Title: The Line Becomes a River
Publication Year: 2018
Plot: Francisco Cantú recounts his experiences working as a Border Patrol agent along the US-Mexico border. The book delves into Cantú's conflicted feelings about his role in enforcing immigration policies and the human stories he encounters, including the struggles of migrants seeking a better life and the violence and tragedy that often accompanies their journey. The narrative also explores Cantú's own identity as a Mexican-American and his complex relationship with his heritage and family history. Through vivid prose and introspection, "The Line Becomes a River" offers a poignant exploration of the moral complexities and human toll of America's immigration system.
Trivia: The book won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and was a finalist for National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction
Each week in Lone Peak Book Club, we have a discussion leader. This person leads our discussion of that week’s book. They usually have questions, quotes, and scenes they share with the group. Our leader this week was someone who used to be a coyote at the border. He used to pick people up at check points and drop them off elsewhere. In other words, he was the perfect discussion leader for this book. In our group, we also had someone from some of the towns mentioned in the book. As you can imagine, these two elements helped us have a long, wide-ranging discussion.
We talked about things in the book that happen at the border compared to what we hear in our national news coverage. The readers that have experience at the border both mentioned the sense of community on the border. People look out for each other. There’s a scene in the book where the author’s mother falls and people rush to help her. The two readers said they knew they were looked out for and they looked out for others.
We also talked about current policies and situations and realities at the border. It’s a complicated issue, obviously. One reader mentioned that no border is worth killing people over; the deaths that happen at the border tragedies that get swept under the rug in the name of national security. The economics of migrant workers, the impact of drug trafficking, and the efficacy of the border patrol were things we talked about and could have kept talking about.
The last section of the book moved the whole group. The author chose to end the book in the voice of his friend Jose, someone who has crossed the border a few times. We talked about what this act of ventriliquism does and why Cantú ended it this way. One reader suggested it brings a sense of closure to the story of immigrants, at least as far as the narrative of the book goes. Another reader said it’s only right that someone like Jose gets the final words—it gives perspective on why people cross and the future they hope for.
The Line Becomes a River illustrates a reality at the border that is hard to see or read about anywhere else. The group agreed that more people should read this book. One reader said it’s laughable that people thinking building a wall will solve or prevent anything. “This book will open anyone’s eyes.” Another reader said there has to be a better way. “We can’t just let anyone in at anytime, all day long. But our current system is not great.”
And on that sobering note, we are off for a week. I’ll be gone next week, so I gave the readers a 600-page novel that maybe you’ve heard of: The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. We’ll be discussing that phenomenon in two weeks. We hope you’re reading something good.
Until then,
E.
Also, a reader passed an article on to me about a hockey player from a remote town in Sweden who is now in the NHL. Sound familiar to the first book we read this semester?
If you would like to read The Line Becomes A River, here are some links: