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A Corner of the World
Davanti agli occhi l’oceano dell’Avana che risplende; nel cuore il peso di una vita che non decolla. Marian insegna all’università, ma tiepidamente; i rapporti sporadici con l’ex marito sono bocconi che non nutrono. È un libro a far scoccare la scintilla: incaricata di scriverne la prefazione, Marian ha incontri tempestosi con Daniel, scrittore vulcanico, seducente e di quindici anni più giovane. Il fuoco che divampa è travolgente, annulla differenza d’età, dubbi, reputazione, appuntamenti mancati. Stesi sul pavimento fresco a bere granita dopo aver fatto l’amore, Daniel e Marian sono vicinissimi, eppure tutto un oceano li separa: l’Atlantico che Daniel le propone di attraversare insieme, con il sogno di un mondo migliore. Marian cammina lungo il Malecón, fra il traffico e le onde, su quella terra che sente sua. Seguire un sogno di superlativi immaginari, un amore sbilenco, o abbracciare la sua Cuba, dissestata eppure splendida di natura e di storia, e trarne la forza per cambiare la realtà presente? Nello scenario memorabile della grande rivoluzione caraibica, una donna guarda negli occhi i suoi fantasmi e ritrova finalmente se stessa.
- GenresFiction
141 pages, Paperback
Published September 9, 2014
3 people are currently reading
214 people want to read
About the author
Mylene Fernández Pintado
7 books3 followersMylene Fernández Pintado (b. 1963) es una abogada y narradora cubana que ha obtenido algunos de los más importantes premios literarios que se otorgan en Cuba, incluido el de la Crítica por su novela Otras plegarias atendidas.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
February 27, 2019
I picked this book up from the Akateeminen kirjakauppa on May 15th, 2016, which I know because I had left the receipt in as a bookmark. I remember buying it - the weather was beautiful and I wanted to sit in the Esplanadi park and read, but I didn't have a book on hand - although I don't know why I chose this book, out of all the books in the store.
On that day, I read the first 30 or so pages, but I wasn't drawn in and didn't pick it up again until today. I wonder if on that day, I didn't really want to engage with the conflicts of the central character, who is questioning her past choices and the opportunities that the future might bring. Perhaps I chose this book because I knew that I should ask those questions one day, but wasn't yet ready (and who would be, stuck in the middle of a master's thesis).
Marian's friend says to her "You think you want to go home. But wasn't this your home? You don't belong here anymore. In the airport they don't ask you so many questions. But you ask yourself questions, and the answers take a long time and lots of tears."
This book was lovely and sentimental and apparently just what I needed to read today - a good reflection on the consequences of the choices we make for ourselves, and in an odd way, very comforting.
On that day, I read the first 30 or so pages, but I wasn't drawn in and didn't pick it up again until today. I wonder if on that day, I didn't really want to engage with the conflicts of the central character, who is questioning her past choices and the opportunities that the future might bring. Perhaps I chose this book because I knew that I should ask those questions one day, but wasn't yet ready (and who would be, stuck in the middle of a master's thesis).
Marian's friend says to her "You think you want to go home. But wasn't this your home? You don't belong here anymore. In the airport they don't ask you so many questions. But you ask yourself questions, and the answers take a long time and lots of tears."
This book was lovely and sentimental and apparently just what I needed to read today - a good reflection on the consequences of the choices we make for ourselves, and in an odd way, very comforting.
March 16, 2017
I chose this as the first book to read before my trip to Cuba as it is written by a Cuban author (and available in English). It was a really interesting insight into modern day Cuba (although perhaps already slightly out of date given recent changes). The story was gripping, ostentatiously a love story but so much more than that. Really looking into why people choose to stay or leave Cuba
January 25, 2021
Spero che tu marcisca all’inferno di coloro che non hanno mai peccato.
July 17, 2024
Disfruté la lectura de esta novela que refleja las problemáticas reales de personas normales en una isla diferente. La recomiendo a todos los que quieren descubrir cómo es la vida en La Habana.
