Living Like The Saints (Book Review)

“Living Like the Saints: A Novel of Nicaragua”, By Liston Pope, #0963890018, c1997, 303 pages.

In 1994, Liston Pope authored his first novel, "Redemption: A Novel of War in Lebanon", a portrait of the 1975-76 Civil War there. His focus was not national or international problems, but war, as seen on the individual level - the damage done to personal lives. Liston had first-hand experience, which he used create his portrait (in 1978, he was a correspondent for the World Council of Churches, and was sent to Lebanon for 18 months - and at times lived in the refugee camps).

Ultimately, Pope attempted to follow the same path with his work -literary and otherwise- on Nicaragua. He spent several years living and volunteering in Nicaragua, in the 1980's. He has also written numerous articles and news pieces on the Sandinista Revolution, and the North American Christian-based aid (or apathy) which often underlies it. He was working in a school (Damour), when it was attacked by the Contras, so it is not as though his experiences are gained only from newsprint, or the experiences of other people.

As can be gathered from the title, sentiments and ideals of liberation theology are the guiding force, and his intended audience (liberal Christians from afar) would of course find such forces, presumably, compelling - though this is not to say all religious characters in his works come off as sympathetic.

The novel is set late in the days of Somoza, in the city Masaya, and Pope creates an intimate portrait of the people and the seize mentality there. He crafts a detailed account of the people (heroes, everyday “saints“, we are informed) there, as seen through the eyes/lives of one family. Some of these saints are children living what appear to be, mostly, adult lives.

This includes the heroine, Alma, who only takes up the Sandinista cause after brother Miguel, the voice of the movement, the poet of the revolution, is kidnapped and destined for torture by Somoza’s National Guard. The community is led, or at least looks up to, the local Priest, who may or may not be saving their lives, or their souls.

There is no doubt regarding the struggles huge segments of the population endured under Somoza, and that victory was a long time coming, and included incredible sacrifices by countless people. But, that does not automatically make every account of that sacrifice, interesting. Pope knows the people and the country, and offers countless details on their lives and losses, and to his benefit, can be extremely insightful and humorous when needed. But, in the end, the book suffers due to his storytelling ability, or style.

The book appears to be self-published, and even if not, it is not likely the result of a manuscript which was scrutinized by a trained editor. The book reads as a draft copy, not a finalized version. Perhaps it is Pope’s writing style, but much of what he wants conveyed ends up buried in various ways of not saying it, or not saying it well. It is hard to get a feel for any sense of flow to what he writes. There are numerous flashbacks all of which appear to add little by way of depth to the story, and bring what momentum there is to a near-halt. The biggest drawback to the book is the dialogue, which is offered readers in a bizarre, often unidentified fashion. Actual speech, and accompanying descriptions or narratives, are all blended together as generic text.

When Pope writes about the average person’s life and what they would prefer it be like, he is rather good. But, when he tries to spin these observations into a lengthy work of fiction, he is not always all that good. In a world with so many excellent books, it is hard to recommend one which does not offer a good story, told well.

It should be noted that Pope's travels are not simply research for "novelizations" of historical events. The novels are clearly the result of selfless personal work and his underlying moral outrage at what happened to the Nicaraguan people, but the book appears to be written specifically for other such people (volunteers), and sadly they may be the only readers who enjoy the book, and not all of them will find fiction worthy of their time when there is so much excellent non-fiction materials regarding the very same events.

Pope dedicates "Living Like the Saints" to Sandinista guerilla Nora Astorga (lawyer, turned Sandinista, turned judge, later appointed Nicaraguan Ambassador to the United Nations [her appointment as Ambassador to the United States was rejected, due to her role in the botched 1978 kidnapping/ransom attempt, turned torture and murder of National Guard Official General Reynaldo Perez Vega]) who died of breast cancer, at the age of 39, in 1988.