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Waiting for Fidel
Details the author's travels in Cuba and his quest for the elusive dictator, Fidel Castro
- GenresNonfictionTravelHistory
259 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 25, 2022
Damn it! Why does every travelogue of modern Cuba omit my birthplace, the Isle of Pines? After all, Fidel Castro and Raul, among other political prisoners, spent two years, 1953-55, on my homeland's most notable tourist attraction, El Presidio prison complex. (My father, who worked there, got to meet the lesser-known M-26 prisoners, like Huber Matos, but not Fidel or Raul.) Conservative columnist Christopher Hunt decided to travel Cuba by retracing the exact route Fidel's army took in 1959, in a victory lap stretching from Santiago de Cuba to Havana, where Hunt hoped to meet the Great Man. He never did, but along the way met everyone from street vendors and mechanics to prostitutes and other tourist attractions.
June 6, 2022
I enjoy visiting different parts of the world and getting a taste of the local culture and meeting people from other countries. It helps me better appreciate that people are people all over the world, and that we have more in common than not. Cuba has long been on my list of place that I would like to visit, but may not get a chance to. And even if I somehow found my way to the island, I almost certainly wouldn't see it the way the author of this travel memoir did.
Hunt sets off for Cuba with a self-appointed mission of meeting Fidel Castro. After spending some time in Havana, he concludes that he is unlikely to accomplish this goal, so he sets himself a new one. He decides to follow Castro's footsteps as he took control of the country. From the mountains in the southeastern portion of the island, where Castro mounted his insurgency, to the towns along the central highway where Castro addressed the people after his revolution was victorious, Hunt tries to get better understanding of Castro by visiting the same places Castro did.
Along the way, he comes to appreciate some of the accomplishments of Castro's revolution and recognizes many of its failings. Written in the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, we see the economic impact on Cuba, and see how Cuba was beginning to change. Decades later, I suspect that many of the insights in this book have become dated. Fidel has died and his brother now controls the country, and it remains difficult to assess the nature of live on the island from here in the US. This book provides a glimpse into the nation at a specific point in time, but can't illuminate the conditions in the present.
Hunt sets off for Cuba with a self-appointed mission of meeting Fidel Castro. After spending some time in Havana, he concludes that he is unlikely to accomplish this goal, so he sets himself a new one. He decides to follow Castro's footsteps as he took control of the country. From the mountains in the southeastern portion of the island, where Castro mounted his insurgency, to the towns along the central highway where Castro addressed the people after his revolution was victorious, Hunt tries to get better understanding of Castro by visiting the same places Castro did.
Along the way, he comes to appreciate some of the accomplishments of Castro's revolution and recognizes many of its failings. Written in the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, we see the economic impact on Cuba, and see how Cuba was beginning to change. Decades later, I suspect that many of the insights in this book have become dated. Fidel has died and his brother now controls the country, and it remains difficult to assess the nature of live on the island from here in the US. This book provides a glimpse into the nation at a specific point in time, but can't illuminate the conditions in the present.
December 15, 2016
This should have been a good read for me - although dated (1990s), there aren't too many memoirs out there by Americans who spent several months traveling around Cuba solo. This author had a great plan: to travel the length of Cuba on the same route as Castro's steps of the revolution in 1959. And with the recent death of Castro, this seemed like a perfect read at this time.
But, it wasn't. Although it being well written and packed with lots of historical information, I found myself easily distracted as I read this - it didn't keep my attention. I prefer travel memoirs that are funny, and this one was just blah to me.
Despite my impression, I'm giving this 3 stars (although for me it was more of a 2) because I think the author did a great job at capturing the essence of Cuba at the time of writing and expounding on his motives for his traveling with a lot of political, cultural and social context. I just wish it hadn't been so BORING to me!
I would guess some things have changed in Cuba since this writing, especially in the recent years, and many more things will change going forward with Castro's death, but for someone with an interest in what life in Cuba was like in the late 90s, this is a decent choice.
But, it wasn't. Although it being well written and packed with lots of historical information, I found myself easily distracted as I read this - it didn't keep my attention. I prefer travel memoirs that are funny, and this one was just blah to me.