April 27, 2025
3 1/2 stars
June 4, 2016
To live in my country
Look up pictures of the Malecón in Havana, that long road along the sea wall, over which the waves break in storms, blowing spume onto the decayed grandeur of the buildings behind. "I looked at Havana, bordered by miles of ocean, but for the first time I felt the water was besieging us. […] What we can do is look out over the waves, which exist as a promise of the rest of the world." Mylene Fernández-Pintado's short novel is full of people who leave Cuba, eager to explore that promise. There are those who leave, those who yearn to go, and some who return, with a kind of regret. Yet the first-person narrator, Marian, a thirty-something professor of freshman composition, is committed to stay. She believes that "being here is more important than the superlatives of over there. It doesn't seem crazy to want to live in my country."
If you define a novel only in terms of plot, then this one would not rate especially high. But as an account of ordinary life in Cuba from the Revolution to about 2006, when the author began writing, it is incomparable. It does not paint pictures either of hardship or faded romantic dreams; it leaves both politics and sociology in the background. Yet it does not sugar-coat either; you feel that everything Marian tells us is both normal and true. As a university professor, albeit a low-profile one, she is perhaps better placed than most. But her voice (at least as translated by Dick Cluster) is wonderful: objective, wryly humorous, simultaneously principled and pragmatic, and surprisingly sexual. And the book is full of marvelous characters: her off-and-on-again lover who is about to marry a Panamanian heiress and move with her to London, his mother who calls round now and again to boast of her son, an outspoken and fiery female painter who nonetheless shows a remarkable strength of loyalty, and an older gay man who lives in a rooftop shack and makes money writing letters for lovesick girls.
The story, such as it is, concerns Marian's affair with a young author fifteen years her junior. Her department head asks her to write a preface to this young man's book; she agrees, and eventually meets the author, only to find him intolerable. But first impressions are so often deceptive, and their next meeting ends very differently. Did I believe in their passion? Not entirely; it is not enough to hold the novel together by itself. For a while, I felt that the many other characters introduced, with their back-stories and histories—not to mention the various asides on different aspects of Cuban life and outlook—were distractions from the pursuit of what I took to be the main subject. But in the second part of the book especially, I came to realize that these were the main subject, and I would be unlikely to find a more authentic picture of life in Cuba anywhere else.
Look up pictures of the Malecón in Havana, that long road along the sea wall, over which the waves break in storms, blowing spume onto the decayed grandeur of the buildings behind. "I looked at Havana, bordered by miles of ocean, but for the first time I felt the water was besieging us. […] What we can do is look out over the waves, which exist as a promise of the rest of the world." Mylene Fernández-Pintado's short novel is full of people who leave Cuba, eager to explore that promise. There are those who leave, those who yearn to go, and some who return, with a kind of regret. Yet the first-person narrator, Marian, a thirty-something professor of freshman composition, is committed to stay. She believes that "being here is more important than the superlatives of over there. It doesn't seem crazy to want to live in my country."
If you define a novel only in terms of plot, then this one would not rate especially high. But as an account of ordinary life in Cuba from the Revolution to about 2006, when the author began writing, it is incomparable. It does not paint pictures either of hardship or faded romantic dreams; it leaves both politics and sociology in the background. Yet it does not sugar-coat either; you feel that everything Marian tells us is both normal and true. As a university professor, albeit a low-profile one, she is perhaps better placed than most. But her voice (at least as translated by Dick Cluster) is wonderful: objective, wryly humorous, simultaneously principled and pragmatic, and surprisingly sexual. And the book is full of marvelous characters: her off-and-on-again lover who is about to marry a Panamanian heiress and move with her to London, his mother who calls round now and again to boast of her son, an outspoken and fiery female painter who nonetheless shows a remarkable strength of loyalty, and an older gay man who lives in a rooftop shack and makes money writing letters for lovesick girls.
The story, such as it is, concerns Marian's affair with a young author fifteen years her junior. Her department head asks her to write a preface to this young man's book; she agrees, and eventually meets the author, only to find him intolerable. But first impressions are so often deceptive, and their next meeting ends very differently. Did I believe in their passion? Not entirely; it is not enough to hold the novel together by itself. For a while, I felt that the many other characters introduced, with their back-stories and histories—not to mention the various asides on different aspects of Cuban life and outlook—were distractions from the pursuit of what I took to be the main subject. But in the second part of the book especially, I came to realize that these were the main subject, and I would be unlikely to find a more authentic picture of life in Cuba anywhere else.
February 12, 2015
*I received an advanced reading copy of this novel as part of the Goodreads First Reads program.* A Corner of the World by Myelene Fernández Pintado is a brief but interesting read. Although its length is short and the story is purposefully spare, the novel as a whole doesn't suffer, giving off the feeling that the end product is exactly what the author anticipated to produce. The story, at its very core, is a woman's struggle with the decision of whether to maintain her comfortable, stable life in the country she has always lived in or forsake familiarity in lieu of foreign opportunity. It is a decision complicated by a passionate, consuming new romance- a stone cast into a stagnant pool.
As the main character Marian struggles with her decision, the reader can glimpse the same indecision familiar to many modern Cubans through her appraisal of each side. The best part of the novel is arguably how realistic the characters feel. Every single one of them, even the minor characters, seems to be structured after a living, breathing habanero rather than a flat archetype. The story also strikes a perfect balance between lighthearted romance and melancholy struggle. The feeling of how small an island is and how vast the world is cannot be avoided while reading the novel; the islander perspective brings about a graceful sense of realism.
Speaking honestly, I would say the novel does not suffer any distracting flaws. A few small typos or editing errors does little to detract from the story. I did enjoy reading it very much, but I would rate it a 4 out of 5, being that the story feels simply pleasant, rather than impressive and engaging. Overall, Ms. Pintado's novel is a charming stroll through the modern Havanan psyche, peppered with realistic characters and encapsulated by a worldly perspective.
As the main character Marian struggles with her decision, the reader can glimpse the same indecision familiar to many modern Cubans through her appraisal of each side. The best part of the novel is arguably how realistic the characters feel. Every single one of them, even the minor characters, seems to be structured after a living, breathing habanero rather than a flat archetype. The story also strikes a perfect balance between lighthearted romance and melancholy struggle. The feeling of how small an island is and how vast the world is cannot be avoided while reading the novel; the islander perspective brings about a graceful sense of realism.
Speaking honestly, I would say the novel does not suffer any distracting flaws. A few small typos or editing errors does little to detract from the story. I did enjoy reading it very much, but I would rate it a 4 out of 5, being that the story feels simply pleasant, rather than impressive and engaging. Overall, Ms. Pintado's novel is a charming stroll through the modern Havanan psyche, peppered with realistic characters and encapsulated by a worldly perspective.
May 8, 2022
🐚 Título con el que La moderna editora inaugura la COLECCIÓN NARRATIVA "Ancho mar de los Sargazos".(He leído su edición que no figura en Goodreads.)
Literatura caribeña .
🐚Se me ha abierto una ventana a una Cuba, intimista .
Me he asomado con un escritor de cartas como oficio ,en una azotea de La Habana Vieja.
🐚Ayyyy que paseos por el Malecón he dado con los amigos de la protagonista entre confidenciales .
🐚Marian ,profesora de literatura en la Universidad de La Habana,a sus 37 años desespera a sus amigos con su conformidad.
Y nos hará ver que es tan lícito ser conformista como querer arriesgarse ,dejarlo todo y conocer otros países.
🐚Una nostalgia sutil ,un amor profundo por la literatura como refugio y el arte en general.
🐚Ayyyyy me declaró fan de la "villana",la madre de su ex Marcos ,que recuerda a tantas madres que se creen las únicas madres del mundo 🤣
🐚Un libro que sería una bonita película sin duda.
