into a kind of self-imposed exile from those around him, reliving and regretting the stupidity that drove him, in his youth, to such wanton destruction, costing the life of his good friend and, perhaps, his own once richer future.

Rick Bass has written an anti-war tale in the guise of an apparently accurate historical account of events from Texas history. But the narrative is marred by certain limitations including the personal isolation of its narrator and the odd lapses in the memoirist voice. Alexander tells us things he shouldn't know were he a real person, as when he describes a rock as being the shape of the map of Mexico it's unlikely a back country Texas farm boy would have had a good picture of the geography of that country, especially in a time of shifting borders like that was or when he provides precise details as to the distances of places.

At such moments the author's own historically educated voice appears to creep in and overhelm the narrator's. And yet, despite a slow and somewhat abstract start to the book, I found the tale compelling, particularly after their travails on the long trail to imprisonment in the south -- and, afterwards, during their time in the prison fortress into which they are finally thrust.

There is a brief and hard-to-credit romantic interlude when young Alexander attracts the school age daughter of a Mexican officer who is building a road and for which purpose Alexander and his cronies have been impressed into service but it doesn't go far and, given the tale's stark ending, we are led to suspect that this was to be the high point of the Texas youth's romantic life due in part, at least, to the terrible toll the war and imprisonment imposed on him. Overall the foolishness and emptiness of war's reckless violence and vanity are the real characters of this tale in which the various leaders, William Fisher, Thomas Jefferson Green and Bigfoot Wallace, legends in Texas history, come across as superficial and vainglorious fools, overbearing and in search of loot and glory above all else.

It's an antidote to the oft imagined glory of war and yet it is finally one-sided since it cannot stand as a proxy for all wars ever fought.

After all, if the Texans are brutal and racist in their aggressive behavior in crossing over to loot the Mexican town of Mier, then can the Mexican soldiery who defended Mier and beat the rampaging Texans be equally bad? If one side is the aggressor, whichever side we think it to be, then there is a good side in war, too, found finally in those who stand against the aggression. Bass offers credit to neither side, however, in his narration which focuses on war's futility through the eyes of this young Texan while ignoring the value of defending Mier and other communities against those men who have come to the town for rapine and pillage.

It's a quandary for all those who condemn war out of hand and something that may never be easily reconciled for war is, finally, a brutal and dehumanizing thing that plays no favorites in the violence it visits on winners and losers both. Bass recounts the story of a troop of sometimes reluctant, but always relentless men ostensibly fighting for their new nation of Texas. The historical incident, obscure to most of us, is well known to Texans, the retaliation for the Battle of San Jacinto. We come to know what drives some of them and the regrets of others.

Mostly, we marvel at their capacity for survival. When everything is taken away from them; when they live day after day in toil and torture, infested with an army of lice and tested by disease after disease, they still have the ability to experience the small joy that comes with the minutest reprieve.

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