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writing || Thoughts on “My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King” by Reymundo Sánchez

IoanaApril 29, 2017

Synopsis

Looking for an escape from childhood abuse, Reymundo Sanchez turned away from school and baseball to drugs, alcohol, and then sex, and was left to fend for himself before age 14. The Latin Kings, one of the largest and most notorious street gangs in America, became his refuge and his world, but its violence cost him friends, freedom, self-respect, and nearly his life. This is a raw and powerful odyssey through the ranks of the new mafia, where the only people more dangerous than rival gangs are members of your own gang, who in one breath will say they’ll die for you and in the next will order your assassination.

The Short Version

This book surprised me so much. It was recommended to me by a friend and although hesitant at first, I decided to pick it up and give it a try because it was unlike anything I’d ever read.

And I’m glad I did. It was incredible. Yes, it was packed with crude language, stories of rape, drugs, alcohol, shootings and murder, but I wouldn’t have changed it in any way. While I can’t say I enjoyed the topic or even the writer’s literature style, there were so many things to be learned from My Bloody Life. To begin with, it was remarkable to see a peek at what gang lifestyle is like. Many of us live perfect lives with false problems and endless opportunities, and it was an awakening shock to read about what is really going on in some places of the world, to youth no older than me.

I also know I’ll be definitely making use of the settings, dialogue, and character backgrounds from this book in my own novels in the future. From a writer’s perspective, this was a very valuable book to read.
Finally, I loved this book because its theme and style of writing were captivating, and while the author could have easily turned the topic into a melodramatic, emotional book, he chose not to.

Overall: phenomenal read.

The Long Version

As I mentioned, I started off with extremely mixed feelings about this book. The author, Reymundo (his pseudonym), gets raped by his cousin in the very first chapter. From the start, that was a stark reminder that this was not going to be a “nice” book.
The author then goes on to narrate about his lost childhood, his gradual involvement in gangs and later, his increasingly violent nature accompanied with a regular consumption of drugs and alcohol. One thing I really appreciated throughout the story was the limited use of emotion. Had this been your typical novel, it would have immediately begun mercilessly wringing my eyes clean at the very first incidence of a death, but it stayed well away from any kind of melodrama. As a result, I established a comfortable disconnect that allowed me to appreciate the novel for its characters, real-life events, and even dialogue, rather than being caught up in false Hollywood drama.
Speaking of dialogue, I found myself frequently studying that particular component of the book. Of course, it’s not uncommon to see this kind of dialogue in high school as well, but it was great to be able to investigate it side-by-side with a character’s past. I know for sure I’m going to be using the elements I saw in this book’s dialogue in my own future stories.
To top that off, I pulled a blank when I asked myself how else could I possibly word this without the use of swear words?

Take this line, for example: “They can’t get away with that shit.”

It’s a simple sentence that says a lot about the character. The only alternatives I can think of are something along the lines of:

“Who do they think they are? They can’t get away with that.”

The same kind of message, but with a completely different set of words creates a powerfully different image. I took an mental note of this interesting phenomenon.

Finally, the author’s honesty shone through the book, and I respected that. It was filled with stories of his own flaws and shortcomings, something which cannot have been an easy feat to record. He had one intense past, and he was still able to put that down in words in a clear, direct way that was not only easy to follow and understand, but totally mesmerizing.

Favourite quotes

This was how all Latino youths seemed to classify each other – gang member first, human being second. Ironically, Latinos complain that police treat all youths as gang members first and human beings second.

Gang members as well as non-gang members feel the need to run and hide when police are present. If they didn’t, chance are they would be harassed, beaten, or arrested for a crime they didn’t commit. Police tend to believe that kids in the ghetto are guilty unless proven innocent. That’s why kids run and that’s why police are the enemy.

For the first time in my life someone had taken the time and cared enough to tell me the truth. But I ignored it, classified it as bullshit, and took it as an attack against me.

I wasn’t afraid to take a beating, but I didn’t want to walk alone. I was afraid to be alone, not to belong.

On the way there they gave me all kinds of advice and offered to help me if I wanted to quit gangbanging. I got out of their car in a daze. It was the first time that a cop had tried to talk some sense into me.


Final rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Comments (1)

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    July 12, 2018 at 8:46 am

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Nice to meet you!

Hi, it’s Ioana! I’m a blogger, brand marketer, and recent Queen’s Commerce alumni. When I’m not drinking coffee, reading, studying or exploring the city, I dabble in creative projects like this one!

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So glad I overcame my initial hesitation toward th So glad I overcame my initial hesitation toward this book being about video games. It’s a delight for my brain so far and I’m not ashamed to admit that I spent all of this morning and afternoon reading (it was glorious) and I’ve learned 3 new words I adore:
- dilettante
- Weltschmerz
- palimpsest

Pls note: photos taken “while reading” are obviously not as impromptu as they may appear on Instagram. They’re usually when (a) you’re on a reading intermission because you either haven’t started or are getting a bit tired of reading for so long or (b) there’s a long period of descriptive text that doesn’t necessarily represent the quality of the book and is a good time to hashtag let-me-take-a-selfie. So don’t read this one page and form an opinion about the book. Instagram isn’t reality. 😜

Pls also note I’m only 40% through the book so my review isn’t definite. I’ve been burned before by jumping too excitedly to recommend a book (in this case, TV show) to everyone around me before realizing it gets WEIRD later on. So take my moment of excitement with a grain of salt - more thoughts to come!
Just received this new pen from @bulletjournal and Just received this new pen from @bulletjournal and @leuchtturm1917 @leuchtturm1917canada! 👀 Here’s a closer look!

Can you tell I had so much fun unboxing this 😅 It’s my new desk pen for days that I want to feel a little ✨fancy✨

#gifted #pen #amwriting #bulletjournalleuchtturm1917 #gelpen #journal #journaling #planner #studygram #aestheticstudy #bujo #bulletjournal #bulletjournalpen #bujopen #minimalistplanner #bulletjournaling #bulletjournalcommunity #penlover
Vote in the comments for your top 2 on-location sk Vote in the comments for your top 2 on-location sketches! 👆 Check my IG story from today more more details, but there’s an @usktoronto call for submissions for an art expo/sale happening in Jan/Feb. Since they’re looking for on-location sketches and I have plenty, I’ve decided to submit and see what happens!

They would all be for sale so I’ll donate anything that comes of it to a related cause. ❤️ 

Which of these 2 do you like best? 👆

#urbansketchers #urbansketch #sketchbook #sketching #artjournal #travelsketch #drawyourday #sketchbookart #watercolor #illustration #urbansketching #sketchjournal #fineliner #finelinerdrawing #moleskine #watercolortraveljournal #watercolorillustration #traveljournal #travelwatercolor #traveldiary
One final art supplies haul from @currysartstore M One final art supplies haul from @currysartstore Mississauga this weekend! 🥺 So sad that they’re closing - I remember they’ve moved locations a number of times but they were always my favourite art store growing up. ❤️

And let me know if you’ve tried any of these supplies because I haven’t! Super excited to play with some new paints - specifically the metallics and also practice more acrylics after my summer painting class at @visualartsmississauga. 🥰

#artsupplies #unboxing #artsupplieshaul #artistsupplies #torontoartist #currysartstore
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So glad I overcame my initial hesitation toward th So glad I overcame my initial hesitation toward this book being about video games. It’s a delight for my brain so far and I’m not ashamed to admit that I spent all of this morning and afternoon reading (it was glorious) and I’ve learned 3 new words I adore:
- dilettante
- Weltschmerz
- palimpsest

Pls note: photos taken “while reading” are obviously not as impromptu as they may appear on Instagram. They’re usually when (a) you’re on a reading intermission because you either haven’t started or are getting a bit tired of reading for so long or (b) there’s a long period of descriptive text that doesn’t necessarily represent the quality of the book and is a good time to hashtag let-me-take-a-selfie. So don’t read this one page and form an opinion about the book. Instagram isn’t reality. 😜

Pls also note I’m only 40% through the book so my review isn’t definite. I’ve been burned before by jumping too excitedly to recommend a book (in this case, TV show) to everyone around me before realizing it gets WEIRD later on. So take my moment of excitement with a grain of salt - more thoughts to come!
Just received this new pen from @bulletjournal and Just received this new pen from @bulletjournal and @leuchtturm1917 @leuchtturm1917canada! 👀 Here’s a closer look!

Can you tell I had so much fun unboxing this 😅 It’s my new desk pen for days that I want to feel a little ✨fancy✨

#gifted #pen #amwriting #bulletjournalleuchtturm1917 #gelpen #journal #journaling #planner #studygram #aestheticstudy #bujo #bulletjournal #bulletjournalpen #bujopen #minimalistplanner #bulletjournaling #bulletjournalcommunity #penlover
Vote in the comments for your top 2 on-location sk Vote in the comments for your top 2 on-location sketches! 👆 Check my IG story from today more more details, but there’s an @usktoronto call for submissions for an art expo/sale happening in Jan/Feb. Since they’re looking for on-location sketches and I have plenty, I’ve decided to submit and see what happens!

They would all be for sale so I’ll donate anything that comes of it to a related cause. ❤️ 

Which of these 2 do you like best? 👆

#urbansketchers #urbansketch #sketchbook #sketching #artjournal #travelsketch #drawyourday #sketchbookart #watercolor #illustration #urbansketching #sketchjournal #fineliner #finelinerdrawing #moleskine #watercolortraveljournal #watercolorillustration #traveljournal #travelwatercolor #traveldiary
One final art supplies haul from @currysartstore M One final art supplies haul from @currysartstore Mississauga this weekend! 🥺 So sad that they’re closing - I remember they’ve moved locations a number of times but they were always my favourite art store growing up. ❤️

And let me know if you’ve tried any of these supplies because I haven’t! Super excited to play with some new paints - specifically the metallics and also practice more acrylics after my summer painting class at @visualartsmississauga. 🥰

#artsupplies #unboxing #artsupplieshaul #artistsupplies #torontoartist #currysartstore
Black Friday SALE on now at @thewashitapeshop 💃 Black Friday SALE on now at @thewashitapeshop 💃🏼 20% OFF everything - link in bio or visit thewashitapeshop.com to shop what feels like an entire art gallery. 😜

So hard to pick but I was most excited to get my hands on this new PET tape designed by @tonia_tkach - it’s called Forest Houses and comes as both PET tape and washi tape. How cute!

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Sounds from a day in the life preparing for @nanow Sounds from a day in the life preparing for @nanowrimo last month. 🥰 Please send over any motivation you can though because I haven’t written in a WEEK. 🙈😭 Turns out it’s harder than I thought to write 50k words in a month during the literally busiest week at my day job, while also spending time with my boyfriend, family & friends… and helping to keep our apartment at least somewhat in order. 😅 Posting this video to inspire myself is already working though so… let’s see if I can make it past 6k words today! 💪
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