AUTHOR: Anelio Rodríguez?Concepción
PUBLISHER: Pre-Textos
GENRE: Narrative history
READER’S NAME: Jen Bovell
DATE: June 15, 2020
There are certain events in the life of a small community that remain so powerful as to live on in the collective conscious. This narrative tells of such an event; the escape of a circus lion, Bubú, and subsequent death of his trainer Mr. Sabas on the same day. But interwoven in this unforgettable event are its many versions, as well as the larger story of a traveling circus that found its way to the Canary Islands and became an institution in its own way and part of local lore.
When the lion escapes from his cage, the town of Santa Cruz de la Palma is in a frenzy, either fleeing through the streets to the safety of homes and watching from behind barricaded doors, or helping to organize a search party led by police. The creature is eventually cornered and shot; Mr. Sabas is left alone to grieve with his lion, and when morning comes, is deceased. The story becomes that the trainer, at 48, died from sorrow.
Anelio Rodriguez Concepcion (El Perro y Los Demás, Historia Ilustrada del Mundo) constructs his narrative interweaving facts and memories, reminding the reader just how much our personal histories and experiences color that conjured from the past. A marked tombstone brings back the memory of a photo of the incident, and this became the catalyst to an investigation into the events of that day and the story of the circus. The writer offers primary source material to analyze, including newspaper articles, photos and first-person accounts. These first-person accounts, from townspeople to family members, provide color and idiosyncratic dialogue that help move the narrative along. As the author is a native of Santa Cruz de la Palma, there is an added verisimilitude that undoubtedly contributes to reader appeal. This approach makes the narrative feel like a mystery as the author pieces the puzzle together about the event, particularly the widely-accepted cause of Mr. Sabas’s death.
Bubú’s escape story is the jumping-off point to delve into the complex and fascinating world of the circus and the performers belonging to it. Originating in Yugoslavia, the circus made its way to La Palma, one of the seven main Canary Islands off the northwestern coast of Africa. Rodriguez Concepcion provides an interesting read into the performers, their acts and roles within the circus, and at-times dizzying family connections. The photos interspersed throughout the book are a welcome addition to the narrative. The chapters are both logically placed and paced, giving the reader a rational next step in the author’s journey through history.
For readers in the U.S., many of whom probably would not be able to show where the Canary Islands are on a map, this book provides a glimpse into a locale not often explored. The typical U.S. reader is certainly more familiar with Latin America, and a work on the Canary Islands would be a welcome addition for translation for a U.S. audience. A well-known and celebrated writer in Spain such as Rodriguez Conception argues for an introduction and greater exposure to American readers. What’s more, the book offers an interesting look into the world of the circus during the last century. That world and experience as told on these pages is drastically dwindling here in the U.S., but Americans are clearly still entranced by stories of exotic animals and their trainers; the recent popularity of the Netflix docuseries Tiger King speaks to that. This story is a more literary and classier representation of circus and animal show life set in the Canary Islands a nearly a century ago, and American readership can certainly find the same spark of excitement, memory and nostalgia for a past with traveling circuses and a loose lion.
