33 Revolutions - General Discussion, No Spoilers (January 2017)

[Whitney]

This topic is for general discussion of 33 Revolutions.

What were people’s general impressions of the novel? Did it seem specific to a time and place? If you have personal experience with Cuba, did the setting and attitude ring true to you?

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of information about Canek Sánchez Guevara. Almost all the articles I found about him were short and reiterated the same information – Ché Guevara’s grandson who became disillusioned with the revolution. It doesn’t look like any of his other writing has been translated. Is anyone familiar with his work outside this book?

Here’s one short biographical sketch that quotes some of his very direct criticism of the Castro regime: https://libcom.org/history/che’s-gran...

This is a longer discussion of the writer and 33 Revolutions from the Spanish periodical El Pais: http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/201... (Here’s a link to the same page translated into English by Google translate: https://translate.google.com/translat... )

I’ll open up a discussion of the book itself in a couple days.

[LindaJ^]

I have not been to Cuba. I worked with a couple of immigrants from Cuba about 40 years ago, but they escaped Cuba around the time of the revolution. My image of Cuba comes from photos showing the cars of the 50s and 60s on the streets, which seem to be on all travel advertisements for travel to Cuba sense travel restrictions loosened. And from the boatloads of people Castro let go about 20 years ago, many who ended up at the refugee camp at Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania. That image seems consistent with what the book was portraying.

Thanks for the links Whitney - they were interesting.

[Neil]

I know very little about Cuba, so I don't know how accurate this book is in painting a picture of events.

The book is very short and barely takes an hour to read (I think - I didn't actually time it!). For me, it would have been better if it were longer.

I think the author did a good job describing a culture/time when life was repetitive and dull with no sense of a future to look forward to. Unfortunately, at least as far as I am concerned, this meant the book was also repetitive and dull and I didn't really enjoy reading it.

I'm keen to hear what people say about it in our discussion because I think it may be one of those books where I gave it a low rating more because I didn't understand the context than because it was a poor book. Although, that said, there's a repeated phrase that drove me round the bend as I read the book and I found some of the language rather pretentious (that could equally be the translation).

[Hugh]

I feel very similarly to Neil - maybe I am missing something but it just seemed dreary and repetitive, and beyond saying that life in Cuba was dull and limited I am not sure that I learned anything - in fact I was left thinking that without the Guevara link the book might never have been translated into English. Still, it is a very quick read...

[Marc]

Seemed to fit in with the general impression I have of Cuba under Fidel, but that's based on a handful of journalistic pieces I've read and a tale or two by visitors. There was a more experimental/poetric feel to this book than I expected. I have some notes/passages to share once the larger discussion opens... and, uh... once I find where I put the book. I did enjoy it despite also feeling like he beat the hell out of the broken record analogy.

Here are a few review links (all with spoilers):
- Cleaver Magazine Review of 33 Revolutions (spoilers)
- The Rumpus Book Review
- Europa Editions (the publisher's page on this book has link to other reviews)

[Whitney]

Thanks for the links, Marc. I particularly like The Rumpus review.

[Julie]

I know very little about Cuba and I can't say that I really learned anything either. However, I think the book was more about feelings/emotion than facts. I liked the broken record analogy and the repetitiveness of mentioning it kind of fit the mood. I didn't find it too repetitive, but did not read the book in one sitting. I read a chapter or two and rested so that it spread out over a whole day. Perhaps that helped?

[CatBee]

For me this book was a fascinating and rare window into life under communism, with a Latin flavor. It confirmed my impression of Cuba as characterized by poverty, lack of resources, unfulfilling jobs, and fatalism, that one has no control over one's destiny. I have been watching the Netflix detective series set in Cuba (Four Seasons in Havana - subtitled), which offers an interesting complement to the book.

[Whitney]

Catherine wrote: "For me this book was a fascinating and rare window into life under communism, with a Latin flavor. It confirmed my impression of Cuba as characterized by poverty, lack of resources, unfulfilling jo..."

That's true. Most of the criticisms you tend to here about Cuba are about the repression and lack of freedoms. While that was in the book as well, he certainly focussed on that fatalism and unfullfillment as the most damning aspects of life there. I hadn't heard of Four Seasons before, it looks good. How do you like it?

The last Cuban movie I saw was "Juan of the Dead". Not exactly in the 'political realism' genre, but very entertaining with some coded political commentary hidden in there.

[Kirsten]

I just read this small volume. I requested it via interlibrary loan and it took some time to get it here. It came from the Cambridge, Mass.

It was a very stream of consciousness thing, and almost free verse poetry more than prose. (Not that I'm an expert in poetry.)

I did enjoy it.

[Whitney]

Sounds like your copy of the book had quite the adventure.

I like the free verse comparison. I went back and read it with a 'poet' voice in my head and it really worked with a lot of the passages. It also made the "scratched record" repetition seem like a more natural rhetorical device.

Did you think that having that free-verse type of prose worked for his theme, or would a more straight forward narrative have been better?