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Venceremos
Brooklyn-born Jay Cardinale, Vietnam War hero turned deserter, has fled to a commune in Canada. Aching to get back home he gets his shot at redemption in the form of a Faustian he can have a full pardon if he’ll go to Cuba and assassinate an American radical living there in exile. Jay says “no” only to discover he has no choice. Once there, Jay cuts cane, finds love and more.
Kindle Edition
First published August 12, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 31, 2011
For me the early seventies were spent in schoolrooms. I was in 1st grade at the start of the 70s, and oblivious to the turmoil going on in our country. By the time I was a teenager, I loved the music of 60s and 70s, and thought of that era (if I thought about it at all) as being a time of peaceful protests and hippies smoking weed and having sex. Yeah, I'd heard of Abbie Hoffman, but I mostly thought of him as that loud guy on the Woodstock video I watched endlessly.
For that reason, this novel, Venceremos, functions almost like a historical novel in that it gave me an insider's look at the radical left of America during that time. While some young people were sticking daisies in the ends of soldiers' guns, others were building bombs in New York City apartments. One such bomb, and its tragic aftermath, is at the heart of the story. Young Jay Cardinale is a Vietnam War hero injured in action and recuperating on an extended stateside R & R. The son of a WWII war hero, he goes against family tradition. Knowing he can't return to the chaos of the war, he flees to a commune near Vancouver. A meeting with two shady and threatening men gives him a chance to earn reentry to the U.S, but also puts him in the middle of an ethical dilemma related to the NYC bombing.
His mission sends him across Canada and then by ship to Cuba to be part of the second Venceremos Brigade, a volunteer effort to help the Cubans cut sugar cane to raise money to fund their revolution. Somehow he has to fit in with a group of young radicals and endure the hard physical labor of cutting cane under the hot Cuban sun, all while figuring out how to complete his mission and escape undetected.
Jay is a sympathetic, yet complex character. He seems old beyond his years, as one would imagine would be the case for a young man who had gone through a grueling war experience and challenged both his country and his father by deserting. He is called upon to do things no young person should have to face. It's hard to believe that he is only 21 by the novel's end, yet it's entirely realistic. The best coming-of-age tales work when the protagonist is faced with something unendurable, and endures. You'll need to read the book to see how Jay Cardinale fares.
In the meantime, mix yourself a Cuba Libre and immerse yourself in another world: the sweating workers in the cane fields, the bars in Havana, the mysterious watchers who seem to be on every street, and Jay's interaction with a particular charismatic cigar-smoking, baseball-loving political leader. This is Cuba, fully fleshed out. I loved it
Oh, and you'll even find a few hippies smoking weed and having sex. This novel is an era come to life.
For that reason, this novel, Venceremos, functions almost like a historical novel in that it gave me an insider's look at the radical left of America during that time. While some young people were sticking daisies in the ends of soldiers' guns, others were building bombs in New York City apartments. One such bomb, and its tragic aftermath, is at the heart of the story. Young Jay Cardinale is a Vietnam War hero injured in action and recuperating on an extended stateside R & R. The son of a WWII war hero, he goes against family tradition. Knowing he can't return to the chaos of the war, he flees to a commune near Vancouver. A meeting with two shady and threatening men gives him a chance to earn reentry to the U.S, but also puts him in the middle of an ethical dilemma related to the NYC bombing.
His mission sends him across Canada and then by ship to Cuba to be part of the second Venceremos Brigade, a volunteer effort to help the Cubans cut sugar cane to raise money to fund their revolution. Somehow he has to fit in with a group of young radicals and endure the hard physical labor of cutting cane under the hot Cuban sun, all while figuring out how to complete his mission and escape undetected.
Jay is a sympathetic, yet complex character. He seems old beyond his years, as one would imagine would be the case for a young man who had gone through a grueling war experience and challenged both his country and his father by deserting. He is called upon to do things no young person should have to face. It's hard to believe that he is only 21 by the novel's end, yet it's entirely realistic. The best coming-of-age tales work when the protagonist is faced with something unendurable, and endures. You'll need to read the book to see how Jay Cardinale fares.
In the meantime, mix yourself a Cuba Libre and immerse yourself in another world: the sweating workers in the cane fields, the bars in Havana, the mysterious watchers who seem to be on every street, and Jay's interaction with a particular charismatic cigar-smoking, baseball-loving political leader. This is Cuba, fully fleshed out. I loved it
Oh, and you'll even find a few hippies smoking weed and having sex. This novel is an era come to life.
July 17, 2012
Jay Cardinale is a wounded Vietnam vet at home in the 1970s recovering when he deserts the Army and flees to Vancouver where he gets involved with the antiwar movement. The complications of his life multiply rapidly as he gets involved with militants like the Weathermen as well as the flower children. Soon he finds himself in Cuba cutting cane as a member of an anti-imperialist Venceremos brigade, and secretly plotting to kill someone in order to earn clemency and a ticket back to America.
Waxman relates the story with a first person POV and a wry, smartass tone. The writing is spare, and the tale moves along smartly with a mountain of twists and turns at the end. The first person POV often seems to get in the way of a richer descriptive rendering of locations in the Cuban countryside and in Havana and other places, as well as of people in general. The few details revealed of Jay's war experience in Vietnam strain credibility. Nevertheless, Venceremos is an entertaining tale sprinkled with humor and tastefully done sex. Waxman paints Cardinale as a very believable hapless 21 year old over his head in a pot of political intrigue. It's a good read.
Waxman relates the story with a first person POV and a wry, smartass tone. The writing is spare, and the tale moves along smartly with a mountain of twists and turns at the end. The first person POV often seems to get in the way of a richer descriptive rendering of locations in the Cuban countryside and in Havana and other places, as well as of people in general. The few details revealed of Jay's war experience in Vietnam strain credibility. Nevertheless, Venceremos is an entertaining tale sprinkled with humor and tastefully done sex. Waxman paints Cardinale as a very believable hapless 21 year old over his head in a pot of political intrigue. It's a good read.
June 6, 2012
I am a slow reader, compared to most. I take my time with books. I read before going to sleep each night, but it usually means that I fall asleep within a few pages. It's never a testament to the quality of the book. Whether I like the book, or not, determines if I complete the book. I can honestly say that last night when I went to bed, I missed reaching for the book and bringing the characters with me. I guess that means I really connected with your characters and their stories. Bravo!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews