by Ana Menendez
|
| List Price: | $22.00 |
| Average Rating: |  |
| Lowest New Price: | $7.68 |
|
 |
|
Product Description
In the aftermath of Castro's revolution, a man flees Cuba with his daughter's baby, and finds, pinned on its clothes, three lines of a Pablo Neruda love poem. Decades later, that baby returns to Havana as a young woman; armed with only this snatch of verse, she searches, apparently in vain, for the mysterious mother who abandoned her. On her return to America she receives a package - a collection of tattered photographs of Che Guevara, and a letter, apparently from her mother, which documents a passionate affair with the hero of the revolution. Now, the daughter must set out for Cuba once more, to find out whether this story is true or a ravishing fantasy, bred out of the savage and surreal drama of Cuba's history.
Customers who bought this item also bought
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Lush, Poetic, Entrancing Read, 2007-07-23
With lines from a Pablo Neruda poem, I was hooked on this amazing book from the beginning. It's a lush, poetic, entrancing read and unlike any other book I've read. Teresa's letters are dreamlike, they flow over the pages and drop insights like raindrops on a parched earth. From her marriage, to her affair with Che to the early days of the revolution in Cuba, Teresa's story is entrancing. Her daughter's search is just as involving. Whether or not Teresa actually had the affair with Che is made irrelevant by the poetic words with which Teresa tells us her story. If she had the affair, good for her. If not, what an imagination!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Poetic But Weak At The End., 2006-07-28
"Loving Che" is full of so many wonderful passages that vibrate with real literary romance and deep feeling that it's a downer that the novel doesn't go all the way, or provide a more fulfilling ending, but there's enough good material in Ana Menendez's book to make it worth reading. Like many classic works, this one involves an investigation into the past during which incredible discoveries are made and extreme possibilities hinted at. A Cuban exile who never really knew her mother is sent a strange package containing a sort of diary detailing a love affair during the Cuban revolution with the legendary rebel Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who was assassinated in Bolivia and lived on in history as one of the most potent, enduring icons of rebellion and social revolution. The book begins with nice moments of recollection as the main character recalls growing up with her exiled grandfather in Miami, never being told anything about her mother, but it's when the book moves into the diary passages that things get interesting. With romantic passages that inspire and use language as skillfull as Salman Rushdie's, many of these parts come to life as the woman named Teresa describes her life as an artist and how she met Che Guevara and was captivated by his mind and spirit. Teresa is married, so is Che, and so of course the affair is tightly kept secret. It is here where the novel delivers and yet comes short, the implications are already enough to keep us reading, but you're surprised at just how LITTLE of Che's life is incorporated. At the end of the novel Menendez lists her sources, really good ones too like "Guevara, Also Known As Che" by Paco Ignacio Taibo II, which is probably the best Guevara bio there is, and yet the character is written with so little real dialogue, or any real moments that don't have to do with just descriptions of carnal pleasure. To be fair, Menendez does pepper many of the Che scenes with rich passages where Teresa describes Guevara's spirit for change, how he does not feel suited for just one country but many, and how his fatalistic take on life will lead him to immortality, to an almost saintly pantheon in world history. The pages dealing with the coming of the Cuban revolution are exciting and filled with vivid images and moments, but again, it is the abscence of more Che that leaves the Cuban area lacking. And then there's the ending. We feel as if we've been set up for a big payoff and then get no answers, just a simple, even weird closing that doesn't explain anything. Maybe Menendez was being too cautious considering she is dealing here with a world icon after all, but if you're going to take the risk at least go all the way. She builds a real sense of excitement and then brings us down. Maybe it's Menendez's exile history, many pages near the end feel more like the typical criticisms exiles have of Cuba, an almost bitter nostalgia for their island, Menendez even takes breaks from the story to diss Castro a little. She understands the romantic allure of Che, but sometimes it feels conflicted with her personal feelings as an exile. All in all, "Loving Che" is a nice romantic novel with some wonderful passages and beautiful, so beautiful indeed, that it deserves a little more.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Loving Che, 2005-10-28
Genre: Romance
Summary: A girl that goes to Cuba in search of her mother, but ends up falling in love with one of the most important and controversial political figures of Latin America.
What I liked most about the book: How the author combines romance and history and still manages to create an amazing story, without getting to caught up in either one.
What I didn't like and why: I think the author should have made it a little more interesting and suspenseful.
My favorite character and why: Definitely, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, because he is intelligent, powerful, and romantic all at the same time.
The scene, line, or passage that meant something to me and why: "Falsos me parecieron mis primeros esfuerzos. Y ahora solo quedan estas rajas de memoria, escritas sobre banderas de viento... (pg 13)
What I would say about this books to someone else: That it is just a great story, not to mention that it is a national bestseller.
One question I ahve after reading this book: If she ever regret falling in love with him.
My strongest reason for recommending this book: You get to learn while still enjoying a great, romantic story.
0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Loving Che, 2005-08-22
I thought this was an excellent novel. I am not a very good reader and need to have a book you cant put down and this fitted the bill. I have been a regular vitor to Cuba and have lived there for a year during 1999. I am not a supporter of the exiled Cuban communities causes against Cuba and there organisations. But have always had a sympthay we those whose lives have been effected through families been broken up especialy those who fled as children under the operation peter pan. Whilst this is a novel I could see how this could be a real life story for some one. I have been a long time fan of Che and this is more proof of how is image still captures and inspires generations from all walks of life
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
 A little Havana, A lot of a writer's workshop, 2005-07-08
Cuba, as anyone who has lived in Miami can tell you, exists for thousands of exiles chiefly as a fantasy landscape colored by memory, regret and loss. Just as well, because the reality of the place in the 21st century is pretty grim, as I experienced it. But the maddening habit of exiles to romanticize the place is well displayed in "Loving Che," which hardly exists outside of lyrical scraps of random thought, sensation and writerly flights of fancy. Ana Menendez puts a lot of effort into conjuring up her dreamy reveries, but spends little time making her tale remotely believable or affecting. And the frequent pauses for "deep thoughts" get old very quickly. It's a lot like spending an afternoon talking about Cuba with an exile: captivating at times but more often just frustrating, opaque and sad.
Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.
|
Store Categories
|