In a short, parable-like style, Jamaican-born novelist Anthony Winkler reaches back to the 16th-century Spanish conquest of his homeland for God Carlos, a tale of the frequently tragic--and also comic--clash of races and religions brought about by colonization. Alternating the apprehensive "civilized" Spanish sailors exploring the unknown and the unsuspecting "savage" Jamaican Arawaks living in peace, Winkler sets up a pattern of ironic parallels as his characters live out the historical cycle of prejudice, conquest and cultural extinction--all in the name of progress and piety.
The story begins in Cadiz, where Spanish sailor Carlos has had enough of land, "the dingy shops and unreinforced masonry houses, the smell of pungent refuse splattered all over the rutted dirt road." Alonso de la Serena, a Mallorcan captain and ship owner, hires Carlos to crew on the Santa Inez on a voyage to the West Indies, where he hopes to find gold and undiscovered lands to carry his name in cartographic immortality.
As the Spaniards set off for the "new world," a simple Jamaican man, Orocobix, carries his recently dead uncle to the tribal burial cave according to the traditions of his ancestors and the words of the shaman. Orocobix is special among the Arawak because he has met the white gods of Columbus's landing and tells stories of their power and immortality. When the Santa Inez finally arrives off the coast of Jamaica, it is Orocobix alone who paddles out to meet them and prostrate himself before the first white man he sees, the God Carlos. On an island without extremes of weather or local enemies and with abundant grains, fruits and fish, the Arawak live unashamedly naked and peacefully as they share food generously among themselves.
Simple as Winkler's parable may sound, his narrative is rich in historical detail and without an agenda. It falls somewhere between the platitudes of James Michener's South Pacific and the immensity of Madison Smartt Bell's trilogy of novels about the Haitian slave rebellion. He illustrates the epic forces behind the conquest of the Arawaks, but also guides us carefully through the daily routines of life aboard a 16th-century Spanish vessel. Epic forces of history are all well and good, but details like his description of the jardines--seats hung over the rails for the men to relieve themselves--are downright fascinating. –-Bruce Jacobs, founding partner, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.
Shelf Talker: Anthony Winkler spins an enlightening parable, rich in historical detail and irony, of the Spanish conquest of Jamaica.