Reviews

Trilogia Suja de Havana by Pedro Juan Gutiérrez

sadiereadsagain's review against another edition

2.0

I'm not sure if I really enjoyed this, to be honest. Its three stories, but I can't really see any reason for them being separated into a trilogy rather than a bunch of short stories. There is no storyline in any of the three parts, every chapter is just a different account of supposed daily life of those struck by the crippling poverty & awful quality of life in 90's Havana. That element itself is what I enjoyed about the book, as it was a culture & place I knew nothing of before reading this book. What killed the book for me was the horrific use of macho & sexual bravado, which to me just came across as desperate & boring. According to this book every woman in Havana is a whore, people fuck on every street corner, its acceptable for a man to jerk off in the street, no one seems to get STDs, & women are struck dumb by the beauty of a hard cock. It just sounds like this guy has never had sex in his life, & the sexual overkill was such a turn off. Its a shame, as the writing would have been so much more effective had he chosen the sexual episodes more carefully & used them more sparingly.

diggitalot's review against another edition

2.0

Genialiskt bra eller bara snuskig. Det är inte helt lätt att bestämma vad den här boken är eller vill vara, kanske måste jag bestämma mig för att den är både och.
Pedro Juan är både författaren och huvudpersonen som tar oss med genom ett Havanna som är ruttet, fattigt och våldsamt men där finns också hopp och något enstaka skratt. Något som det inte är ont om är sex, rom och droger som gör att människorna orkar en dag till av fattigdom och elände. För att minska risken att bli klassad som snuskgubbe kan jag inte annat än sätta ett lågt betyg på den här boken men gränsen mellan geni och skit är hårfin.

presoblu's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

alfred0hdz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

(4.5)

Sorpresivamente me gustó mucho

laurabuljon's review against another edition

2.5

If you scratch out all of the unnecessarily disgusting sex scenes, the slurs and the bad dialog which really doesn't sound real then you'll have some amazing prose. And also like 15% of the book left. Not sure why but I have a love-hate relationship with this book. Leaning a lot more to the hate side. Kind of like with life. This book reminds me of life and the not so pretty parts of it.

elisala's review against another edition

4.0

Recueil d'histoires un peu foutraque(s), effectivement plutôt crades, témoignage d'une période particulière de Cuba (au milieu des années 90), vue par l'oeil de l'auteur-narrateur, sans ordre chronologique apparent et -ce me semble-sans cohérence des personnages! Mais ce n'est pas vraiment gênant. Plus gênant: le fait que c'est malheureusement truffé de généralités navrantes: "les noirs sont comme ci", "les femmes sont toutes comme ça", ... Et puis j'ai trouvé un peu bizarre qu'après deux parties plutôt homogènes (avec rupture temporelle assez claire et assez nette), la troisième partie soit totalement différente, alternant des récits de notre auteur-narrateur désormais familier, avec des histoires d'autres personnes inconnues. On reste toutefois dans la même veine crade, pleine de décrépitude, de pauvreté, de sexe par tous les trous.

"Hier soir, en plein milieu du raffut, des saoûleries et de la musique propres à tous les samedis, Carmencita a coupé la pine à son mari."

caritopg29's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

katty2088's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

4.75

enzotomatis's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

4.0

unabirraecentopaginealgiorno's review against another edition

3.0

Cuba ai tempi dell'embargo in questa raccolta di racconti di "realismo sporco". Non c'è trama, ma tanti frammenti crudi e disperati. Politicamente scorretto, razzista, omofobo e misogino. Bukowski e Welsh restano di un altro pianeta.