Alejandro Jodorowsky begins Where the Bird Sings Best with a quote from Jean Cocteau, "A bird sings best in its family tree." He uses this as the basis of a highly allegorical novel exploring themes of Jewish emigration and diaspora, the immigrant experience in late-19th century/early-20th century South America, the communist movement in the same, spirituality, and the meaning of life. Though he focuses on his ancestors, he uses them more to capture a spirit or convey a message than to accurate portray their lives' experiences. Late in the book, Jodorowsky writes, "I don't know if my memories of the time before my birth correspond to reality or if they are mere dreams. That doesn't matter. In any case, reality is the gradual transformation of dreams; there is no world but the world of dreams" (p. 243). This reflects the philosophy of his art.
As a work of fiction, Jodorowsky's writing and themes resemble those of Jamaica Kincaid and Salman Rushdie, but with his own, unique spin on things. The publishers, Restless Books, label the novel "autobiography" because Jodorowsky uses his ancestors as characters and those expecting to learn more about the artist, author, filmmaker, and comic book creator will be disappointed since the book ends with his conception. On the other hand, those looking to enjoy his unique worldview and learn about how he perceives his own heritage will enjoy this work. ( )

“Weird” might be my choice if I had to describe Alejandro Jodorowsky’s “Where the Bird Sings Best” in one word. That was my biggest impression, but there are so many dimensions to this “autobiographical novel” that make it unique and at the same time another masterpiece of Latin American literature. I will warn readers that there are many disturbing scenes, but from what I gather, those familiar with Jodorowsky’s other work will find this to share many of his trademark elements. In fact, his family history, through a curtain of fiction, helps explain where he comes from and why he is the way he is.

This book starts several generations back and ends just prior to his own birth. Four of the five parts (more than chapters) feature sections of his family tree – where the title of the book comes from. “My Father’s Roots” tells of how his paternal grandparents started his father’s generation. By the end of this first part, he explains how the Jewish family came not to the United States but to Chile. The family’s beekeeping is left behind, and they start from nothing in South America. They meet a monkey-like one-man-circus, as they find that Alejandro (the author's grandfather and namesake) can work as a cobbler, and his wife Teresa, under a different name, can join the circus along with her seven trained fleas. His grandfather had a double identity, as a Rabbi, who his fiery grandmother controlled at will – to the point of declaring the Rabbi a ‘fabrication’ (Teresa comes across as quite formidable, and confronts anyone, even God). This ghost stayed with him in the five years of military service that he spent away from his family, whose development he had to catch up on after returning. His is the first strange pilgrimage to be carried out in the book.

Jodorowsky’s maternal heritage is rooted in lion taming. His other grandfather, also named Alejandro, after early abuse found a devotion to dancing. In one of many inexplicable events, he ended his life in flames and in art, song and dance, leaving the family talents to his daughter. The maternal grandmother found a new husband, and with little promise from the Jewish Colonization Association, moved up north to farm with her sister. The author’s mother, now a child, hides her appearance for safety, and hides her singing for her mother's sake. They manage to get by, all the half-sisters and cousins, until the northern Patagonian landscape erupts, leaving them in darkness and changing their direction.

The third part tells how his paternal grandparents split apart only to reunite too late, after they both transformed and were used up to the point of almost no longer being human. The Rabbi reincarnates himself in Jaime, the author’s father. Jodorowsky narrates of his conscience well before he was born – but, not only him: his entire family is reincarnated into each other: they are all one.

National politics stirs up more violence, another unfortunate branch of suffering in these pages. These were the most challenging features for me to endure. Why so much rape and other forms of violence? And why, not just this book, but so many others, and in movies, etc.? What is the balance of horror and art? Add incest and bestiality: how much of all this is hallucinatory, how much is grounded in true memory? The craziest things happen, and are told in a quick, casual way. And yet, these events fit together in the line of the story. After the initial shock, there are consequences to deal with.

The reader wonders how the author's parents eventually meet. He narrates as a spirit waiting to be reincarnated under the perfect conditions. While his mother is hidden, his father undergoes several transformations of his own. He leaves his days in the circus and is healed by a Mapuche, for an unusual payment – a word that can describe much of this book. Before all that he was a fighter, a boxer, but he later takes on the appearance of a "holy penitent" carrying the cross, learning lessons in politics and religion. Eventually he crosses paths with Recabarren, the anarchist, or more accurately the communist party leader, who assisted the first generation of Jodorowskys when they arrived. The politicians from the two main parties buy the peoples’ votes in any case, and take advantage of them. But Recabarren was different, and when Jaime’s life takes another turn, he is back into the circus, performing “the master”’s theater interpretations, which if read literally make little sense, but are metaphors of the political climate. His role, as it turns out, was that of the lion tamer. These theatrical allegories are not hard to recognize, but the use of ambiguous, or at least very clever, metaphors are another characteristic of this Latin American style.

How he wrote in such detail of events that happened so long before he was even born is impressive. Were family stories passed down verbally, and he filled in the blanks with imagination? What is real, what is legend, embellishment, hallucination? The lines are blurred. I wondered more than a few times how he could write such things about his close relatives (in terms of generations, if not personal interactions), wondering if this can only come from someone who does not love their family, or felt extreme abandonment. The most intimate and graphic details surface, yet they're not embarrassed, nor afraid of hiding anything from each other. So much happens in one paragraph that by the end of a page, years might have gone by. Time is more circular than linear: cyclical, spiraling, revolving. Read this book with an open mind. If you can get through the weirdness and madness, this stands as a masterpiece.

Note: in exchange for an honest review, a copy of this title was generously provided by Restless Books. For more reviews, see my blog: http://matt-stats.blogspot.com/ ( )

n diesem Buch geht es sinnlich und deftig, grausam und brutal, liebevoll und zärtlich zu, wie in alten Geschichten, wie im Alten Testament auch, gegen dessen rächerischen Gott Adonai sich Teresa zu Beginn des Romans auflehnt. Mit ungebändigtem Temperament erzählt der Autor eine exzentrische russisch jüdisch lateinamerikanische Familiensaga - seine Familiengeschichte. ( )