bookgirl0925's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
WTF did I just read??? I find half of the book unbelievable. I have a hard time believing all the sexual encounters and I'm not sure why they all had to be included in this book. Would have been better if it focused more on political aspects and his writing than his sexual escapades.
WTF did I just read??? I find half of the book unbelievable. I have a hard time believing all the sexual encounters and I'm not sure why they all had to be included in this book. Would have been better if it focused more on political aspects and his writing than his sexual escapades.
kellylkennedy's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
This was an amazing story of perserverance, love, loss, persecution, ingenuity, adventure, & community in Castro’s Cuba.
toroyaguila's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.75
Como testimonio de un hombre homosexual en la Cuba castrista me parece muy valioso: hay lujo de detalles de toda la represión brutal de la homofobia de estado. Me deja dudando la falta de matiz del autor sobre las mujeres lesbianas (muy poco mencionadas) y su tendencia a la caricatura de casi todas las personas que le rodean, menos de unos cuantos muy contados.
Y hay un punto en donde parece mentir (y esta no es una novela): la inmensa cantidad de sus encuentros sexuales y las condiciones de muchísimas anecdotas sexuales del autor y de sus conocidos (algunas, muy grotescas).
Para mí lo más valioso de haber escuchado esta autobiografía fue tener una idea sobre sus procesos de escritura en regímenes autoritarios, represivos y conservadores.
Y hay un punto en donde parece mentir (y esta no es una novela): la inmensa cantidad de sus encuentros sexuales y las condiciones de muchísimas anecdotas sexuales del autor y de sus conocidos (algunas, muy grotescas).
Para mí lo más valioso de haber escuchado esta autobiografía fue tener una idea sobre sus procesos de escritura en regímenes autoritarios, represivos y conservadores.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Murder, and Pedophilia
robshpprd's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting at times for its insights into life under Castro as a gay man, but aside from that, not a very good book. Some of Arenas exploits seem to be more than a little embellished.
audjmo91's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very detailed and very harrowing memoir of Arenas' time growing up in (and ultimately escaping) Cuba under Castro's regime. I admit, the paranoia and stress Arenas was feeling gave me nightmares that I was being hunted myself!
It saddens me that he never truly felt at home (both in Cuba once "his" Cuba no longer existed, and in the paradox of living in exile/as a refugee), but only once free could he have written his life story.
This is more like a 3.5 book that I'm rounding up - I can't explain why this felt a little like a slog to get through. Perhaps because it can veer into repetitive territory or because, once in Havana, the pressure on the adrenaline gas pedal doesn't let up until which made reading very tense. Ultimately, I'd like to see what Arenas does with fiction.
It saddens me that he never truly felt at home (both in Cuba once "his" Cuba no longer existed, and in the paradox of living in exile/as a refugee), but only once free could he have written his life story.
This is more like a 3.5 book that I'm rounding up - I can't explain why this felt a little like a slog to get through. Perhaps because it can veer into repetitive territory or because, once in Havana, the pressure on the adrenaline gas pedal doesn't let up until
Spoiler
he is imprisonedramblingbard's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
molly_roanoke's review against another edition
3.0
cuban gay interest! i think the movie is better and less disturbing, though.
bookynooknook's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.5
radioisasoundsalvation's review against another edition
4.0
This was probably the most detailed account of a slow, meticulous dehumanization that I've ever read. Having taken many classes for my anthropology major dealing with issues of culture/human rights, I STILL wasn't adequately prepared for Arenas' experience. I can't believe that someone went through all of that and kept on, had the power to lecture and write once free of Cuba. Beware, though. This book isn't for the faint of heart. It can be rude, crude, and explicit. Arenas leaves NOTHING to the imagination. Understand that a generation of open minded youth had so many freedoms taken away, and lashed out for a sense of joy and truth wherever they could get it.
Books like this bring to the forefront the SAD state of the American educational system; as a child, most of what my generation was taught and exposed to was ALL from the American perspective (at least until college, of course). Seeing the Communist Revolution in Cuba as Arenas tells it shows how little understood these issues really are. Countries like Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, and Mexico have undergone such turbulent political forces in the past century, that have systematically torn to shreds every small piece of humanity people could hold onto. This memoir shows us how ill-informed we can be and reminds us why human rights world wide still have a hell of a fight ahead of them.
Books like this bring to the forefront the SAD state of the American educational system; as a child, most of what my generation was taught and exposed to was ALL from the American perspective (at least until college, of course). Seeing the Communist Revolution in Cuba as Arenas tells it shows how little understood these issues really are. Countries like Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, and Mexico have undergone such turbulent political forces in the past century, that have systematically torn to shreds every small piece of humanity people could hold onto. This memoir shows us how ill-informed we can be and reminds us why human rights world wide still have a hell of a fight ahead of them.