“The world changed while I slept, and nobody had consulted me.” Carlos Eire open his childhood memoir Waiting for Snow in Havana in a simply and beautifully profound way of indicating the theme of his book: Change!

Carlos Eire was born in Cuba in 1950. He was one of those fourteen thousands children, who fled Cuba to America in 1962 after Fidel Castro took over control of the government. Before reunited with his mother in Chicago in 1965, Carlos Eire had been through a series of foster home from Florida to Illinois with his brother. Fourteen years after last seen of his father, Carlos received the news of his father’s death. His father, who was a judge in the time of pre-Castro, had never left Cuba in protecting of his Art collection. Carlos Eire is currently a professor at Yale University.

His non-fictional memoir: Waiting for Snow in Havana mainly focuses on his childhood in Havana, Cuba before he left the country. It consists of 29 chapters, which are named accordingly after a number in Spanish. The book is not written in chronological order. Instead, Carlos chose to tell his story by jumping back and forth between time and foreshadowing event that will happen later in his life.

Waiting for Snow in Havana carries itself in a uniquely insightful way. Language usage through out the book seemingly at first to be informal, but examining pages after pages, it reveal the satire of communism professionally. Carlos transforms readers by including Spanish curse languages into the books, which make his satire become more powerful. In addition, his interest in religious is reflected in the book by using examples and images of Jesus to explain various things.

The nicely deep touch of the book is through the emotion that it brings up to readers. His life story in first person explode inside the audiences’ minds with devastation of a child in the transformation of a country to communism. The struggle of making a living while in high school and working full time, the isolation of life in America - thousands of miles away from home - when he was separated away from family, generate a sincere sympathy to people. On top of that, his sense of humor created an optimistic vision of the situation. However, the book brings up a theme of consciousness of sadness:
“Whatever you love, whatever you think you own, all of it bond to disappoint, to prove false. Whether you know it or not, whether you like it or not, nothing you can embrace in this world will ever fill that yawning void in your soul. Nothing. No thing. No one. Ninguna cosa. Nadie.”

However, Carlos Eire’s life is only one of fourteen other children, who possibly would have suffered similar or worse scenario. Through his memoir, he provides readers the general understanding and history of why immigrants come into this country, specifically Cubans, as well as how they arrive to where they are in society today. It challenges audiences’ thoughts and assumptions toward certain subjects happening in life.

The book is recommended for anyone, who are interested in reading non-fictional literature. Even Carlos’ satires decrease the book’s tedium, but it is still not as joy and pleasure as reading a scientific fictional literature. Since the book is not written in chronological order, it is flexible for readers to stop and continue. For overall rating, the book deserves a ⅘.