What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
This topic is about
Krik? Krak!
SOLVED: Adult Fiction
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SOLVED. Magical realism short story about Cuban revolution, children, and butterflies. [s]
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If you're sure it was Cuba and not Haiti then it wouldn't be Children of the Sea from Krik? Krak! then?https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
lol i am not at all sure it was Cuba and not Haiti (ashamed forever). I'll look into that collection asap and let you know. Thank you Etta.n!
yup that is 100% it, "Children of the Sea" in Krik? Krak!
It is set at the dawn of Castro's revolution in Cuba and features a pair (?) of children and their family (families?). The country's politics trigger the family's disintegration; youths defy their parents, siblings argue to estrangement, and the kids try to deal with it all. In the end, one of the kids goes with his mother on a raft bound for florida, while the other opts to stay with her father in Cuba.
I am really unsure about any of these plot details. I don't know if the kids were siblings or friends or childhood sweethearts. Someone might have died? Someone else might have been lame? There might have been a car burning? I think it was set in a poor district, maybe even a slum.
What I remember most about this story, and what sticks with me today, is theme of butterflies and a myth that butterflies are the bearers of news: light for good and dark for bad. The story ends with a dark butterfly skimming by the girl-still-in-cuba, from which we infer that her friend has drowned.
The story bore the impression of things falling apart delicately, tragically, imperceptibly and carried only the faintest trace of magic -- a magic of markedly ambiguous virtue.
Any leads appreciated!