I visited Havana, Cuba a few years ago and loved it. I enjoyed the sultry heat ...I visited in March to escape the brutal winter and winter blues of Toronto. I enjoyed the stay in my hotel, the sumptuous breakfast...I ate like a pig but was starving by 12 noon!
I loves the shopping in the market with handcrafted items...lovely wood carvings, the jewelry made of seeds from trees and plants of Cuba. I loved the Mojitos with mint leaves and rum and had one with lunch and dinner daily.
Hmm...What else? I enjoyed looking at the colorful and huge American cars and photographed them like crazy! My husband enjoyed the cigars, though he did not smoke much. I saw the
once-majestic-now-crumbling buildings and sculptures in downtown Havana with melancholy, joy, grief...philosophical resignation? I liked the people...they were friendly, danced beautifully(outside on the streets), I loved the music in restaurants, the innovative way they recycled things and crafted art from what would be dumped as 'garbage' in Canada! Believe it or not, I don't think I saw a single obese Cuban! Whether this absence of obesity implies Cuban poverty or Cuban good health is up to you!
I tried to read as many books about Cuba and Havana around the time of my trip. And Cuba has a special place in my heart because of the communism and socialist leanings.
I believe that if human beings were 'decent; nothing works better than communism and socialism.
Reality Check: But as human psyche is what it is, communism wrecks havoc and should be avoided like the plague
To date, I have read four books set in Cuba, of which two are already mentioned in my article titled, CRIME FICTION SET IN RUSSIA
The three are :
Jose Latour's Best Friends
Martin Cruz Smith's Havana Bay
Stuart M Kaminsky's Hard currency
Nick Wilkshire's Escape to Havana
I enjoyed both Havana bay and hard currency.
I found Latour's description of Havana and Cuba realistic(I read the book after my visit to Havana) but for some reason I did not like the book.. He has written a few other books but I am not in a hurry to read them ! I simply could not relate to the characters or maybe the story was too complex for my brain!
I enjoyed Escape to Havana but it's not really in the same league of Martin Cruz Smith or Kaminsky according to me.
.....................
Leonardo Padura Fuentes has been hailed as the greatest living Cuban writer(at least in the article I read) His crime fiction works have been translated into English. These books have received rave reviews and I look forward to reading them as I am keen on crime from totalitarian and communist regimes.
Havana Blue 1991 (translated in 2007)
Havana Gold 1994 (translated in 2008)
Havana Red 1997 (Translated in 2005)
Havana Black 1998, translated in 2006
Adios Hemingway Translated in 2005
The fog of yesterday Not yet translated into English
Havana fever
The man who loved dogs(not crime but a raved-about novel)
A show appeared on Netflix i.e. Havana Blue but I did not really like it.
I have not yet read Fuentes books.
I loves the shopping in the market with handcrafted items...lovely wood carvings, the jewelry made of seeds from trees and plants of Cuba. I loved the Mojitos with mint leaves and rum and had one with lunch and dinner daily.
Hmm...What else? I enjoyed looking at the colorful and huge American cars and photographed them like crazy! My husband enjoyed the cigars, though he did not smoke much. I saw the
once-majestic-now-crumbling buildings and sculptures in downtown Havana with melancholy, joy, grief...philosophical resignation? I liked the people...they were friendly, danced beautifully(outside on the streets), I loved the music in restaurants, the innovative way they recycled things and crafted art from what would be dumped as 'garbage' in Canada! Believe it or not, I don't think I saw a single obese Cuban! Whether this absence of obesity implies Cuban poverty or Cuban good health is up to you!
I tried to read as many books about Cuba and Havana around the time of my trip. And Cuba has a special place in my heart because of the communism and socialist leanings.
I believe that if human beings were 'decent; nothing works better than communism and socialism.
Reality Check: But as human psyche is what it is, communism wrecks havoc and should be avoided like the plague
To date, I have read four books set in Cuba, of which two are already mentioned in my article titled, CRIME FICTION SET IN RUSSIA
The three are :
Jose Latour's Best Friends
Martin Cruz Smith's Havana Bay
Stuart M Kaminsky's Hard currency
Nick Wilkshire's Escape to Havana
I enjoyed both Havana bay and hard currency.
I found Latour's description of Havana and Cuba realistic(I read the book after my visit to Havana) but for some reason I did not like the book.. He has written a few other books but I am not in a hurry to read them ! I simply could not relate to the characters or maybe the story was too complex for my brain!
I enjoyed Escape to Havana but it's not really in the same league of Martin Cruz Smith or Kaminsky according to me.
.....................
Leonardo Padura Fuentes has been hailed as the greatest living Cuban writer(at least in the article I read) His crime fiction works have been translated into English. These books have received rave reviews and I look forward to reading them as I am keen on crime from totalitarian and communist regimes.
Havana Blue 1991 (translated in 2007)
Havana Gold 1994 (translated in 2008)
Havana Red 1997 (Translated in 2005)
Havana Black 1998, translated in 2006
Adios Hemingway Translated in 2005
The fog of yesterday Not yet translated into English
Havana fever
The man who loved dogs(not crime but a raved-about novel)
A show appeared on Netflix i.e. Havana Blue but I did not really like it.
I have not yet read Fuentes books.
No comments:
Post a Comment