what a change! already, so much easier to read. second, i thought that i perhaps wasn't reading it right when the general's assistant, palacios, was described nicely and not as useless and in a negative light. palacios is actually described in postive terms for being so faithful to the general.
of course, another obvious thing that struck me was how the general was described, and the emotions he felt were that of a "real" human being, who loves and has fears. it is such a contrast from the other books that have described the dictator in horrible ways, and in a sense, without "feelings".
also, once again the cathedral is mentioned in this book, as it has been with many of the other books. it is an interesting role that religion has played in the history of dictatorships, which is why i think so many authors have included something symbolizing (like the cathedral) religion in thier books of dictators.
overall, so far so good...
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I agree with you on Jose Palacios, and you can stretch that out to refer to his entire entourage as well. They are all treated very nicely by the general, yet they follow him and respect him becaues of what he has done in the past. Its quite nice to see such loyalty even though they sometimes have their differences with the General(i.e. Wilson, I think it was Wilson???).
It is nice to read a different side to the protagonist in the novel. It makes you sympathize with the General. And you're right, it makes him seem human in spite of liberating such a big part of South America and being this godly figure so many people used to honour him as in the book.
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