Henry Holt & Company, 2012.
Five Stars
When Karen Nieto’s aunt Isabelle returns to her childhood home in Mazatlan, Mexico after the death of her sister, she finds a niece that she did not know existed. Karen grew up as a feral child with undiagnosed autism, who is finally able to communicate with others because of the love and support of her aunt. Isabelle’s parenting is far from conventional, as she allows Karen to play and work at the family’s failing tuna cannery, Consolation Tuna. Because Karen is more at home with the tuna than with other humans, she puts her savant-like skills to good use, making the cannery the first humane tuna fishery on the planet. As Karen grows and develops, her intuitive communication with nature calls into question our own ethics about how we live and what we eat.
At first I found the language awkward, and saw it as a combination of the translation and the use of an autistic voice, which wasn’t always successful. However, the author uses Karen’s innocent and literal mind to explore difficult topics in a matter-of-fact way. Sexuality, religion and ethics are all touched on, and Karen questions everything we think is factual about being human. Karen thinks of herself as “Me”, a role that no one else can take on – we all self-aggrandize, and she is just more honest about it than most. As humans, we generally see ourselves as the centre of the world, but Karen does manage to overcome this as she identifies more with the other creatures around her – she finally sees herself as a small part functioning in a great big world.
Karen’s supposed limitations – her inability to lie, her refusal to speak in metaphor when the truth is more exact – are actually strengths that allow her to see the truth in human nature. She tells the world that she has “different abilities”, and her differences from other people are equated to the difference between humans and other species. She uses coping mechanisms to function – such as hiding herself in the safety of her scuba gear – and she refuses to accept the euphemisms we use for the torture and killing of animals. She sees through the lies we construct for ourselves about being human, and forces us to acknowledge the way we treat other beings on our planet.
Philosophy and religion played a major role in this novel, but it was never tedious. Karen’s explorations of spiritual treatment of animals, such as kosher laws, as well as philosophers such as Descartes, are all handled with care and attention. Descartes most famously summed up humans by telling us “I think, therefore I am,” and his message has been used to elevate us above the animals and justify the negative ways we treat them. Karen, however, disagrees: “I, on the contrary, have never forgotten that first I existed and then, with a lot of difficulty, I learned to think… So, that’s why I’m far away from humans.” (p. 31). At the end of her life, Karen’s aunt can see this too: “In their relationship to nonhumans, civilized humans are all autistic.” (p. 209). It is up to Karen to create a new, respectful agreement between the two.
In her interactions with the tuna, Karen realizes that the miracle of spirituality will not be found in any sort of religious rapture, but in our connection, here and now, with the natural world. The miracle is the sea, and the sun, and our existence within it. She constructs for us a new way that we can strive to live: “Not to kill reality nor to let reality kill me.” (p. 238). Just existing within the natural world – that is enough.
When I started this novel, I was pretty sure it would be getting three stars, but it just got better and better, moving steadily to a solid five. I was actually surprised at the end by how much I loved it. Karen’s enjoyment of being in the world was so satisfying and filled with an authentic love for the planet. I can’t wait to read more by this author.
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