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Amazon.co.uk Review
Carlos Eire's memoir of his childhood in Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy explodes off the page with the smells, sights, and sounds of the tropics. But the most interesting aspect of his story is the story of the Revolution from a boy too young to know exactly what's happening.
Just nine-years-old when Castro and his fellow revolutionaries overthrew Batista, Eire watched as relatives were arrested, property confiscated, and rights lost. Naturally, it was a confusing time for the boy, as his whole world was turned upside-down by factors both visible, such as militiamen, and invisible. "I woke up to the fact that something had gone awfully wrong with the world that day," writes Eire. "We stood there for a while, all of us, asking questions, complaining... it was the sheer shock of encountering a stupid rule that kept us there, loitering under the marquee." The rule? The movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was suddenly off-limits to minors.
There is no love lost between the author--today a history and religious studies professor at Yale--and the man he calls a "ruthless dictator masquerading as a humanitarian."
Waiting for Snow in Havana is a cry from the heart of a boy torn from family, country, and way of life. Eire was 11 at the time he was shipped off to the US to live with strangers, and the fire still burns in him at the injustice of it. This fury propels his memoir, which is by turns cloying, sentimental, repetitious, and meandering. (Eire can, and does, go on for paragraphs about the shape of clouds. Federico Lorca he is not.) But readers looking for insight into one of the century's most "successful" revolutions will come away from Waiting for Snow with a fresh perspective on a crucial period of Cuban, and world, history. --Shawn Conner, Amazon.ca
Independent on Sunday
'Rich and lyrical'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having been to Cuba earlier this year, I read this book whilst on holiday. You can see both sides to the story - the way property and possession were taken for the more affluent of society for what was meant to be for the good of the poorer people, although I am sure they never saw any of the worth. Having visited the museum of the revolution (now I might have been brain washed here so forgive me) you can understand why the revolution took place. Carlos Eire wrote this book in such a way that you know him and his family and you can empathise with them all. I was truely saddened when he and his brother where shipped off to a cold heartless America and saddened for him that he is unable to return to Cuba whilst Fidel is still in existance. I loved the book and I missed Carlos when I had finished it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'Waiting For Snow in Havana' is the disjointed memoir of Carlos Eire. Although it is marketed as a Cuban memoir, it is more about childhood in general, in a Cuban setting. A great deal of the events told here could be from any childhood, in any country. Things like throwing stones at each other and fighting in school could come from any boys childhood. Saying that, the aspects of Cuban life that are touched upon, more so in the second half of the book, are insightful into life in Cuba when Fidel took control and the revolution changed life in Cuba forever. The reason why I say this is disjointed is because it flicks back and forth in time and thus the chronology gets confusing at times. Never the less, this is an interesting book, written in a unique style that will keep you engaged with what is being told and gives some idea of life in revolutionary Cuba, especially from a young boys point of view. A solid three stars, good, but not excellent.
Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.
Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Carlos Eire wrote an extremely well written memoir. He write's about his childhood in Havana. He gives us vivid pictures of Havana at the time and of the colorful inhabitants of his neighborhood. The world of Havana through the eyes of a child.
The wide eyed wonder in which we see this marvelous world called Havana, makes us stop and wonder. Is this a memoir or novel. The writting of child like innocence is so real. How can we remember it. Of course, this is about Mr. Erie's childhood, during the 50's and 60's. So we also get to see the growing darkness and fear brought about by the great revolution brought about by Fidel Castro...and how all their lives were changed.
It will also let you see why so many Cuban's fled that beautiful island for the USA. Most hoping it would only be a temporary seperation from family and homeland. I not only understood what life was like both before and after Castro...I could actually understand the emotion he felt as a child. And now as an adult looking back upon his past. This is a great read.
The wide eyed wonder in which we see this marvelous world called Havana, makes us stop and wonder. Is this a memoir or novel. The writting of child like innocence is so real. How can we remember it. Of course, this is about Mr. Erie's childhood, during the 50's and 60's. So we also get to see the growing darkness and fear brought about by the great revolution brought about by Fidel Castro...and how all their lives were changed.
It will also let you see why so many Cuban's fled that beautiful island for the USA. Most hoping it would only be a temporary seperation from family and homeland. I not only understood what life was like both before and after Castro...I could actually understand the emotion he felt as a child. And now as an adult looking back upon his past. This is a great read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
SHATTERED MEMORIES...
This is an achingly poignant memoir, written with much feeling and angst. The author, who, at the age of eleven, took part in Operation Pedro Pan, which airlifted Cuban children to... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Lawyeraau
Excelente y fantastico!!!!, Memorias sobre la cruda realidad cubana.
Este libro es una de las grandes obras escrita por un escritor de origen cubano, narrado con un sentido del humor extremadamente exquisito, lleno de sentimientos y memorias que... Read more
Published 22 months ago by DLEGCUBA
a must for would be visitors to Cuba
This book is a fascinating insight into life during a most difficult period in Cuba's recent history. Read more
Published on 10 May 2010 by Mrs. V. Campbell
OK, but not fantastic
This book took me three weeks to read where I would normally read the same amount of pages in 3 days. Read more
Published on 5 April 2010 by Caitriona Coughlan
Life of a young Cuban before and after the Castro takeover
An imaginative insight into the life of Carlos, who as a young boy in the late 1950's tells of his boyhood pranks and fun with his friends, and of his his art collecting father who... Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2005 by "oswald232"
Fantastic insight to the real Cuba
Having been to Cuba earlier this year, I read this book whilst on holiday. You can see both sides to the story - the way property and possession were taken for the more affluent... Read more
Published on 7 Nov 2003 by NorfolkNights
Hermosa y intelegente
Waiting for Snow in Havana is a beautiful and lyrical book that gives true insight into what it was like to live in Cuba during the early days of Fidel's Revolution. Read more
Published on 10 July 2003 by abigail mcquatters
Everything you wanted to know about the Real Cuba by a Cuban
Y
es- I admit it. I have read WAITING FOR SNOW IN HAVANA and have returned to those days when I could finish a book at one sitting, not caring if that meant I had to read... Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2003 by janeborderud
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