Despite my impression, I'm giving this 3 stars (although for me it was more of a 2) because I think the author did a great job at capturing the essence of Cuba at the time of writing and expounding on his motives for his traveling with a lot of political, cultural and social context. I just wish it hadn't been so BORING to me!
I would guess some things have changed in Cuba since this writing, especially in the recent years, and many more things will change going forward with Castro's death, but for someone with an interest in what life in Cuba was like in the late 90s, this is a decent choice.
February 20, 2017
A fabulous timely read what with Cuba opening up recently to tourism. My brother-in-law also had taken a trip there with his family last year and after hearing him talk about the experiences he had, I was anxious to read this book. One of my very best friends gave it to me and all things merged. I also thought about Caz constantly while reading this as we have not been making our usual phone connections.
The author goes to Havana, Cuba in the hope of meeting Fidel Castro. The big question for him was “Where is Fidel?” The answer is everywhere and nowhere. At the time of writing the book, Castro was constantly on the move both within and outside the country.
The author first outlines how he and others in Havana spend their time and make money both legally and illegally. The country was a mess of rolling blackouts, lack of food, lack of work (yet fully employed), drinking, music and a rollicking black market in everything one can imagine.
He then travels to the place where Che Guevara and Fidel Castro landed and marched from town to town, extolling the virtues of Communism and decimating enemies of the state. Hunt chose to travel by local method, using the “yellow man” and standing shoulder to shoulder in the back of trucks and overfull cars and buses.
In each village, town and city he meets a wonderful collection of people: cops, farmers, musicians, black marketeers and many others. Each has their own particular take on Cuban history, Communism, life and of course, Fidel.
Did he find Fidel? Read the book! You will not be disappointed. Another timely book given the recent events in Cuba. Viva La Cuba!!
The author goes to Havana, Cuba in the hope of meeting Fidel Castro. The big question for him was “Where is Fidel?” The answer is everywhere and nowhere. At the time of writing the book, Castro was constantly on the move both within and outside the country.
The author first outlines how he and others in Havana spend their time and make money both legally and illegally. The country was a mess of rolling blackouts, lack of food, lack of work (yet fully employed), drinking, music and a rollicking black market in everything one can imagine.
He then travels to the place where Che Guevara and Fidel Castro landed and marched from town to town, extolling the virtues of Communism and decimating enemies of the state. Hunt chose to travel by local method, using the “yellow man” and standing shoulder to shoulder in the back of trucks and overfull cars and buses.
In each village, town and city he meets a wonderful collection of people: cops, farmers, musicians, black marketeers and many others. Each has their own particular take on Cuban history, Communism, life and of course, Fidel.
Did he find Fidel? Read the book! You will not be disappointed. Another timely book given the recent events in Cuba. Viva La Cuba!!
December 1, 2021
Compellingly written and over-all a thoughtful book, however I was left with a vague understanding of why the author was so bent on seeing Fidel in person? To establish that he was not a myth or to de-mythologize what he had believed him to be? The author took some awful risks going to Cuba just on the off chance of running into Fidel, particularly that the man was never where he or his "managers" said he was going to be (next),
July 8, 2017
Hilarious.
August 29, 2017
Very nice read. The author struggles to be scrupulously fair and I found the hunt for Castro aspect amusing in what is otherwise a very grim story.
July 21, 2008
great book about the realities of Cuba... apartheid, prositution, sex tourism and the stuff that makes you still want to go even with that other junk
February 23, 2009
Probably one of the best books about Modern Cuba out there. Funny & insightful without being judgemental. The next best thing is going there yourself (which you should do).
April 16, 2011
It's a little old now, but a nice snapshot of 90s Cuba with a decent amount of Cuban history thrown in.
October 1, 2008
A wonderful and insightful travel diary about one man's trip to Cuba.
July 19, 2010
Pretty interesting account of an American journalist in Cuba. I learned a lot...
December 30, 2012
A highly interesting-if occasionally ill-paced-look at life in modern Cuba.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews