What do you think?
Rate this book
Ότι σου εστίν η βασιλεία
Έξω από την Αβάνα, σ' ένα αγρόκτημα που ονομάζεται Το Νησί, μια μικρή κοινότητα ζει υπό την απειλή ενός απροσδιόριστου κινδύνου. Στο λαβύρινθο ενός θολού παρόντος, αποτελούμενου από μνήμες και πόθους, μικρά και φαινομενικά αθώα περιστατικά προοιωνίζονται έναν επικείμενο κατακλυσμό. Η τροπική ατμόσφαιρα ηλεκτρίζει τους εγκλωβισμένους κατοίκους του Νησιού και τους οδηγεί, σύμφωνα με το ιδιόρρυθμο θέλημα ενός παντοδύναμου όντος, προς ένα τέλος ουσιαστικά προαναγγελθέν. Ποιο είναι άραγε αυτό το υπέρτατο Ον; Μήπως εκείνο τους έστειλε τον μυστηριώδη σαϊτεμένο νέο σ' εκείνη τη ξέχωρη περιοχή του Νησιού, τη γνωστή ως Επέκεινα;
431 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
4 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
Abilio Estévez
35 books13 followersStudied Spanish and philosophy. Wrote seven plays and published two volumes of poetry. Tuyo es el reino was his first novel and has been translated in many languages.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 3, 2018
Wow.
La narrativa, la construcción de los personajes y la intromisión del narrador en la novela es diferente a muchas cosas que haya leído antes y me encantó. Tiene destellos filosóficos y la dicotomía del bien y el mal incluidos en todo momento. ¿Existe Dios? ¿Está presente en la novela? ¿Es un ángel la representación del herido? ¿Qué pasa con Chavito? ¿Y las estatuas?
Un libro que deja preguntas que obligan a la relectura porque las pistas están ahí, solo hay que leer con más atención.
La narrativa, la construcción de los personajes y la intromisión del narrador en la novela es diferente a muchas cosas que haya leído antes y me encantó. Tiene destellos filosóficos y la dicotomía del bien y el mal incluidos en todo momento. ¿Existe Dios? ¿Está presente en la novela? ¿Es un ángel la representación del herido? ¿Qué pasa con Chavito? ¿Y las estatuas?
Un libro que deja preguntas que obligan a la relectura porque las pistas están ahí, solo hay que leer con más atención.
February 22, 2017
No se como calificar o clasificar este libro. Abilio Estevez es un genio de la escritura, la prosa es linda, interesante e inspirada. Es imposible no maravillarse con la facilidad con que este escritor crea las escenas mas fascinantes e inigualablemente escritas. El libro es escrito como una serie de escenas cortas en la vida de los habitantes de la isla, un barrio de la Habana y a la vez una alegoria de ella misma hasta el dia en que Fidel bota a Batista. Cada escena es una obra de arte de escritura. Pero el problema reside en dos factores. El primero es que no existe una linea narrativa muy definida que seguir, o tal vez sea que esa linea sea demasiado tenue e incapaz de mantener el interes a traves de 350paginas, y el segundo es que las escenas eventualmente se vuelven un poco repetitivas y el escritor pierde el interes en la historia (al menos este lector). Le doy una calificacion de 3 por la brillantez de la prosa y, solo, tres porque en momentos me aburrio. Creo que Estevez fue, a la vez, demasiado ambicioso e indulgente consigo mismo.
March 29, 2023
Kuubalaista eksotiikkaa ja "maagista realismia". Jäi kuitenkin hiukan sekavaksi.
January 29, 2016
In a secluded, gated community on the Cuban coast called the Island, established by an incestuous couple and populated with statues of various mythic figures from folk lore and antiquity, the disparate residents begin to experience a sense of foreboding and sightings of a white figure leaving fresh blood in its wake.
The figure turns out to be a young soldier shot through with arrows, the first portent of a rupture in the peace ahead of the revolution to overthrow the dictator Batista, led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.
The Islanders care for the soldier and try to go about their daily lives, but all are aware that a disaster of some kind is looming.
A dense, allusive tale of personal loss and yearning aligned to 20th century Cuba's pivotal moment of history, poet and first time novelist Estevez seems to have thrown pretty much everything he thinks, feels and loves about his native land into this stream-of-consciousness work of prose, with equally enticing and infuriating results along the way.
The narrative is dreamlike yet consciously manipulative at the same time, with Estevez drawing frequent attention towards his own scene-setting (i.e. "If the reader has no objections, it can be five in the afternoon") then plunging us wholly into the broiling thoughts of his characters as they muse about youthfulness and aging, memory and forgetfulness, life and death, their own personal Cubas.
Though very little happens throughout, the book is thoroughly obsessed with the very idea of Cuba, its isolated and forlorn nature, essentially unchanging, despite the upheavals coming to both the fictional Island community and the entire island itself:
"islands aren't countries, just ships run aground forever - and time, ay! doesn't move in ships that have run aground forever".
Estevez imbues his prose with the spirits and phrases of Cuban poets and torch singers, and with folk stories and figures from Christianity - most notably Saint Sebastian, a figure of youth and beauty who was persecuted for heresy, much like the soldier.
This is the kind of ambitious, quixotic work of fiction I usually really enjoy, but for whatever reason it never quite entranced me consistently. The shifting, confusing narrative perspectives were fine, the slothfulness of the storytelling left me unconcerned, as did the arch intrusiveness of the author, at least not overly; yet it never really amounted to more than the sum of its parts.
For all I know Estevez may have written what many would consider The Great Cuban Novel, he was certainly aiming for something of the kind I am sure, but the culture is unfamiliar to me so I don't doubt missed a great deal.
He certainly failed with his overly long epilogue though, a dull and indulgent 'thank you' to all his inspirations which he should have kept down to a single page of acknowledgments.
The figure turns out to be a young soldier shot through with arrows, the first portent of a rupture in the peace ahead of the revolution to overthrow the dictator Batista, led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.
The Islanders care for the soldier and try to go about their daily lives, but all are aware that a disaster of some kind is looming.
A dense, allusive tale of personal loss and yearning aligned to 20th century Cuba's pivotal moment of history, poet and first time novelist Estevez seems to have thrown pretty much everything he thinks, feels and loves about his native land into this stream-of-consciousness work of prose, with equally enticing and infuriating results along the way.
The narrative is dreamlike yet consciously manipulative at the same time, with Estevez drawing frequent attention towards his own scene-setting (i.e. "If the reader has no objections, it can be five in the afternoon") then plunging us wholly into the broiling thoughts of his characters as they muse about youthfulness and aging, memory and forgetfulness, life and death, their own personal Cubas.
Though very little happens throughout, the book is thoroughly obsessed with the very idea of Cuba, its isolated and forlorn nature, essentially unchanging, despite the upheavals coming to both the fictional Island community and the entire island itself:
"islands aren't countries, just ships run aground forever - and time, ay! doesn't move in ships that have run aground forever".
Estevez imbues his prose with the spirits and phrases of Cuban poets and torch singers, and with folk stories and figures from Christianity - most notably Saint Sebastian, a figure of youth and beauty who was persecuted for heresy, much like the soldier.
This is the kind of ambitious, quixotic work of fiction I usually really enjoy, but for whatever reason it never quite entranced me consistently. The shifting, confusing narrative perspectives were fine, the slothfulness of the storytelling left me unconcerned, as did the arch intrusiveness of the author, at least not overly; yet it never really amounted to more than the sum of its parts.
For all I know Estevez may have written what many would consider The Great Cuban Novel, he was certainly aiming for something of the kind I am sure, but the culture is unfamiliar to me so I don't doubt missed a great deal.
He certainly failed with his overly long epilogue though, a dull and indulgent 'thank you' to all his inspirations which he should have kept down to a single page of acknowledgments.
May 13, 2015
De bedoeling van het boek zal wellicht goed zijn, maar het blijft een bizar verhaal (of net gebrek aan verhaal of gebrek aan achtergrond), waardoor ik er toch niet echt inkwam tenzij op het allerlaatste. Het geeft wel een bepaalde sfeer weer, maar ook een hele andere dan ik van Cuba had verwacht. Wellicht heb ik een hoop dubbele betekenissen gemist, jammer...
December 16, 2011
não me prendeu minimamente. Abandonei-o antes de ter chegado a metade :x
February 8, 2015
Was reading the English version - couldn't get into it. One of the few books I started and couldn't finish.
July 3, 2016
Mi novela favorita de Abilio. Cada vez que tengo tiempo vuelvo a ella.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews