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After more than a year of reading it on-and-off, I'm almost done with El Vertigo Horizontal, a collection of essays about Mexico City by someone born there in the 1950s. It's been much harder than País sin Techo -- way more literary vocabulary (words my e-reader dictionary also doesn't know) and a less straightforward more dreamy style, which it turns out is harder to read. But it's been sweet.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50615374-el-v-rtigo-horizontal
There's a recurring theme of self-deprecation in reference to Mexico. Occasionally veering from modesty into embarrassment or maybe resignation. It reminds me of talking to people in Russia about Russia in 1997. "Yeah, everything is kinda broken. What can we even do." Or maybe just low expectations. But he conveys it in a loving, familiar way somehow.
This stands out in contrast to "First Stop in the New World", which is also a collection of essays about Mexico City, but from a US journalist who moved there in 1990. It was published in 2008, about 10 years before Vertigo Horizontal. I started reading it earlier, but the vibes were just... off. It feels like it's full of microaggressions. Like he's constantly negging Mexico. Or at least ogling it. I'm curious to go back to the book again now with more context.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3229817-first-stop-in-the-new-world
Another interesting thing about reading these two books side by side is First Stop in the New World came out in 2008, right before smartphones. And Vertigo Horizontal has essays from up to 2018. Getting around cities in the pre- and post- smartphone eras is different.
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