Summary of Book
Karen Tei Yamashita’s Tropic of Orange uses magical realism to show us Los Angeles’ future in a bizarre and twisting manner. This magnificent piece of contemporary Los Angeles literature has its readers guessing at every chapter. The author uses a lot of symbolism and uses the character’s voices to get her own opinion across to her readers.
While it has a slow start, we can immediately ask why there are crabs in the middle of dry Mazatlan, Mexico.
We are introduced to Rafaela Cortez, who is the caretaker of a ranch owned by Gabriel. Together with her son Sol, they discover a mystical orange that has a connection with the Tropic of Cancer. She finds herself in Mazatlan trying to figure what is next for her future.
Bobby is a work-obsessed man who is in search of his wife and child, Rafaela and Sol. He constantly reminds us of his hard efforts at putting his baby brother through college, sending money to his father, and providing for his family. Throughout the book, he never really seems to satisfy his own needs.
Emi is a fast-pace city girl who likes to shock people with her un-politically correct comments. She and Gabriel have an on-again-off-again relationship but she makes it obvious that she really cares about him through her actions. Although she has a big responsibility as a television producer, Emi is constantly leaving work to go to Gabriel’s rescue.
Buzzworm loves Los Angeles and its palm trees. He gives the impression that he is an eccentric advice-giver, always accompanied by his radio. Gabriel finds Buzzworm a valuable informant because of his knowledge of what goes on in the city of Los Angeles.
Manzanar Murakami is a homeless man who conducts imaginary music from traffic overpasses. He sees the traffic as art and also as an important component to his music. Towards the end of the book, we discover that this homeless man is not just any ordinary bum.
Gabriel Balboa is a newspaper reporter who tries to fight social injustice. He owns a house that lies on the Tropic of Cancer and naively brings trees from around the world to this house where they ultimately die. He loves black and white films. He is involved with Emi but is always dodging her attempts to annoy him.
Archangel makes up the last of this fascinating cast of characters. He is immortal and has seen many great events through his long life. At one point, we see his superhuman strength as he hooks a bus to holes in his back and pulls it across the border to the United States. He is a man of many talents who carries a Mary Poppins-like suitcase that has never-ending capacity.
Together these characters intertwine creating a novel with surprises, twists and turns.