MBybee reviewed Zorro: A Novel by Isabel Allende
Really tried to like this book
2 stars
Zorro is my favorite superhero. Full stop. As a young hispanic kid, there was precious little western media that involves hispanics, and even rarer is media that doesn't put us in some awful racist categories. Zorro, despite being written by an anglo and having (annoyingly) exclusively anglo actors for most of my life, was still my first and best childhood hero. Recent media (like the new Zorro series from Netflix) has been a noticeable improvement.
So going into this, I had some high hopes. I was expecting Captain Alatriste in Alto California. I was expecting modern nuance and storytelling. Unfortunately, these hopes were all dashed.
The racist caricatures of native americans were completely excessive, floating effortlessly from the "bestial savage" to the "noble savage" to the "mystical savage", the same sort of messed up 'orientalism' that was used in the Shadow and Green Hornet. The hispanics are portrayed with all …
Zorro is my favorite superhero. Full stop. As a young hispanic kid, there was precious little western media that involves hispanics, and even rarer is media that doesn't put us in some awful racist categories. Zorro, despite being written by an anglo and having (annoyingly) exclusively anglo actors for most of my life, was still my first and best childhood hero. Recent media (like the new Zorro series from Netflix) has been a noticeable improvement.
So going into this, I had some high hopes. I was expecting Captain Alatriste in Alto California. I was expecting modern nuance and storytelling. Unfortunately, these hopes were all dashed.
The racist caricatures of native americans were completely excessive, floating effortlessly from the "bestial savage" to the "noble savage" to the "mystical savage", the same sort of messed up 'orientalism' that was used in the Shadow and Green Hornet. The hispanics are portrayed with all the same sort of baggage that old ugly terms like 'half breed' can convey. I appreciate that Zorro is cast as partially native, but that is used as an excuse to make him mystical.
I'm sure this book would have been acceptable or even great 50 years ago, but to my eyes in 2025, it reads like yet another racist and garbage retelling that really in no way made the world better.
The last third of the book could be amazing for all I know, I couldn't wade through the any more of this.
A worse Zorro story for a better time.
