Reviews

Hecho en Saturno by Rita Indiana

archytas's review against another edition

funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This takes the least likeable character from Tentacle, dismisses half that novel's plot as a heroin withdrawal dream, drops him into addiction recovery in Cuba, and follows his listless journeying for a couple of hundred pages. And it is really interesting to read. 

As the title would suggest (Saturn here is the filicidal-wannabe god, not the planet), Indiana's focus is with the generation born of revolutionaries who are now powerful politicians:

"They were the spitting image of their progenitors, but without the ideological baggage, their parents had used to plan attacks. They looked contented, not at all naive, grateful for the battles their parents had fought against Trujillo and Balaguer but lacking any interest in perpetuating the struggle."

Indiana's writing is visceral - even in translation, you slip into the patter of the characters, smell the sewage, feel blinded by the colours. The rapid chopping of scenes leaves the reader slightly off-balance - many chapters jump into the action, then retrace to how we got here, leaving you feeling a bit like you are always playing catch-up. It helps brings Argenis's world - in which he most wants to disappear - into relief666666666666

Argenis is a difficult protagonist. He is misogynistic, self-pitying and utterly without purpose.  By choosing to centre his perspective, Indiana both draws central attention to the dilemma of a generation living in a post-revolutionary malaise, and also makes every other character shine a bit brighter in comparison. Her portrait of Cuba - a motley array of characters each with their own form of hustle - is that of a real, complex society. Cuba tends to reduce people to broad brushstrokes - an exemplar of virtue or one of evil, depending on your political persuasion. Both Cuba and the Dominican Republic here are societies living in the wreckage of revolutionary movements, but that doesn't equate to a condemnation of those movements in a Western sense. These young characters are a generation raised to believe that things would be better than they are - in fact, what is striking is how similar this is in theme to Western millennial literature, a generation inheriting a broken world and with little time to do more than hustle for their next gig. But for Argenis and his friends, their parents loom larger than life - heroic figures whose lives are so distant from their own and who - at least in Argenis' case - abandoned their own ideals for power. If all this makes it sound like a political book, it's really not. It is always about people, not ideas. But in the end, it feels as if the stories of these islands* *are* tied to the stories of these millennials. The book ends of a hopeful note, and I can only hope that speaks well for the islands as well.

*Yes, technically an island and a half.

akaybarlow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

rebeccahussey's review against another edition

Rita Indiana’s follow-up to Tentacle is a novel about art, addiction, and revolution, set in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Argenis Luna is an artist, but his heroin addiction has left him unable to work. His father, a former revolutionary who is now a member of the political elite, arranges for him to enter a rehab center in Havana, where he begins the process of healing. But it’s a complicated journey, and he’s haunted by a fraught relationship with the legacies of his family and his country. Once he leaves rehab, he wanders through cities and meets people from his past, trying to understand himself and what he wants from life. The novel is a fascinating portrait of a difficult person struggling through life, and it captures the Caribbean setting and complex political history with vibrant detail.
https://bookriot.com/2020/03/20/indie-press-round-up-march-new-releases/

pablusioumeo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Indiana sigue la vida de un personaje de "La mucama de Omicunlé" pero aquí abandona el surrealismo caribeño y escribe una novela mucho más estándar (con palabras mucho más estándar de novelista). Pero deja una pregunta: ¿qué tan imposible es escapar del nepotismo latinoamericano?

antonioct's review against another edition

4.0

Qué bien escribe Rita Indiana, qué gustito, qué complicado.

abbie_'s review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

(#gifted @andotherpics) I travelled to Cuba and the Dominican Republic in just a few short pages, courtesy of this gritty little novel from And Other Stories. Although I wasn't blown away by it, there is a lot that I liked in Made in Saturn, including an insightful look at addiction, art and corruption.

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The main character Argenis Luna is one that seems unlikeable (rich father, privileged position in a rehab centre for his heroin addiction recovery), but actually I ended up sympathising with him quite a bit. He has his flaws, but he also reminded me of a lost lamb, desperately trying to make sense of life through the blurry haze of his addiction. He has to come to terms with the fact that his father, a prominent player in the communist revolution, is now a high-and-mighty member of the ruling elite and frankly doesn't give a shit about his junkie son, except for the points it scores him among his peers.

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Set partly in Cuba and partly in the Dominican Republic, Indiana paints a bold portrait of these two countries, bringing to life the sights and sounds and smells of the cities Argenis finds himself in. I liked her style, the bold and up-front prose well translated by Sydney Hutchinson.

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I think the main reason I felt a bit disappointed was that Rita Indiana is a queer author whose work is often praised for its exploration of sexual identity, but that was largely missing from this book. I was looking forward to reading one of the first Dominican authors to address non-conforming sexuality, but Argenis is a heterosexual male. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it, and now I look forward to reading Tentacle, which promises more of what I was looking for in this book!