Havana Blue
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This wide ranging book deals with so many issues in a sensitive way, from diagnosis to acceptance, from self-respect and fulfilment to Viagra! There is also practical advice about benefits, physiotherapy and the MS Society itself.
--MS Connect
--MS Connect
Product Description
Lieutenant Mario Conde is suffering from a terrible New Year's Eve hangover. Though it's the middle of a weekend, he is asked to urgently investigate the mysterious disappearance of Rafael Morin, a high-level business manager in the Cuban nomenklatura. Conde remembered Morin from their student days: good-looking, brilliant, a "reliable comrade'' who always got what he wanted, including Tamara the girl Conde was after. But Rafael Morin's exemplary rise from a poor barrio and picture perfect life hide more than one suspicious episode worthy of investigation. While pursuing the case in a decaying but adored Havana, Conde confronts his lost love for Tamara and the dreams and illusions of his generation.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a novel about Cuba. Indeed, Cuba might be said to be the main character. Padura's characters are the same age as him, approaching 40 in the 1990s, "a faceless, aimless, gutless generation."
It is a detective novel of the hard-boiled school, and reviewers have compared the style to Raymond Chandler's; but Chandler was never so crude. In Carofiglio's The Past is a Foreign Country (which I read shortly before this) there was a character who "liked to swear. He probably thought it made him sound virile ... The effect was quite the opposite, but he would never know." I'm afraid the central character's language reminded me of this comment. This may have been at least partly because of the translation, which was stilted in parts and contained some strange figures of speech.
Since the book is about Cuba, we have cigars, food, some music, rum and cheap wine, drinking and hangovers. The story concerns the disappearance of a businessman (actually, someone in a Government ministry, since this is Cuba). The disappeared man (Rafael), his wife, and Conde the detective all grew up together. Rafael disappears and the questioning of those who knew him - which takes up the bulk of the narrative - tells his story, illustrating different facets of him and of Cuba's recent history.
Interesting on Cuba, but not a great crime novel.
It is a detective novel of the hard-boiled school, and reviewers have compared the style to Raymond Chandler's; but Chandler was never so crude. In Carofiglio's The Past is a Foreign Country (which I read shortly before this) there was a character who "liked to swear. He probably thought it made him sound virile ... The effect was quite the opposite, but he would never know." I'm afraid the central character's language reminded me of this comment. This may have been at least partly because of the translation, which was stilted in parts and contained some strange figures of speech.
Since the book is about Cuba, we have cigars, food, some music, rum and cheap wine, drinking and hangovers. The story concerns the disappearance of a businessman (actually, someone in a Government ministry, since this is Cuba). The disappeared man (Rafael), his wife, and Conde the detective all grew up together. Rafael disappears and the questioning of those who knew him - which takes up the bulk of the narrative - tells his story, illustrating different facets of him and of Cuba's recent history.
Interesting on Cuba, but not a great crime novel.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This series offers crime thrillers with the twist of the detective (the melancholic Inspector Conde) needing to deal with the political intrigues of Communist Cuba. It doesn't dwell on politics but focuses on Conde's friendships and the unfulfilled promise of the Cuban revolution. Not a complex plot but you should read this to get a feel for the atmosphere of Cuba and Havana.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
A GREAT, GREAT WRITER ...
4 July 2007
Format:Paperback
I picked up Havana Blue in a small bookshop in NY a few weeks ago and was so impressed with the writing, I ordered the rest of the series plus Adios Hemingway from amazon (to get them as fast as possible). Padura is an incredibly gifted writer. The sensuality of his prose is visceral. I literally brewed coffee when reading about Lt. Mario Conde's attempts to get a good cup from his boss. I craved cigars again ... I took my wife out to a Cuban joint in Brooklyn for red beans and rice. I want to visit/live in Havana, at least for a while.
Padura has a genuine obsession (or was strongly influenced) with/by both Hemingway and Salinger and his writing is every bit as wonderful. He's a genuine wordsmith who I couldn't read fast enough. This entire series (the Mario Conde character) is very highly recommended. I hope Padura keeps going ... and Adios Hemingway--absolutely masterful.
Padura has a genuine obsession (or was strongly influenced) with/by both Hemingway and Salinger and his writing is every bit as wonderful. He's a genuine wordsmith who I couldn't read fast enough. This entire series (the Mario Conde character) is very highly recommended. I hope Padura keeps going ... and Adios Hemingway--absolutely masterful.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
excellent Havana police procedural
9 Jun 2007
Format:Paperback
Havana police lieutenant Mario Conde enjoyed the New Year's Eve celebration but he drank too much as he expected the day off to recover. Instead in spite of a four poster headache, his superior calls to tell him that Ministry for Industry official and party VIP Rafael Morin Rodriguez vanished.
Mario knew Rafael and the man's wife Tamara when the trio attended high school together and the cop was in unrequited puppy love for her. Hangover aside, Mario interviews Tamara, who offers nothing about what happened or why; instead she insists her loving spouse is an honest civil servant working for the benefit of the people. Although he prefers otherwise, Mario assumes either Rafael is dead or fled before a scandal destroyed him; either way the case has political ramifications that he knows he must gingerly walk carefully. However, the biggest issue in Mario's mind is not those looking at his every step in the investigation, but that the prime suspect is Tamara, who he still wants.
The third colorful Havana police procedural (see HAVANA BLACK and HAVANA RED) is a terrific whodunit starring a likable dedicated cop trying to investigate a maybe crime in a totalitarian society where he can easily follow a clue across a forbidden zone. Mario's investigation is top rate as he struggles with his feelings for the prime suspect and has even more trouble dealing with officialdom as the potential victim is a highly ranked bureaucrat. Readers will appreciate Leonardo Padura's tense Cuban mystery starring a great detective in a superior tale.
Harriet Klausner
Mario knew Rafael and the man's wife Tamara when the trio attended high school together and the cop was in unrequited puppy love for her. Hangover aside, Mario interviews Tamara, who offers nothing about what happened or why; instead she insists her loving spouse is an honest civil servant working for the benefit of the people. Although he prefers otherwise, Mario assumes either Rafael is dead or fled before a scandal destroyed him; either way the case has political ramifications that he knows he must gingerly walk carefully. However, the biggest issue in Mario's mind is not those looking at his every step in the investigation, but that the prime suspect is Tamara, who he still wants.
The third colorful Havana police procedural (see HAVANA BLACK and HAVANA RED) is a terrific whodunit starring a likable dedicated cop trying to investigate a maybe crime in a totalitarian society where he can easily follow a clue across a forbidden zone. Mario's investigation is top rate as he struggles with his feelings for the prime suspect and has even more trouble dealing with officialdom as the potential victim is a highly ranked bureaucrat. Readers will appreciate Leonardo Padura's tense Cuban mystery starring a great detective in a superior tale.
Harriet Klausner
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Introducing the Fascinating Mario Conde
4 Nov 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I read Havana Fever this summer and was dazzled by it. As a reviewer noted, this is the first book in the series. I will read all of them but wonder if I would if I'd read this first - it lacks the vivid descriptions and suspense of Fever. But the Count is the Count and he is irrestible..it's hard not to love a book that has a character named Juan Wong in it...
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