This shocking memoir by the Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas is a book about sexual, political and artistic freedom. In Before Night Falls, Arenas recounts his journey from a poverty-stricken childhood in rural Cuba to his death in New York four decades later. He tells of his odyssey from young rebel fighting for the Revolution, through his suppression as a writer, his disillusionment with Castro, his imprisonment and torture, to his eventual flight from Cuba. Now a feature film starring Javier Bardem and Johnny Depp, Before Night Falls is a stunning testament to an individual?s urge to create against all odds.
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About the Author
Reinaldo Arenas was born in Holguín, Cuba, in 1943. His first novel, Singing from the Well, was awarded First Mention in Cuba's Cirilo Villaverde National Competition. It was to be his only book published in his native country. Both as a homosexual and a writer, he found himself persecuted by the Cuban government, and had to smuggle his work out of the country for publication in France. He left Cuba in 1980 and settled in New York, where he died of AIDS in 1990. He is the author of over 20 books, including novels, short stories and poems.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By HarrietBHL
Format:Paperback
This isn't a book for the prudish or the faint-hearted. From chapter one it describes not just homosexual activities but bestiality, incest and a general array of sexual experiences described in blunt honesty. That aside, I loved this book. It describes life as a poor peasant under Batista's regime, life as a revolutionary under Castro, life as a writer in Cuba in the face of censorship and opression, life as an ordinary Cuban, trying to survive financially despite shortages and the blockade, life as a prison inmate, and finally, of course, it describes life as a homosexual in a country which considered it a perversion.
For me it was a valuable and detailed account of the various aspects of life in Communist Cuba. The most striking quality however was that it communicated the extent to which mistrust, uncertainty and duplicity are a part of daily life in Cuba. As someone who spent nearly five months living in Havana, I had previously thought that never knowing who you can trust, and being lied to by people who claim to be your friends, was an experience specific only to foreigners in Cuba. Reading this book I came to realise that a sad reality of life under Castro's regime is that noone ever knows who they can trust. As people like Arenas did their best to be true to themselves either as writers or as homosexuals, the government, with its vast network of social and political controls was doing its very best to supress opposition and anything it considered counter-revolutionary. Networks of informers and committees for the defense of the revolution were not only expressions of Castroist support, but also constituted opportunities for social and economic advancement and, at times more importantly, refuges of protection against a government which seemed to consider almost everyone its enemy. In such an environment, the ability to portray both an authentic and a false persona were essential to survival, and at times people Arenas considered some of his truest friends, were also informing on him to the government, as a means of avoiding punishment for their own 'counter-revolutionary' activities. Life in Cuba left me with a lot to try to understand and with a profound appreciation for freedom of expression. This book re-ignited for me that awareness of just how hard some people are fighting for the right to be true to themselves, and was a valuable opportunity for me to understand a little bit more of something I probably never will in its entirety.
For me it was a valuable and detailed account of the various aspects of life in Communist Cuba. The most striking quality however was that it communicated the extent to which mistrust, uncertainty and duplicity are a part of daily life in Cuba. As someone who spent nearly five months living in Havana, I had previously thought that never knowing who you can trust, and being lied to by people who claim to be your friends, was an experience specific only to foreigners in Cuba. Reading this book I came to realise that a sad reality of life under Castro's regime is that noone ever knows who they can trust. As people like Arenas did their best to be true to themselves either as writers or as homosexuals, the government, with its vast network of social and political controls was doing its very best to supress opposition and anything it considered counter-revolutionary. Networks of informers and committees for the defense of the revolution were not only expressions of Castroist support, but also constituted opportunities for social and economic advancement and, at times more importantly, refuges of protection against a government which seemed to consider almost everyone its enemy. In such an environment, the ability to portray both an authentic and a false persona were essential to survival, and at times people Arenas considered some of his truest friends, were also informing on him to the government, as a means of avoiding punishment for their own 'counter-revolutionary' activities. Life in Cuba left me with a lot to try to understand and with a profound appreciation for freedom of expression. This book re-ignited for me that awareness of just how hard some people are fighting for the right to be true to themselves, and was a valuable opportunity for me to understand a little bit more of something I probably never will in its entirety.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed this book. As I said before, Reinaldo Arena described in a very Cuban way the reality of the gay community in pre-revolutionary time, the persecution and the double repression he had to suffer because his duality as a gay and as an independent writer censored by the Castro machinery.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Despite the horrors revealed in this mini-autobiography the true story must never be lost. Reinaldo Arenas never surrendered to the demons of self-pity and delusion, despite the hell he encountered on the road to Calvary. What a journey! What a man!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
areinas' life and his reflections on life
A very powerful autobiography, the story of Reinaldo Areinas' life together with his reflections on life. Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2010 by William Jordan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Before Night Falls
A truly excellent book with drama, comedy and an unexplored view point of Cuba. It's authour is both brave and daring and this book is a fingers up to those who tried to suppress... Read more
Published on 11 July 2009 by Applegate
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully disturbing and poignant
I learned more about Castro's regime than in any history book I've ever read. Its frightening to know that such terrible ostracities occur so close to our shores, as I don't... Read more
Published on 14 April 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
really great -- really harsh -- really funny
This book is a pleasure to read, though the subject matter is quite harsh. Arenas writes in such a manner as to draw the reader in. Read more
Published on 11 Oct 1998
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