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Before Night Falls
Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas describes his poverty-stricken childhood in rural, his adolescence as a rebel fighting for Fidel Castro, and his life in revolutionary Cuba as a homosexual. Very quickly the Castro government suppressed his writing and persecuted him for his homosexuality until he was finally imprisoned.
398 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Reinaldo Arenas
54 books328 followersArenas was born in the countryside, in the northern part of the Province of Oriente, Cuba, and later moved to the city of Holguín. In 1963, he moved to Havana to enroll in the School of Planification and, later, in the Faculty of Letters at the Universidad de La Habana, where he studied philosophy and literature without completing a degree. The following year, he began working at the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí. While there, his talent was noticed and he was awarded prizes at Cirilo Villaverde National Competition held by UNEAC (National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists). His Hallucinations was awarded "first Honorable Mention" in 1966 although, as the judges could find no better entry, no First Prize was awarded that year.
His writings and openly gay lifestyle were, by 1967, bringing him into conflict with the Communist government. He left the Biblioteca Nacional and became an editor for the Cuban Book Institute until 1968. From 1968 to 1974 he was a journalist and editor for the literary magazine La Gaceta de Cuba. In 1973, he was sent to prison after being charged and convicted of 'ideological deviation' and for publishing abroad without official consent.
He escaped from prison and tried to leave Cuba by launching himself from the shore on a tire inner tube. The attempt failed and he was rearrested near Lenin Park and imprisoned at the notorious El Morro Castle alongside murderers and rapists. He survived by helping the inmates to write letters to wives and lovers. He was able to collect enough paper this way to continue his writing. However, his attempts to smuggle his work out of prison were discovered and he was severely punished. Threatened with death, he was forced to renounce his work and was released in 1976. In 1980, as part of the Mariel Boatlift, he fled to the United States. He came on the boat San Lazaro captained by Cuban immigrant Roberto Aguero.
In 1987, Arenas was diagnosed with AIDS; he continued to write and speak out against the Cuban government. He mentored many Cuban exile writers, including John O'Donnell-Rosales. After battling AIDS, Arenas died of an intentional overdose of drugs and alcohol on December 7, 1990, in New York City. In a suicide letter written for publication, Arenas wrote: "Due to my delicate state of health and to the terrible depression that causes me not to be able to continue writing and struggling for the freedom of Cuba, I am ending my life... I want to encourage the Cuban people abroad as well as on the Island to continue fighting for freedom... Cuba will be free. I already am."
In 2012 Arenas was inducted into the Legacy Walk, an outdoor public display which celebrates LGBT history and people
His writings and openly gay lifestyle were, by 1967, bringing him into conflict with the Communist government. He left the Biblioteca Nacional and became an editor for the Cuban Book Institute until 1968. From 1968 to 1974 he was a journalist and editor for the literary magazine La Gaceta de Cuba. In 1973, he was sent to prison after being charged and convicted of 'ideological deviation' and for publishing abroad without official consent.
He escaped from prison and tried to leave Cuba by launching himself from the shore on a tire inner tube. The attempt failed and he was rearrested near Lenin Park and imprisoned at the notorious El Morro Castle alongside murderers and rapists. He survived by helping the inmates to write letters to wives and lovers. He was able to collect enough paper this way to continue his writing. However, his attempts to smuggle his work out of prison were discovered and he was severely punished. Threatened with death, he was forced to renounce his work and was released in 1976. In 1980, as part of the Mariel Boatlift, he fled to the United States. He came on the boat San Lazaro captained by Cuban immigrant Roberto Aguero.
In 1987, Arenas was diagnosed with AIDS; he continued to write and speak out against the Cuban government. He mentored many Cuban exile writers, including John O'Donnell-Rosales. After battling AIDS, Arenas died of an intentional overdose of drugs and alcohol on December 7, 1990, in New York City. In a suicide letter written for publication, Arenas wrote: "Due to my delicate state of health and to the terrible depression that causes me not to be able to continue writing and struggling for the freedom of Cuba, I am ending my life... I want to encourage the Cuban people abroad as well as on the Island to continue fighting for freedom... Cuba will be free. I already am."
In 2012 Arenas was inducted into the Legacy Walk, an outdoor public display which celebrates LGBT history and people
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 733 reviews
April 10, 2020
Perhaps the single best memoir I've EVER read, this work of art is excruciating. There is no doubt that everything that occurred to Arenas happened and that here is testament of how the new wave of Cuban writers, lingering between Batista (incited by him and his regime) & entering into the holocaust that is Communist Cuba by Castro, struggled & died. This voice was not extinguished, however.
Arena's life is full of missteps, amazing accomplishments & plenty of sex. He's proud of himself, never apologizes. His nemesis is not himself (most writers are so full of inner demons- Arenas is a rock of certainty and is so self-aware) but Castro. Always effenCastro.
It is sad that after all this, the Plague in NYC finally claims this intelligent, articulate and overly creative man. It seems that all good things come to an end, but that is no reason to dismiss everything that exists in between.
Arena's life is full of missteps, amazing accomplishments & plenty of sex. He's proud of himself, never apologizes. His nemesis is not himself (most writers are so full of inner demons- Arenas is a rock of certainty and is so self-aware) but Castro. Always effenCastro.
It is sad that after all this, the Plague in NYC finally claims this intelligent, articulate and overly creative man. It seems that all good things come to an end, but that is no reason to dismiss everything that exists in between.
July 10, 2023
Grito desgarrador de rebeldía y libertad, en contra de cualquier régimen dictatorial, que, sea de izquierda o de derecha (dentro de esta falacia de la doble disyunción, que siempre nos hacen creer que vivimos), es siempre terrible y criminal; un balde de realidad pero también de esperanza, puesto que, a pesar de lo terrible de la vida que le tocó vivir a Reynaldo Arenas, también fue una vida intensa y hermosa, en la que él nunca se traiciono, y esa fue su victoria, no solo ante la miseria castrista, sino también de afrenta contra el poder de cualquier tipo, y esto se refleja muy bien en su libro: “La diferencia entre el sistema comunista y el capitalista es que, aunque los dos te dan una patada en el culo, en el comunismo te la dan y tienes que aplaudir, y en el capitalismo, te la dan y uno puede gritar; yo vine aquí a gritar” (Reynaldo Arenas, Antes de Anochezca), realmente muy recomendable!!!
January 12, 2023
Reinaldo hermoso y mil veces hermoso.
Es tricky leer este libro, creo que depende mucho del momento en el que estés contigo misma y también en relación con Reinaldo. Si leíste primero El mundo alucinante, cachas la escena de las ratas, cachas las humedades (y, spoiler: ¡es increíble que los haya escrito antes de pisar la cárcel!). Si es lo primero que lees de Reinaldo, tal vez te parezca un poco demasiado, es que, sí, está tan enojado, tan embilisadísimo de todo y contra todos. Pero, pues es que a Reinaldo lo rompieron, lo dice él mismo: en el exilio uno no es más que un fantasma, una sombra del que fue.
Ya escrituralmente (qué mamada, pero había que revisar tantito), perdón, perdón, pero aparece tres veces la hipérbole de "la peor soledad que he sentido", y hay tres mujeres, TRES, a las que se les reproducen demasiado las gatas. Yaaa. Al final esas son tacañerías de lectora idiota, este libro es un portento de la vida y de la muerte.
También quiero decir que la película está buena o nomás lo pienso porque la grabaron en (¿dónde más?) Veracruz.
Es tricky leer este libro, creo que depende mucho del momento en el que estés contigo misma y también en relación con Reinaldo. Si leíste primero El mundo alucinante, cachas la escena de las ratas, cachas las humedades (y, spoiler: ¡es increíble que los haya escrito antes de pisar la cárcel!). Si es lo primero que lees de Reinaldo, tal vez te parezca un poco demasiado, es que, sí, está tan enojado, tan embilisadísimo de todo y contra todos. Pero, pues es que a Reinaldo lo rompieron, lo dice él mismo: en el exilio uno no es más que un fantasma, una sombra del que fue.
Ya escrituralmente (qué mamada, pero había que revisar tantito), perdón, perdón, pero aparece tres veces la hipérbole de "la peor soledad que he sentido", y hay tres mujeres, TRES, a las que se les reproducen demasiado las gatas. Yaaa. Al final esas son tacañerías de lectora idiota, este libro es un portento de la vida y de la muerte.
También quiero decir que la película está buena o nomás lo pienso porque la grabaron en (¿dónde más?) Veracruz.
March 21, 2014
Surprisingly very good. It's main message is freedom. Freedom from repressive Cuban regime of Fulgencio Batista and the more detestable one of Fidel Castro. Freedom from the sexual discrimination against gays in the Communist Cuba and this explains the picture that Reinaldo Arenas (1943-1990): that homosexuality in Cuba was rampant. The book is full of explicit sex scenes not only of homosexuality but bestiality. I suspect that that was intentional in a way that Marquis de Sade (1740-1819) portrayed sex, sadism, murder in his libertine novel The 120 Days of Sodom as a protest against the French government prior to the French Revolution (1789-1799). He wanted to picture Cuba in the mind of the reader as full of homosexuals because homosexual acts were prohibited in Cuba.
This biography or memoir is part of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die so I bought this from Amazon.com almost 3 years ago. I have been postponing my reading of this book because I thought it would be hard to read considering that Arenas was not an English-native speaker/writer. However, I was surprised to find that that book was well-written and his thoughts were organized and his plot was engaging. There are just too many not only of sex scenes but poverty and oppression. At first I thought that there was an irony: how come there is oppression if sodomy can be seen at every corner of Cuban streets and that most male characters, even his relatives, are gay? Then I remembered De Sade and his libertine novels.
His boyhood in the rural town in Oriente and his young man's dreams while living in Holquin (also in Cuba) were painful to read. Too much poverty: his irresponsible father left his mother and so the young gay Arenas continued to look for a man to love and so he had so many male lovers as he felt that he was doing the search for his mom.
Prior to this book, my knowledge of Cuban politics was limited to the news I used to see on television and that part of Che Guevara's life story in Jon Lee Anderson's Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life (4 stars). However, this kind of oppressive regime is not new for Filipinos like me who was already a grown up and politically aware during the time of Ferdinand Marcos (1917-1989) as our dictator president for 21 years.
Because of the irony I felt regarding the picture of homosexuality in Arenas' Cuba, I am not sure if I got the true picture of the country during Castro's regime. However, real or unreal, I did enjoy reading Arenas' prose that I was able to finish this book despite the six other books that competed with my attention for the last two weeks. I just could not put down this book in favor of let's say Beckett o Lourd de Veyra.
My first time to read a Cuban writer and he was gay and he was too good that I did not care even a bit.
I should read the 1001 books of the other Cuban novelists next: Alejo Carpentier and Pedro Juan Gutierrez. I did not know that there are these talented novelists who were born in Cuba. Awesome.
This biography or memoir is part of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die so I bought this from Amazon.com almost 3 years ago. I have been postponing my reading of this book because I thought it would be hard to read considering that Arenas was not an English-native speaker/writer. However, I was surprised to find that that book was well-written and his thoughts were organized and his plot was engaging. There are just too many not only of sex scenes but poverty and oppression. At first I thought that there was an irony: how come there is oppression if sodomy can be seen at every corner of Cuban streets and that most male characters, even his relatives, are gay? Then I remembered De Sade and his libertine novels.
His boyhood in the rural town in Oriente and his young man's dreams while living in Holquin (also in Cuba) were painful to read. Too much poverty: his irresponsible father left his mother and so the young gay Arenas continued to look for a man to love and so he had so many male lovers as he felt that he was doing the search for his mom.
Prior to this book, my knowledge of Cuban politics was limited to the news I used to see on television and that part of Che Guevara's life story in Jon Lee Anderson's Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life (4 stars). However, this kind of oppressive regime is not new for Filipinos like me who was already a grown up and politically aware during the time of Ferdinand Marcos (1917-1989) as our dictator president for 21 years.
Because of the irony I felt regarding the picture of homosexuality in Arenas' Cuba, I am not sure if I got the true picture of the country during Castro's regime. However, real or unreal, I did enjoy reading Arenas' prose that I was able to finish this book despite the six other books that competed with my attention for the last two weeks. I just could not put down this book in favor of let's say Beckett o Lourd de Veyra.
My first time to read a Cuban writer and he was gay and he was too good that I did not care even a bit.
I should read the 1001 books of the other Cuban novelists next: Alejo Carpentier and Pedro Juan Gutierrez. I did not know that there are these talented novelists who were born in Cuba. Awesome.
August 26, 2023
El erotismo se disfruta más cuando te encuentra desprevenida, cuando sin esperarlo pasa de las páginas al cuerpo y te inunda de sensualidad, de vida. Me senté a leer la que imaginé una autobiografía más y tropecé con el regalo de Reinaldo Arenas, toda una celebración a la vida, a lo silvestre. Es en el campo en donde Reinaldo pasa su niñez, pero lejos de romantizarlo o entregarnos la fantasía de este como lugar de armonía y plenitud, nos revela con total realismo lo que en él anida: erotismo, pero también violencia, misticismo, supersticiones y pobreza.
Se alterna la sintonía carnal a la que el autor invita con las dosis de crudeza de la dictadura cubana, el autor vivió la transición Batista-Castro, y padeció la represión, persecución y miseria que a Cuba se le impuso. En plena juventud su principal escape -además de la escritura- eran los cuerpos vigorosos de hombres que como él encontraban en los esporádicos encuentros sexuales una forma de resistencia, un reducto de vitalidad al que ni las amenazas de cárcel les hacía renunciar.
Hablar de encarcelamiento injustos en una dictadura es redundar, y el de Reinaldo fue uno más dentro de esa constante, era interminable el número de motivos nimios por los que podían llevarte preso, incluso bañarte en el mar. Más allá del motivo, las penurias eran uniformes para todos aquellos presos sometidos a experiencias para las que resulta difícil encontrar adjetivos, circunstancias impensables para la dignidad humana.
En cuanto a la forma, Reinaldo Arenas escribe sencillo y fluido, para que cualquiera lo entienda, aunque no es apto para cualquiera, si se tienen prejuicios sexuales interferirán en el goce del libro. Pero resulta adecuado para amantes de la belleza, de las descripciones directas y poco sinuosas, para amantes de la buena prosa.
Se alterna la sintonía carnal a la que el autor invita con las dosis de crudeza de la dictadura cubana, el autor vivió la transición Batista-Castro, y padeció la represión, persecución y miseria que a Cuba se le impuso. En plena juventud su principal escape -además de la escritura- eran los cuerpos vigorosos de hombres que como él encontraban en los esporádicos encuentros sexuales una forma de resistencia, un reducto de vitalidad al que ni las amenazas de cárcel les hacía renunciar.
Hablar de encarcelamiento injustos en una dictadura es redundar, y el de Reinaldo fue uno más dentro de esa constante, era interminable el número de motivos nimios por los que podían llevarte preso, incluso bañarte en el mar. Más allá del motivo, las penurias eran uniformes para todos aquellos presos sometidos a experiencias para las que resulta difícil encontrar adjetivos, circunstancias impensables para la dignidad humana.
En cuanto a la forma, Reinaldo Arenas escribe sencillo y fluido, para que cualquiera lo entienda, aunque no es apto para cualquiera, si se tienen prejuicios sexuales interferirán en el goce del libro. Pero resulta adecuado para amantes de la belleza, de las descripciones directas y poco sinuosas, para amantes de la buena prosa.
September 2, 2024
Toda la critica al régimen de Fidel Castro se quedó eclipsada por la sarta de afirmaciones desafortunadas que hace Arenas sobre los hombres homosexuales. La homofobia internalizada que maneja me dejó con la boca abierta. No lo quiero justificar pero supongo que así razonaba un hombre gay del siglo XX cuando era casi imposible pensar en disidencias sexuales que se salgan (mas) de las normas binarias de género. Según Arenas un hombre gay solo siente atracción por un hombre heterosexual, el hombre homosexual solo alcanza el placer sexual cuando es "templado" por un macho (hombre hetero cis). También afirma que los homosexuales son incapaces de amar. Solo un ápice de los prejuicios que están a lo ancho y largo del libro. Pensé que el fuerte del libro era la critica al tirano comunista pero el autor se toma mas tiempo en describir aventuras sexuales propias y ajenas en unos escenarios a la mar de inverosímiles.
February 14, 2008
"...he lived a life whose beginning and end were indeed the same: from the start, one long, sustained sexual act..." says Guillermo Cabrera about Arenas' life. And man oh man, he wasn't kidding. There is so much sex in this book! It makes me think that everyone in Cuba is a sexhound waiting to pounce on each other, only restrained by social mores and/or the repressive government and its forced status quo. there is so much sex, it's funny. In his childhood he's having sex with all these animals and these incidents end up in invariably faux pas hijinx when he talks about how his cousin (or someone) accidentally kills a chicken, and a whole bunch of his friends fuck a goat. Man, that's some crazy sex. Also, throughout the book, characters are constantly popping boners, everyone's outward feelings and aggressions, transgressions and character mannerisms are somehow translated back to their sexuality. I liked this book, a whole fucking lot. But man, it's crazier about sex than Benny Hill. I read it a while ago. I think he fucked a dog too, i can't remember.
But hey, you shouldn't get shelved on the idea of this guy as a bestial terrorist, it's nothing like that. he's a sexual provocateur, and this statement is even more alive within the context of his run-ins with the government. one of the most interesting parts of this book, i'd say, is how he denies sexual encounters in prison. The house of sexual implosion, rape city. Homosexuals were faced with a supremely masculine cultural more that was pressured to impress machoism and repress all aspects of feminine decor in men(any country where beards are the jount are probably all about macho camraderie; is that fair to say?) So he describes the terrors of not only being a political dissident in prison, but being a HOMOSEXUAL political prisoner which is like being on fire as you crash into a flaming wall. So this section of a memoir completely devoted to the sexual apotheosis of the otherwise shelved sensual world is suddenly reversed when he has to bite his lip, hide his boner and try to avoid the sexual deviancy taking over in a prison that is a microcosm of the worst politics Cuba has to offer devoting its utmost energies to a fascist reversion of the homosexual contra that the system seems to be so convinced thereof.
Like i said, i liked this book a lot. Although it sure did shine a pretty harsh light on the communist system, which i guess i had a lot of reserved hope for. HERE, let me offer you up a pretty quote detailing the pitfalls of the system: "the difference between the communist and the capitalist system is that, although both give you a kick in the ass, in the communist system you have to applaud, while in the capitalist system you can scream. And i came [to the US] to scream." I think my biggest problem with the realities Arenas found in communism were the subversive actions of his supposed friends within a system that is supposed to be cooperative. I guess an honest thing this book projects is the lack of hope for ideal structures in government and in life, and how the system never owned up to its own failings. It merely reported a life that was not happening. This book turned me against the likes of Gabriel Marcia Marquez and loads of Cuban poets who Arenas describes with scorn on account of their backstabbing too many poets who were not for or critical of the communist system. I realized it is not fair to abash certain talented writers ad hominem for the sake of one poet's opinion of their character, but he paints a pretty grim light on certain figureheads with their backstabbing. Oh well, it's his memoir, he can hate who he wants. Besides, he went through tons of shit trying to identify himself in a country which he loved but which tried to damn him because of what they projected as a threatening liberal attitude. It makes sense that his character was so repressed in the country of which he was so attached, that he came to the US just gushing with scathing denouncements for the people who betrayed him. hmm, maybe that's a bit hypocritical as well. Only human though.
In all, this book is a detached centrifuge, an image from his deathbed of the Cuba he knew represented himself and was as much a part of him as it wasn't represented in the regime which tried to quash his sensual enlightenment. This book was his swan song that he had to deliver to the people and the place from a distance, and i suppose he was very bitter because of it, as he said "the exile is a person who, having lost a loved one, keeps searching for the face he loves in every new face and, forever deceiving himself, thinks he has found it." In a sense, this book is really sad, but i think it also offers up a very hopeful image of the human figure. This one guy, a faggot writer with no sense better than any reasonably intelligent individual managed to stand up to a system which he just simply did not agree with, and while his death came before the regime's end, so that his stand in effect lost to the test of time, he still was able to project the poetry of his feat, the journey in a brilliant novel filled with immaculate sensations and the energy of a sexual hunger, the likes of which can only be compared to an overdrive of primitive necessity and fascinating devotion to the maddening human drive for affection and inspiration and need. To leave on a quote, i like this one...Try to understand that he may be talking about a little more than the muttering schizophrenic haunting his dilapidated apartment complex before he moved out of Cuba: "i have never understood madness too well, but feel that in a way insane people are angels who, unable to bear the realities around them, must somehow take refuge in another world."
But hey, you shouldn't get shelved on the idea of this guy as a bestial terrorist, it's nothing like that. he's a sexual provocateur, and this statement is even more alive within the context of his run-ins with the government. one of the most interesting parts of this book, i'd say, is how he denies sexual encounters in prison. The house of sexual implosion, rape city. Homosexuals were faced with a supremely masculine cultural more that was pressured to impress machoism and repress all aspects of feminine decor in men(any country where beards are the jount are probably all about macho camraderie; is that fair to say?) So he describes the terrors of not only being a political dissident in prison, but being a HOMOSEXUAL political prisoner which is like being on fire as you crash into a flaming wall. So this section of a memoir completely devoted to the sexual apotheosis of the otherwise shelved sensual world is suddenly reversed when he has to bite his lip, hide his boner and try to avoid the sexual deviancy taking over in a prison that is a microcosm of the worst politics Cuba has to offer devoting its utmost energies to a fascist reversion of the homosexual contra that the system seems to be so convinced thereof.
Like i said, i liked this book a lot. Although it sure did shine a pretty harsh light on the communist system, which i guess i had a lot of reserved hope for. HERE, let me offer you up a pretty quote detailing the pitfalls of the system: "the difference between the communist and the capitalist system is that, although both give you a kick in the ass, in the communist system you have to applaud, while in the capitalist system you can scream. And i came [to the US] to scream." I think my biggest problem with the realities Arenas found in communism were the subversive actions of his supposed friends within a system that is supposed to be cooperative. I guess an honest thing this book projects is the lack of hope for ideal structures in government and in life, and how the system never owned up to its own failings. It merely reported a life that was not happening. This book turned me against the likes of Gabriel Marcia Marquez and loads of Cuban poets who Arenas describes with scorn on account of their backstabbing too many poets who were not for or critical of the communist system. I realized it is not fair to abash certain talented writers ad hominem for the sake of one poet's opinion of their character, but he paints a pretty grim light on certain figureheads with their backstabbing. Oh well, it's his memoir, he can hate who he wants. Besides, he went through tons of shit trying to identify himself in a country which he loved but which tried to damn him because of what they projected as a threatening liberal attitude. It makes sense that his character was so repressed in the country of which he was so attached, that he came to the US just gushing with scathing denouncements for the people who betrayed him. hmm, maybe that's a bit hypocritical as well. Only human though.
In all, this book is a detached centrifuge, an image from his deathbed of the Cuba he knew represented himself and was as much a part of him as it wasn't represented in the regime which tried to quash his sensual enlightenment. This book was his swan song that he had to deliver to the people and the place from a distance, and i suppose he was very bitter because of it, as he said "the exile is a person who, having lost a loved one, keeps searching for the face he loves in every new face and, forever deceiving himself, thinks he has found it." In a sense, this book is really sad, but i think it also offers up a very hopeful image of the human figure. This one guy, a faggot writer with no sense better than any reasonably intelligent individual managed to stand up to a system which he just simply did not agree with, and while his death came before the regime's end, so that his stand in effect lost to the test of time, he still was able to project the poetry of his feat, the journey in a brilliant novel filled with immaculate sensations and the energy of a sexual hunger, the likes of which can only be compared to an overdrive of primitive necessity and fascinating devotion to the maddening human drive for affection and inspiration and need. To leave on a quote, i like this one...Try to understand that he may be talking about a little more than the muttering schizophrenic haunting his dilapidated apartment complex before he moved out of Cuba: "i have never understood madness too well, but feel that in a way insane people are angels who, unable to bear the realities around them, must somehow take refuge in another world."
August 20, 2022
A powerful memoir which pulls no punches. Reminiscent of Genet or Burroughs in the combination of the beautiful and the grotesque — the elevation of degradation to the exalted.
Read this a long time ago, probably at the time of the movie version (this edition is the movie tie-in). Sunshine on naked prisoners helps to control pubic lice.
This is a book which made me wish to understand the original language, because if it reads like this in translation, what might the original words convey?
Read this a long time ago, probably at the time of the movie version (this edition is the movie tie-in). Sunshine on naked prisoners helps to control pubic lice.
This is a book which made me wish to understand the original language, because if it reads like this in translation, what might the original words convey?
July 29, 2024
4.9/5 stars. Shatteringly brilliant!
I inched my way through this book, engaged completely by his words. I have been transformed and enlightened reading Arenas. An incredible and heartbreaking memoir, which I rank below five stars for the sad reason that I could not bear to read it again. A second read would be beyond my first-world frailty. Highly recommend reading this book, especially for anyone (currently) living in a free country.
I inched my way through this book, engaged completely by his words. I have been transformed and enlightened reading Arenas. An incredible and heartbreaking memoir, which I rank below five stars for the sad reason that I could not bear to read it again. A second read would be beyond my first-world frailty. Highly recommend reading this book, especially for anyone (currently) living in a free country.
March 4, 2017
Reinaldo Arenas, con voz de denuncia, narra las vivencias que tuvo naciendo en una dictadura, y viviendo en otra mucho peor. Siendo homosexual, y un escritor que no apoya el régimen; tenía muchas razones para ser perseguido y encarcelado por "contrarrevolucionario".
Las memorias de Arenas son fuertes, pero necesarias. Grita en cada página, y sigue gritando hasta ahora.
Las memorias de Arenas son fuertes, pero necesarias. Grita en cada página, y sigue gritando hasta ahora.
August 22, 2020
"I thought I was going to die in the winter of 1987. For months on end I had been having terrible fevers. I finally went to a doctor and he told me I had AIDS."
Thus, from the start, the tragic frame was fixed, wherein with garish colours, baroque sketches and bold brushstrokes, Arenas draws up throughout these pages, a picture far removed from the idyllic setting that some come to seek in Cuba. Born into a peasant family in the province of Oriente, in 1943, as an impoverished child, Arenas knew the misery of indigence, eating dirt, climbing trees, surrounded by fields and mountain animals, with a mother, abandoned by her husband. As a teenager growing up in the Cuban farmyard, he recognised his sexual attraction for men compelling him to fight a harsh and stringent personal war in order to prove his existence under the dictatorial regime of Castro, that imprisoned him for his counter-revolutionary writings and sexual brazenness. Much of the book focuses on his numerous erotic encounters midst the harsh repression of sexual dissidents, anti-revolutionaries and political writers within the country. The consuming readability of this memoir is a testament to Reinaldo's skill as a poet. His words flow on the page, often vacillating between humour and horror, between pain and pleasure.
After reading this memoir, the ways to describe Reinaldo Arenas feel endless; everything from the libertarian to the tragic hero, to the greatest voice of denunciation from Cuba. But what can be easily said without any room for disagreement, was that Reinaldo Arenas was a brave soul. His memoir, Before Night Falls, an extraordinary document, a testament to artistic discipline and integrity in the face of oppression. As with all incredible people in history, they are not born, they are made. And Arenas is a product of the bloody storm that led him to this path, of broken dreams and disillusions, but of someone who almost always refused to be anyone other than himself.
Thus, from the start, the tragic frame was fixed, wherein with garish colours, baroque sketches and bold brushstrokes, Arenas draws up throughout these pages, a picture far removed from the idyllic setting that some come to seek in Cuba. Born into a peasant family in the province of Oriente, in 1943, as an impoverished child, Arenas knew the misery of indigence, eating dirt, climbing trees, surrounded by fields and mountain animals, with a mother, abandoned by her husband. As a teenager growing up in the Cuban farmyard, he recognised his sexual attraction for men compelling him to fight a harsh and stringent personal war in order to prove his existence under the dictatorial regime of Castro, that imprisoned him for his counter-revolutionary writings and sexual brazenness. Much of the book focuses on his numerous erotic encounters midst the harsh repression of sexual dissidents, anti-revolutionaries and political writers within the country. The consuming readability of this memoir is a testament to Reinaldo's skill as a poet. His words flow on the page, often vacillating between humour and horror, between pain and pleasure.
After reading this memoir, the ways to describe Reinaldo Arenas feel endless; everything from the libertarian to the tragic hero, to the greatest voice of denunciation from Cuba. But what can be easily said without any room for disagreement, was that Reinaldo Arenas was a brave soul. His memoir, Before Night Falls, an extraordinary document, a testament to artistic discipline and integrity in the face of oppression. As with all incredible people in history, they are not born, they are made. And Arenas is a product of the bloody storm that led him to this path, of broken dreams and disillusions, but of someone who almost always refused to be anyone other than himself.
December 13, 2016
Un libro muy duro, autobiográfico en los últimos días del escritor, consciente ya de la muerte que le acontece a cuentagotas, enfermo, resentido del dolor de los años preso dentro y fuera de una cárcel, perseguido, desolado, desconfiando y traicionado por amigos y familiares. Tiene muchos momentos desgarradores. Por muchos considerado anti propaganda castrista, pero bueno,, hay que escuchar las dos campanas en lo posible, no?
October 14, 2021
"𝑴𝒊 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂 𝒚 𝒎𝒊 𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊́𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒋𝒐 𝒍𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒂 𝒅𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂 𝒚 𝒆𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒊 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒋𝒐 𝒍𝒂 𝒂𝒖́𝒏 𝒎𝒂́𝒔 𝒇𝒆́𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒂 𝒅𝒆 𝑭𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒍 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐; 𝒋𝒂𝒎𝒂́𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊́𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒐 𝒖𝒏 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒐 𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒐 𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒅𝒐 𝒅𝒆 𝒍𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒓𝒂."
April 16, 2020
Bio sam (čini mi se) petnaestogodišnjak kada sam pogledao film Pre nego što padne noć i premda je od tada prošlo još nešto više od petnaest godina, pojedine scene su mi se toliko silno urezale u pamćenje da sam ih često iznova rekreirao. Sa ove distance i nakon pročitanog romana smatram da je film holivudizovan i atmosferski i kvalitativno daleko od autorove intencije u prikazu njegovog života.
Slobodarski duh, koji je imanentan svakom živom biću, ne predstavlja naučeno ponašanje već je deo naše ljudske, a samim tim i naše životinjske prirode. Taj duh, nesalomiv kod Arenasa, ipak je stišnjen represivnim merama autoritarnog režima koji u sprezi sa niskim stepenom društvenog razvitka u potpunosti iscrpljuje regenerativnu moć mladog čoveka. Ipak, i u najtežim trenucima, dok se nalazi u samici strahujući za goli život, taj mladi čovek je optimističan: Telo pati više nego duša, jer ona uvek ima u čemu da potraži utehu: u sećanju, u nadi.
Taj vedri, avanturistički duh nošen fantastičnim smislom za humor u erotičnoj atmosferi večnog kubanskog leta doprinosi osećaju neverovatnog poleta. Kakvu samo pobedničku književnu svest Arenas nosi u sebi. Koliko veruje svom talentu i svojim delima i kroz šta sve prolazi da bi neka od njih uspeo da objavi.
Sve je intenzivno i neodoljivo. On toliko dobro opisuje spektar seksualnosti i iako sve deluje hiperseksualizovano u ovom romanu to je ono što ga čini uzbudljivim. Jer ta hiperseksualizacija je realnost, ona je autentična, deo je ljudske prirode. Zbog toga ovaj roman sablažnjava moraliste.
Književnost na Kubi pati i propada zajedno sa Arenasom. Politička podobnost i doušništvo otvaraju sva vrata, dok je talenat marginalizovan. Međutim, njegove kritike nije pošteđen ni kapitalizam, pa tako nakon konačnog prebega u Ameriku on kaže: Razlika između komunističkog i kapitalističkog sistema je u tome što, iako nas oba šutiraju u guzicu, u komunističkom moraš da aplaudiraš, a u kapitalističkom kad te šutnu možeš da vičeš; ja sam ovde došao da vičem.
Često nam govore da revolucija jede svoju decu, ali nas ne podsećaju da jede i tuđu, i to pošto ih je dvaput proterala kroz mašinu za meso.
Slobodarski duh, koji je imanentan svakom živom biću, ne predstavlja naučeno ponašanje već je deo naše ljudske, a samim tim i naše životinjske prirode. Taj duh, nesalomiv kod Arenasa, ipak je stišnjen represivnim merama autoritarnog režima koji u sprezi sa niskim stepenom društvenog razvitka u potpunosti iscrpljuje regenerativnu moć mladog čoveka. Ipak, i u najtežim trenucima, dok se nalazi u samici strahujući za goli život, taj mladi čovek je optimističan: Telo pati više nego duša, jer ona uvek ima u čemu da potraži utehu: u sećanju, u nadi.
Taj vedri, avanturistički duh nošen fantastičnim smislom za humor u erotičnoj atmosferi večnog kubanskog leta doprinosi osećaju neverovatnog poleta. Kakvu samo pobedničku književnu svest Arenas nosi u sebi. Koliko veruje svom talentu i svojim delima i kroz šta sve prolazi da bi neka od njih uspeo da objavi.
Sve je intenzivno i neodoljivo. On toliko dobro opisuje spektar seksualnosti i iako sve deluje hiperseksualizovano u ovom romanu to je ono što ga čini uzbudljivim. Jer ta hiperseksualizacija je realnost, ona je autentična, deo je ljudske prirode. Zbog toga ovaj roman sablažnjava moraliste.
Književnost na Kubi pati i propada zajedno sa Arenasom. Politička podobnost i doušništvo otvaraju sva vrata, dok je talenat marginalizovan. Međutim, njegove kritike nije pošteđen ni kapitalizam, pa tako nakon konačnog prebega u Ameriku on kaže: Razlika između komunističkog i kapitalističkog sistema je u tome što, iako nas oba šutiraju u guzicu, u komunističkom moraš da aplaudiraš, a u kapitalističkom kad te šutnu možeš da vičeš; ja sam ovde došao da vičem.
Često nam govore da revolucija jede svoju decu, ali nas ne podsećaju da jede i tuđu, i to pošto ih je dvaput proterala kroz mašinu za meso.
February 15, 2013
Изключителна книга.
Изпълнена с копнеж по свободата и борба за живот, непримиримост с диктатурата и нейните деца - жестокостта и озлобението.
На моменти начина, по който Аренас се спасява изглежда твърде невероятен, трудно е да повярва човек че всичко това се е случило. И че той е оцелял - въпреки системните опити да бъде погубен, а творчеството му заличено.
Въпреки огромного разочарование на емигрантския живот, което го настига накрая, не мога да не се възхитя на невероятната сила и смелост на този непокорен дух.
А Куба, която за мен винаги е била далечна и мечтана, видях в най-грозното й лице, но и почувствах тъй близка - в паралела на спомените - как майка ми ми разказва за всички доносници, за милицията и държавна сигурност.
Изпълнена с копнеж по свободата и борба за живот, непримиримост с диктатурата и нейните деца - жестокостта и озлобението.
На моменти начина, по който Аренас се спасява изглежда твърде невероятен, трудно е да повярва човек че всичко това се е случило. И че той е оцелял - въпреки системните опити да бъде погубен, а творчеството му заличено.
Въпреки огромного разочарование на емигрантския живот, което го настига накрая, не мога да не се възхитя на невероятната сила и смелост на този непокорен дух.
А Куба, която за мен винаги е била далечна и мечтана, видях в най-грозното й лице, но и почувствах тъй близка - в паралела на спомените - как майка ми ми разказва за всички доносници, за милицията и държавна сигурност.
May 31, 2013
Ma dopo vent'anni di repressione, come avrei potuto stare zitto davanti a quei crimini? E inoltre non mi sono mai considerato né di sinistra né di destra, né voglio essere catalogato sotto qualunque etichetta di opportunismo politico. Io racconto la mia verità, come un ebreo che abbia sofferto il razzismo o un russo che sia stato in un gulag, come qualunque essere umano che abbia avuto gli occhi per vedere le cose come sono.
Libro che mi instilla vari dubbi.
Dal punto di vista storico-politico è sicuramente un libro importante, anche se la credibilità viene minata da fanfaronate ed esagerazioni sulla sua vita privata (4000 amanti fino a 24 anni), brani e aneddoti molto numerosi che sembrano vanterie da adolescente, con descrizioni di amplessi fisiologicamente e acrobaticamente impossibili e che alla lunga potrebbero far venire dei dubbi sulla veridicità di alcune vicende raccontate anche se non riguardanti la vita privata dell'autore.
In una biografia, e in un uomo, tutto partecipa a stabilirne la credibilità e queste parti sono importanti per capire l'uomo in questione.
Nulla importa che siano storie omosessuali. Sarebbe lo stesso se fossero eterosessuali.
Le esagerazioni di stampo machista quindi possono influire sulla percezione della verità.
Strano anche che non venga mai nominato Ernesto Guevara, uno dei protagonisti della rivoluzione cubana. Mai citato in questo libro. Uomo simbolo, forse più di Castro per chi vive all'estero, in tutto il mondo quando si parla di rivoluzionari che hanno cambiato la storia.
Ciò non toglie, però, che le storie raccontate da Ameras siano un bel pugno nello stomaco, che descrivono una realtà piuttosto plausibile e simile a quella raccontata da altri scrittori su altre dittature. Insomma, mi viene da pensare che la parte storico-politica sia vera anche se non ho mai sentito Gianni Minà raccontare storie del genere, ma lui era amico di Fidel (un uomo buono, dice lui) e viveva una realtà falsata da quello che il regime voleva far vedere all'estero e quindi dubito fortemente della sua obiettività.
Pensando a Minà mi viene da riflettere rileggendo questo passo:
Scoprii un animale inesistente a Cuba: il comunista di lusso. Ricordo che durante un banchetto all'Università di Harvard un professore tedesco mi disse: «Posso capire che tu abbia sofferto nel tuo paese, ma io sono un grande ammiratore di Fidel Castro e apprezzo quel che ha fatto a Cuba». In quel momento il professore aveva un enorme piatto di cibo davanti e io gli dissi: «Mi sembra bello che lei ammiri Fidel Castro, ma allora non può finire il piatto che ha davanti, perché nessuna delle persone che vivono a Cuba, salvo gli alti funzionari, può mangiare roba simile». Presi il piatto e lo lanciai contro il muro.
Per lui non sono molto diversi dai fascisti:
I miei incontri con questa sinistra godereccia e fascista furono abbastanza polemici.
Il governo cubano ha negato che ci fosse una persecuzione nei confronti degli omosessuali e ovviamente tutti questi illustri giornalisti hanno creduto a queste dichiarazioni.
Mi chiedo come un giornalista come Minà non si ponga il minimo dubbio su questi fatti continuando a idolatrare un personaggio di dubbia moralità.
La parte della detenzione al morro è piuttosto bella e angosciante, come anche la sua infanzia, appassionante da leggere. Il libro alterna fasi bellissime per come è scritto ad altre francamente banali e stereotipate ma penso che abbia a che fare con quella società fortemente machista che lui stesso racconta avere influenzato moltissimo il suo carattere nonostante le sue inclinazioni sessuali.
Per questi motivi l'ho apprezzato ma non amato.
Ci sono anche commenti curiosi su scrittori celebri e sue particolari riflessioni tipo questa:
Uno dei casi più vistosi di ingiustizia intellettuale di questo secolo fu quello di Jorge Luis Borges, al quale venne sistematicamente negato il Premio Nobel per il suo credo politico. Borges è uno degli scrittori latinoamericani più importanti di questo secolo, forse il più importante; ma nonostante questo il Premio Nobel lo hanno dato a Gabriel Garcia Màrquez, scimmiottatore di Faulkner, amico personale di Castro e opportunista nato. La sua opera, salvo qualche indubbio merito, è piena di populismo, di cianfrusaglieria: non arriva all'altezza dei grandi scrittori morti nell'oblio o trascurati.
È però un libro che si deve leggere, almeno per eliminare un po' quell'alone di divinità che si è dato negli anni a Fidel, dittatore come tutti i dittatori, e per porci delle domande sulla realtà dei fatti che ancora oggi non è poi così chiara visto che le uniche cose che sappiamo di Cuba sono comunque quelle volute dal regime o quelle scritte e raccontate dai dissidenti, che però a quanto pare, e lo scrive anche Arenas in questo libro, spesso non vengono creduti.
Però quella mancanza di Guevara mi puzza...
April 10, 2020
This was a different book, to say the least. Initially I was put off by the rampant impersonal sex the author describes - constantly - with literally hundreds of young men. I quit reading about a quarter of the way through but when I picked it back up, I was captivated. This is the story of a wild, unbridled, rebel soul. I learned so much about life in Cuba under 2 dictators, but mostly Castro. I have never read Arenas’s fiction but he was a well-known writer who suffered hugely in Cuba. He writes freely and vividly of the nightmare he endured trying to escape. Yet when he finally does he lands in the U.S. and feels lost and alone. So I learned a lot, also, about what refugees endure when they leave a home they never really wanted to leave. I googled the author about 3/4 of the way through this book so was prepared for the ending but I still sobbed. I love Arenas’s spirit and wildness and perseverance and bravery. I loved this book.
April 27, 2022
ovako bi se trebali pisati memoari: direktno, bez dlake na jeziku, bez cenzure. ovo što je napisao reinaldo arenas, moglo bi se nazvati i konačnom ispovijedi; zaražen aids-om, žurio se dovršiti rukopis, pridodati mu oproštajno pismo i svojevoljno staviti točku na svoj život (overdose). makar nisam čitala niti jedno njegovo djelo (uostalom, niti jedno osim ovoga nije ni prevedeno na hrvatski), vjerujem da je bio moćan autor, ali sudeći po ovim memoarima, njegovo najveće djelo je njegov život kao takav. upravo je nevjerojatno što je iz svog života napravio... život kojeg je izabrao živio je do maksimuma. veliki dio njegove gorčine ide na castrovu kubu, političku i socijalnu situaciju i nedostatak slobode, ali to ga nije priječilo da živi po svojim željama, krajnje nesputano (po vlastitoj računici, spavao je s više od 5000 muškaraca) i prkosno, bez obzira na strahovladu i režim koji ga je, uostalom, i bacio u tvrđavu morro, jedan od najozloglašenijih zatvora. mnogo toga što je u memoarima opisao (od općenja sa životinjama, preko svog krajnje slobodnog gay života pa do preživljavanja u zatvoru), teško je probavljivo i, zapravo, neprilagođeno literarnoj formi: imaš osjećaj da ti u tri duge noći on priča svoj život, da mu riječi teku iz usta, a ne iz pera na papir.
primjer čovjeka koji je živio -ali i umro- po svojim pravilima.
primjer čovjeka koji je živio -ali i umro- po svojim pravilima.
November 17, 2009
Well I had to fight through that one at times.
I understand and feel for the author with the Cuban repression of his art, and the squalor that he had to live in. I think he was a wonderful writer, and his novels are probably brilliant. His views of the American far Left made me smile, as how can anyone have a better view of Cuba and the hatred and unjustified oppression that communism in that country produces.
But...
I can not believe for one second many of the tales of his "erotic encounters." Cuba would be seen to gyrate from space if this were true. The island would shake itself apart and fall into the sea. There doesn't seem to be a mode of transport that is not a moving bordello of pulsating homosexuality. It seems that every policeman, soldier, government official, and male in Cuba is either a blatant homosexual or a repressed homosexual. The author would be a walking fertility clinic if half of this is true; in fact I am surprised that he would be able to move without overbalancing due to the liquid content of his body.
Perhaps this was not for me, but it does have merits in writing style and the crystal clear view into the oppression of literature and homosexuality in Cuba.
I understand and feel for the author with the Cuban repression of his art, and the squalor that he had to live in. I think he was a wonderful writer, and his novels are probably brilliant. His views of the American far Left made me smile, as how can anyone have a better view of Cuba and the hatred and unjustified oppression that communism in that country produces.
But...
I can not believe for one second many of the tales of his "erotic encounters." Cuba would be seen to gyrate from space if this were true. The island would shake itself apart and fall into the sea. There doesn't seem to be a mode of transport that is not a moving bordello of pulsating homosexuality. It seems that every policeman, soldier, government official, and male in Cuba is either a blatant homosexual or a repressed homosexual. The author would be a walking fertility clinic if half of this is true; in fact I am surprised that he would be able to move without overbalancing due to the liquid content of his body.
Perhaps this was not for me, but it does have merits in writing style and the crystal clear view into the oppression of literature and homosexuality in Cuba.
July 11, 2020
One of the most poignant and heartbreaking LGBT memoirs ever written. In sparse and direct prose, Arena tells us of his life growing up in rural Cuba, his discoveries of his sexuality (first with his experience with a prostitute, and then with his fellow students and friends), and then moves us into Castro Cuba. It's a book full of viciousness and truth. The sentences devour you whole, only to spit you out, at least if you've been through similar experiences, and have lived to tell the tale. It's the type of book that is educational for anyone who hasn't had to fight to be themselves, and for anyone who has, it's the type of book that you wish you had written yourself. I read this book almost a decade ago and still remember it. I hope that Arenas' critical reputation continues to grow and improve, along with the passing years.
January 21, 2024
Leída hoy, y sin contexto, esta novela parecería una fábula queer inverosímil y que no termina bien. Lo triste no es realmente su final, es que sea una historia real en la que la que por acallar la libertad, izando una bandera corrupta por la sangre, la miseria y el silencio, se pierdan tantas vidas.
Cada emigrante tendrá su historia. Esta desgarra, entristece y recuerda un muy triste carnaval, donde ya nadie merece bailar.
Cada emigrante tendrá su historia. Esta desgarra, entristece y recuerda un muy triste carnaval, donde ya nadie merece bailar.
January 30, 2008
Reinaldo Arenas, Before Night Falls (Penguin, 1993)
Arenas' memoir of life in Cuba has recently been made into one of the finest films extant by Julian Schnabel. Schnabel did an excellent job with the book; while his interpretation of the text was loose in places, he managed to capture in images the style of Arenas' writing.
In other words, if you saw the movie before reading the book, you're going to be somewhat surprised. Some of Schnabel's more memorable scenes are mentioned in passing (if at all) in the book, and one of the film's central sequences, the balloon escape, gets one sentence. Where Arenas and Schnabel intersect is in the lushness, the ability to find celebration and remarkable beauty inside the ugliness of the Castro regime (and, for a few years' worth, the Batista regime before it).
Arenas' memoir is also likely to shock more than a few in its sexual explicitness (another aspect Schnabel rather shied away from, which I found a tad surprising while reading the book), but so be it. There is nothing gratuitous about either Arenas' promiscuity or his literary descriptions of it; it's no different than using the language of excess to describe the beastliness of a life that involves hand-to-mouth poverty and political censure. And throughout, more than anything (and perhaps this is what makes the book so powerful), Before Night Falls is a celebration, both of Arenas' life and the lives of many other Cuban writers persecuted as dissidents in the latter half of the twentieth century. **** 1/2
Arenas' memoir of life in Cuba has recently been made into one of the finest films extant by Julian Schnabel. Schnabel did an excellent job with the book; while his interpretation of the text was loose in places, he managed to capture in images the style of Arenas' writing.
In other words, if you saw the movie before reading the book, you're going to be somewhat surprised. Some of Schnabel's more memorable scenes are mentioned in passing (if at all) in the book, and one of the film's central sequences, the balloon escape, gets one sentence. Where Arenas and Schnabel intersect is in the lushness, the ability to find celebration and remarkable beauty inside the ugliness of the Castro regime (and, for a few years' worth, the Batista regime before it).
Arenas' memoir is also likely to shock more than a few in its sexual explicitness (another aspect Schnabel rather shied away from, which I found a tad surprising while reading the book), but so be it. There is nothing gratuitous about either Arenas' promiscuity or his literary descriptions of it; it's no different than using the language of excess to describe the beastliness of a life that involves hand-to-mouth poverty and political censure. And throughout, more than anything (and perhaps this is what makes the book so powerful), Before Night Falls is a celebration, both of Arenas' life and the lives of many other Cuban writers persecuted as dissidents in the latter half of the twentieth century. **** 1/2
July 9, 2014
Es la primera vez que tengo la oportunidad de leer un libro autobiográfico y debo decir que fue sumamente impactante. Las condiciones desdichadas a las que Arenas se ve expuesto son meramente reflejos de las ataduras de una sociedad reprimida. Obligado a renegar sus ideologías y preferencias sexuales, éste encuentra refugio en la escritura. Plasma su postura anticastrista y las penurias por las que, no solo él, sino un sin número de cubanos, se ven afectados. Marcando así un hito en la literatura latinoamericana.
La historia es sumamente admirable, aunque debo decir que hubo momentos en los que me resultó un tanto tedioso continuar la lectura, pero ya en las etapas finales de la misma se me hizo imposible despegarme. Me pareció muy interesante las críticas que hizo no solo al gobierno de Castro, algo un tanto irónico(cuando lo lean entenderán el por qué de ese comentario), sino a muchos escritores latinoamericanos de renombre que fueron testaferros de Castro.
Algo que si he de mencionar es que a pesar de que este señor se ha ganado mis respeto y que voy a leer uno que otros de sus escritos, me pareció muy pendeja su forma de "irse" (aunque entiendo sus condiciones ya para este tiempo), puesto que después de tantas adversidades que pudo superar y que es comprensible su tristeza y que ya no aguantaba más, fue muy cobarde de su parte llegar a ese extremo.
Al parecer los grandes tienen que irse de este mundo de manera dramática. Independientemente de ciertos baches, maravillosa pieza.
La historia es sumamente admirable, aunque debo decir que hubo momentos en los que me resultó un tanto tedioso continuar la lectura, pero ya en las etapas finales de la misma se me hizo imposible despegarme. Me pareció muy interesante las críticas que hizo no solo al gobierno de Castro, algo un tanto irónico(cuando lo lean entenderán el por qué de ese comentario), sino a muchos escritores latinoamericanos de renombre que fueron testaferros de Castro.
Algo que si he de mencionar es que a pesar de que este señor se ha ganado mis respeto y que voy a leer uno que otros de sus escritos, me pareció muy pendeja su forma de "irse" (aunque entiendo sus condiciones ya para este tiempo), puesto que después de tantas adversidades que pudo superar y que es comprensible su tristeza y que ya no aguantaba más, fue muy cobarde de su parte llegar a ese extremo.
Al parecer los grandes tienen que irse de este mundo de manera dramática. Independientemente de ciertos baches, maravillosa pieza.
January 29, 2018
No suelo leer autobiografías, y la verdad es un género en el que debería incursionar más. La narración de Arenas acerca de su vida es poderosa, descarnada y conmovedora. Me resultó difícil, como alguien que siempre se ha manifestado a favor de las revoluciones de izquierda en Latinoamérica, leer un libro acerca de los peores excesos del régimen castrista en Cuba. Resulta muy triste que las utopías de igualdad y justicia que pregonó la revolución cubana hayan devenido en el encarcelamiento de escritores disidentes, la tortura y la represión. También me resultó duro leer las críticas que hace Arenas a algunos de mis escritores favoritos, como Carpentier, Guillén, García Márquez o Galeano, con respecto a su postura ideológica y el papel que desempeñaron con respecto al régimen castrista. Pero en definitiva es una versión de la verdad que es necesario conocer para no encerrarse en dogmatismos ideológicos o criticar a los cubanos exiliados sin conocer los motivos que los llevaron a elegir el exilio. Siento que salgo de este libro con una visión mucho más equilibrada de lo que significó la revolución y sus consecuencias.
February 23, 2012
Absolutely stunningly brilliant, candid memoir. Arenas does an immaculate job, as he would describe it, of screaming against the systems of control (in this case, the so-called communism but really dystopian dictatorship of castro's cuba) which doggedly plagued the author throughout his life. his scream is one of joy, and that joy often abounds from two distinct but sometimes overlapping subjects; sexuality (more explicitly, a hungry homoerotic sexuality) and the sea. these aspects provide the book with its blunt poetic justice and sensibility. the other over-arching theme is his resistance to the brutal tyranny he was subject too under castro (somewhat due but not limited to being because of his homosexuality). totally scathing yet often in the same breathe utterly exuberant. also, the book just oozes sex, which i found great entertainment but also touching, relatable and well articulated. a total heartbreaker of a book but also a testament to what often gets dubbed 'the human spirit' but is more accurately a total stand against oppression and systems of control.
October 1, 2017
Even before the actual beginning of the book (in the introduction) we become aware of how unreliable Arenas is as a narrator. The impression is repeatedly reinforced throughout the book to the point that it become impossible to fathom what is true from what is exaggeration or even fiction under the pen of someone who seems perpetually dissatisfied with his lot and clearly has an axe to grind.
Having managed to read most of it in the original Spanish with the English translation at hand I was also surprised how shoddy and disrespectful of the text that translation appeared to be. The names of certain characters have been changed (partially and entirely), the pagination altered (paragraphs added, one moved from the front of a chapter to the end of the previous one), and some significant inaccuracies, not to mention a clear lack of cultural sensitivity from the translator with regards to the gay world.
Having managed to read most of it in the original Spanish with the English translation at hand I was also surprised how shoddy and disrespectful of the text that translation appeared to be. The names of certain characters have been changed (partially and entirely), the pagination altered (paragraphs added, one moved from the front of a chapter to the end of the previous one), and some significant inaccuracies, not to mention a clear lack of cultural sensitivity from the translator with regards to the gay world.
February 22, 2021
Arenas je rođen u siromaštvu u jednom malom selu na Kubi, bio deo revolucije koja je odabrala da ih predvodi Fidel Kastro, žrtvovao mnogo toga kako bi postao pisac, kasnije se pridružio kontrarevoluciji protiv Kastrove diktature i uhapšen zbog svoje seksualnosti i zbog toga što je kao takav radio protiv države. Sve što ne valja u jednoj diktaturi opisano je u ovoj knjizi - počevši od od subjektivnosti ovog režima koga će i kako da kazni, do prećutkivanja informacija od svojih građana, preko užasnih odluka koje su rezultirale velikom nesrećom velikog broja ljudi. Arenas vrlo interesantno pripoveda, te dobijamo uvid u ovaj režim iz perspektive jednog autsajdera, pisca koji živi na marginama društva zajedno sa drugim piscima i umetnicima.
Njegova seksualnost je velika tema ovog romana, ne samo jer je zbog toga uhapšen, nego jer svedoči o načinu na koji su se vlasti ophodile prema LGBT ljudima. Vrlo je eksplicitan u svojim opisivanjima, njegove seksualne epizode se kreću od romantičnih do vrlo bolesnih, takvih da će mnoge šokirati. Sudeći po njemu, skoro svi na Osrtvu su imali tendencije ka istom polu i nisu imali problem da to i potraže kad bi to hteli. Ali Rejnaldo mi ostavlja utisak onog lika koji samo želi da šokira svojih seksualnim eskapadama a da ga niko nije ni pitao, po malo ih i izmišljajući zbog efekta, ne razmišljajući kako će se to razumeti. Jedino mi je žao što verujem da će ova knjiga u pogrešnim rukama samo dati ljudima dodatne argumente zašto ne bi trebalo podržavati gej populaciju, prvenstveno jer je Rejnaldo izneo mnogo prljav veš koji je kubanska seksualna revolucija '60-ih napravila, a opet sve to povezao samo sa LGBT osobama.
Knjiga je vrlo dokumentarna, ali jako lična, i to je vrlo dobra kombinacija. Ako vas zanima njegov život kao i to kakav je bio Kastrov režim iz prve ruke, čitajte je, neće vam biti dosadna.
Njegova seksualnost je velika tema ovog romana, ne samo jer je zbog toga uhapšen, nego jer svedoči o načinu na koji su se vlasti ophodile prema LGBT ljudima. Vrlo je eksplicitan u svojim opisivanjima, njegove seksualne epizode se kreću od romantičnih do vrlo bolesnih, takvih da će mnoge šokirati. Sudeći po njemu, skoro svi na Osrtvu su imali tendencije ka istom polu i nisu imali problem da to i potraže kad bi to hteli. Ali Rejnaldo mi ostavlja utisak onog lika koji samo želi da šokira svojih seksualnim eskapadama a da ga niko nije ni pitao, po malo ih i izmišljajući zbog efekta, ne razmišljajući kako će se to razumeti. Jedino mi je žao što verujem da će ova knjiga u pogrešnim rukama samo dati ljudima dodatne argumente zašto ne bi trebalo podržavati gej populaciju, prvenstveno jer je Rejnaldo izneo mnogo prljav veš koji je kubanska seksualna revolucija '60-ih napravila, a opet sve to povezao samo sa LGBT osobama.
Knjiga je vrlo dokumentarna, ali jako lična, i to je vrlo dobra kombinacija. Ako vas zanima njegov život kao i to kakav je bio Kastrov režim iz prve ruke, čitajte je, neće vam biti dosadna.
May 8, 2021
Done reading Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas and I thought it was sad, grisly, unsettling but ultimately moving memoir in the midst of repression and fear. Told in chronological account of his life, Reinaldo Arenas was quite a character; a larger than life persona, who endured dictatorships from Batista to Castro in Cuba. As a gay writer, he was particularly pursued by the government and tagged as counterrevolutionary. He was silenced and threatened but he persisted and ended in the most grueling of fate almost too difficult to bear. I have not read any of his books before reading this one - the summation of his personal life from cradle to grave. This book started really promising, the prose was simple yet beautiful, with occasional wry humor, but the twists and turns were quite daunting with seemingly flyaway strands that were not easily pulled together.
January 28, 2021
"Avevano solo un dubbio: qual era la reale situazione in cui versavano gli artisti a Cuba. Desiderio Navarro, Virgilio Pineta e io decidemmo di chiarirgli le idee: campi di concentramento, persecuzioni, censura e galere stracolme".
Un'autobiografia bellissima, cruda, disarmante e illuminante su quella che è stata la successione dalla dittatura di Batista al regime della rivoluzione castrista.
Avevo visto il film di Bardem e Deep scoprendo così la storia di Reinaldo Arenas e ho voluto approfondire comprando e leggendo la sua autobiografia.
Sono felice di averlo fatto perché la sua è una storia che merita di essere raccontata e mi rincresce soltanto di non averla letta prima del mio viaggio a Cuba; perché mi avrebbe fornito maggiori e diverse chiavi di lettura di un Paese così bello e controverso.
Un'autobiografia bellissima, cruda, disarmante e illuminante su quella che è stata la successione dalla dittatura di Batista al regime della rivoluzione castrista.
Avevo visto il film di Bardem e Deep scoprendo così la storia di Reinaldo Arenas e ho voluto approfondire comprando e leggendo la sua autobiografia.
Sono felice di averlo fatto perché la sua è una storia che merita di essere raccontata e mi rincresce soltanto di non averla letta prima del mio viaggio a Cuba; perché mi avrebbe fornito maggiori e diverse chiavi di lettura di un Paese così bello e controverso.
June 26, 2019
Íncipit: "Yo pensaba morirme en el invierno de 1987. Desde hacía meses tenía fiebres terribles. Consulté a un médico y el diagnóstico fue SIDA. Como cada día me sentía peor, compré un pasaje para Miami y decidí morir cerca del mar”.
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Fragmento: “…nunca me he considerado un ser ni de izquierda ni de derecha, ni quiero que se me catalogue bajo ninguna etiqueta oportunista y política; yo digo mi verdad, lo mismo que un judío que haya sufrido el racismo o un ruso que haya estado en un gulag, o cualquier ser humano que haya tenido ojos para ver las cosas tal como son; grito, luego existo”.
Antes que anochezca
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Este es un libro que irremediablemente no podemos cerrar y continuar con otro como si nada hubiese pasado. Perturbadora, pesimista, dura, directa, llena de odio (totalmente comprencible) –y en algún momento hasta escatológica– es la prosa de Reinaldo Arenas. Incomodo, rebelde e irreverente son adjetivos que podrían quedarse cortos cuando pienso en su autor como protagonista en su propio texto. No era lo que me esperaba. Me sorprendió tanto positiva como negativamente. Es un libro que lleva una reseña solo para él (espérenla seguramente en el blog).
De momento queda recomendadísima pero ojo –solo un consejo–, tienes que desprenderte de tus prejuicios, ideas preconcebidas y concepciones morales; es un texto que exige que te desnudez en cuerpo, alma y mente. Y otra cosa, demanda un exigente criterio propio del lector. A veces todo lo que parece no es.
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Fragmento: “…nunca me he considerado un ser ni de izquierda ni de derecha, ni quiero que se me catalogue bajo ninguna etiqueta oportunista y política; yo digo mi verdad, lo mismo que un judío que haya sufrido el racismo o un ruso que haya estado en un gulag, o cualquier ser humano que haya tenido ojos para ver las cosas tal como son; grito, luego existo”.
Antes que anochezca
·
Este es un libro que irremediablemente no podemos cerrar y continuar con otro como si nada hubiese pasado. Perturbadora, pesimista, dura, directa, llena de odio (totalmente comprencible) –y en algún momento hasta escatológica– es la prosa de Reinaldo Arenas. Incomodo, rebelde e irreverente son adjetivos que podrían quedarse cortos cuando pienso en su autor como protagonista en su propio texto. No era lo que me esperaba. Me sorprendió tanto positiva como negativamente. Es un libro que lleva una reseña solo para él (espérenla seguramente en el blog).
De momento queda recomendadísima pero ojo –solo un consejo–, tienes que desprenderte de tus prejuicios, ideas preconcebidas y concepciones morales; es un texto que exige que te desnudez en cuerpo, alma y mente. Y otra cosa, demanda un exigente criterio propio del lector. A veces todo lo que parece no es.
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