Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in El Salvador during the civil war of the 1980s, Ben¡tez's third novel (after A Place Where the Sea Remembers and Bitter Grounds) seamlessly blends fact with imagination, evoking the trauma of war more vividly than any newspaper account. Nine-year-old Nicol s de la Virgen Veras lives with his grandfather Tata in Chalatenango, El Salvador, but on March 30, 1980, his mother, Lety, who works in San Salvador for Don Enrique, brings him to the city to witness the burial of a martyred saint, Archbishop Romero. In a bloodbath based on a real-life event, 35 people in the crowd of 80,000 are killed and 450 wounded by soldiers' fire. Lety dies protecting Nicol s. When her body is taken away, Nicol s cannot believe she is dead and tries first to find the hospital for the wounded, then to get home to find Don Enrique's address. As he journeys through the bleak Salvadoran landscape, Nicol s is caught in the violent clashes between the National Army and guerrilla rebels. Held at different times by each faction, Nicol s must rely on his wits and faith in the Virgin Mary if he is to survive. Ben¡tez's novel is both political and spiritual, beautifully illuminating the effects of war on the innocent. Like the Sumpul River of Nicol s's hometown, which alternately rages and soothes, Ben¡tez's style is both quiet and intense. Her achievement here is considerable; in this brief narrative, she gives voice to the silenced. Those who seek a deeper understanding of Latin American conflict and who appreciate Ben¡tez's moral stance will find the novel especially gratifying. 6-city author tour. (Feb.) FYI: Ben¡tez is donating a portion of the proceeds from The Weight of All Things to Rosie O'Donnell's For All Kids Foundation. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A nine-year-old boy wanders through war-torn El Salvador, trying to find his mother and stay out of the line of fire, in this lucid but limited tale. Benítez (Bitter Grounds, 1997, etc.) sets her third novel in the six-week period between two recent cataclysms of Salvadoran history: the March 1980 funeral of assassinated Archbishop Oscar Romero, at which 35 mourners were killed; and the militarys massacre of 600 fleeing peasants on the Honduran border. Although her protagonist, Nicolás de la Virgen Veras, lives in the countryside with his grandfather, he goes to San Salvador to join his mother at the funeral of a martyred saint. When violence breaks out at the cathedral, Nicoláss mother is killed by a bullet. Separated from her body by chaotic circumstances, the boy thinks shes still alive, but he doesnt have the address of the house where she was a servant. So he journeys back to his rural village, only to find it abandoned and devastated by bombings. As he roams about, Nicolás meets both leftist guerrillas and right-wing army soldiersall of whom say exactly what youd expectand comes to understand the tragedy of being caught in the middle. As Benítez notes, While the two sides fought for their principles, most of the dying was done by the people. Contrasting with the novels usual plainspoken realism are the occasional manifestations of the Virgin Mary, who gives guidance and reassurance to Nicolás during his most harrowing moments. Such sceneswhen, for example, a statuette of the Virgin actually speaks to the little boyare authentically weird and sometimes a bit mawkish. But they dont distract from Benítezs vivid portrait of a time and place in which even children are murdered without second thought. Quite a valuable history lesson, despite its stock types. Author tour
Library Journal Review
The unimaginable cruelty of war becomes even more horrible when seen through the eyes of a child. Ben!tez (Bitter Grounds) portrays El Salvador's recent civil war in all of its senselessness and brutality as nine-year-old Nicolas Veras makes his way through a landscape of violence. Having joined his mother in San Salvador to attend the funeral of Archbishop Oscar Romero, Nicolas survives the ensuing mayhem that kills his mother. The intrepid child makes his way back to his grandfather's farm in the hills only to discover that their village has been bombed and guerrillas have commandeered the farm. Ben!tez's depiction of casual murder and massacre is more chilling for the matter-of-fact telling. Advance notice has compared this novel to Kosinski's The Painted Bird, but there is a vast difference. Unlike Kosinski's protagonist, Nicolas is an innocent who, despite his encounters with evil, remains compassionate. With its deceptively simple narrative, The Weight of All Things tells a powerful story.DAndrea Caron Kempf, Johnson Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Overland Park, KS (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