La realidad de La Habana sin politizar, con gente común .
🐚El final es cerrado,curiosamente queda abierto porque la vida de estos personajes continúa...Sólo decirle a Marian que por favor se deshaga del carro ya🤣
📌"Y como somos Tercer Mundo mo podemos importar gente del Tercer Mundo para que haga los trabajos que no nos gustan ".
Literatura caribeña .
🐚Se me ha abierto una ventana a una Cuba, intimista .
Me he asomado con un escritor de cartas como oficio ,en una azotea de La Habana Vieja.
🐚Ayyyy que paseos por el Malecón he dado con los amigos de la protagonista entre confidenciales .
🐚Marian ,profesora de literatura en la Universidad de La Habana,a sus 37 años desespera a sus amigos con su conformidad.
Y nos hará ver que es tan lícito ser conformista como querer arriesgarse ,dejarlo todo y conocer otros países.
🐚Una nostalgia sutil ,un amor profundo por la literatura como refugio y el arte en general.
🐚Ayyyyy me declaró fan de la "villana",la madre de su ex Marcos ,que recuerda a tantas madres que se creen las únicas madres del mundo 🤣
🐚Un libro que sería una bonita película sin duda.
La realidad de La Habana sin politizar, con gente común .
🐚El final es cerrado,curiosamente queda abierto porque la vida de estos personajes continúa...Sólo decirle a Marian que por favor se deshaga del carro ya🤣
📌"Y como somos Tercer Mundo mo podemos importar gente del Tercer Mundo para que haga los trabajos que no nos gustan ".
September 29, 2017
I romanzi della Marcos y Marcos e i loro scrittori non mi deludono mai: ti rifugi lì, in quell'angolino di pace che riescono a creare e ti estrani dal resto del mondo. E ovviamente, ti fanno viaggiare. Ho fatto tappa con Mylene Fernández Pintado a Cuba, descritta talmente bene dall'autrice che la mia curiosità verso l'isola caraibica è cresciuta smodatamente. Spero di arrivarci un giorno sul Malècon. Però, a differenza mia, la protagonista del romanzo, Marian, non ama molto viaggiare, lasciare L'Havana per esplorare il mondo, perché il suo mondo è quello. Non deve fare altro che scendere in strada e respirare il profumo dell'oceano e l'odore della sua gente. Eppure arriva nella sua vita Daniel, la risveglia all'amore e alla vita, la tira fuori dal lutto in cui era caduta dopo la scomparsa della madre. E così Marian ricomincia a vivere, a sognare, a pensare, a scrivere, a leggere, a mettere in pratica quegli insegnamenti di vita sconclusionati impartitegli da un ragazzino di ventidue anni, a lei donna adulta. Le bugie, le promesse, i momenti d'amore, è una rinascita quella narrata dalla Pintado che consiglio a tutti, che incontriate questo libro quando ne avrete più bisogno.
October 18, 2014
A quiet -- but very funny and moving -- novel about Marian, a Spanish Lit professor in Havana who is at sea following the death of her mother. While trying to get her ancient Moskvich car repaired without being ripped off by the mechanic, and maneuvering the politics of the university, she falls in love with Daniel, a young writer whose work she is assigned to blurb. Daniel wants to go to Spain, where he is sure he will be published and lionized, Marian is loyal to her idiosyncratic, sometimes troublesome, but culturally rich Havana. Mylene Fernandez-Pintado introduces us to many memorable characters -- from avante garde artists, to social climbing former servants who have commandeered their previous employers' homes and lifestyles, to writers who write for love and those who write for the chance to buy more Coca Cola. Beautifully translated by Dick Cluster.
August 20, 2014
This short novel by Cuban writer Mylene Fernandez-Pentado is hard to classify. It is a story of Marian, professor of literature who meets a young writer, falls in love, blooms, dreams, almost becoming another person, yet she will not leave Havana when her lover migrates to Madrid to seek his future. Marion suffers losses, but the book is also about choice. Havana has value for her and for others in the novel as well, and I enjoyed the experience of getting to know the city better through the eyes of Marian and the others in the book. The language is beautiful, and the characters are depicted with compassion. The human situation in the post revolutionary city is suffused with ambiguity, yet the tone is slightly elegiac rather than ironic.
April 24, 2016
I received this novel as a GoodReads giveaway. I will get straight to the point... I did not care for the novel. I can appreciate the life-changing decisions the main character faced (the struggle made the character more realistic); however, I felt the writing was simplistic and I was distracted by confusion in voice ( Who is the narrator?). There are also a few typos and misspellings which are a minor distraction.
I did enjoy the setting of the novel; it is rare that a novel is set in a place like Cuba. The storyline was rich with cultural insights.
Overall, although the novel has some interesting pieces, I found it to be simplistic and unimpressive.
I did enjoy the setting of the novel; it is rare that a novel is set in a place like Cuba. The storyline was rich with cultural insights.
Overall, although the novel has some interesting pieces, I found it to be simplistic and unimpressive.
March 11, 2015
I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. I enjoyed the story and the glimpse into life in Havana which we don't see very often. The book is about the struggles of finding, then losing love but it's also about the struggles of the love/hate relationship many Cubans have with their home town and home country. I found it to be a quick and interesting read. It was difficult to look past some of the translation and/or grammatical errors though, which made some sentences impossible to understand.
April 19, 2015
Havanna in modern times, the older-woman-younger-man love story and the desire to explore the First World (in contrast to those who choose to never leave), all make this a beautifully written story of life. The "grass is not always greener" is a prominent theme as "patience is a virtue" (or is it)? Filled with love, complacency, sadness, hope and desire, this book will keep you entertained. Although I felt the ending was predictable, I still highly recommend it. I will probably read more books translated in English by this author.
June 17, 2017
In a way this short novel is like an essay discussing the reasons why people decide to leave Cuba and why people decide to stay in Cuba. But told in strong voices of characters wrestling with that decision. The main character, Marian also is coming to terms with loss, through death and through departure while trying to decide where she stands in the leave/stay decision.
I liked the descriptions of Havana and the concise and poignant writing.
I read the English version and thought it was very every-day sounding English, very readable.
I liked the descriptions of Havana and the concise and poignant writing.
I read the English version and thought it was very every-day sounding English, very readable.
March 16, 2020
I thought this novella was tremendous. I couldn't stop thinking about it upon picking it up, and found myself reading it through the night to finish it.
It reads like one of the best extrapolations and expositions on existential boredom that I've encountered.
I would imagine the unstated question behind this work is, "If someone handed you an opportunity, would you trust yourself to take it?"
Beautiful, poignant, and quite funny at times, too. Going down on someone while naming Portuguese explorers will certainly stay in my mind.
It reads like one of the best extrapolations and expositions on existential boredom that I've encountered.
I would imagine the unstated question behind this work is, "If someone handed you an opportunity, would you trust yourself to take it?"
Beautiful, poignant, and quite funny at times, too. Going down on someone while naming Portuguese explorers will certainly stay in my mind.
February 8, 2017
I finished reading this novel while visiting Cuba for the first time. If you google best books to read about Cuba, the list is largely dominated by men. I had to hunt for novels by Cuban woman and I'm so glad I did. An emotional portrait of doomed love, hope, grief, and identity, A Corner of the World shows readers how home and geography define us. As an American woman who is struggling to understand Trump's American, the novel gave me a lesson in elegance, dreams, and strength.
November 29, 2014
Here's my review of this novel:
http://readingintranslation.com/2014/...
http://readingintranslation.com/2014/...
December 19, 2014
This was a really decent read.
February 4, 2015
I was intrigued by the setting in modern-day Cuba. Clearly a story about choosing between love and life/leaving Cuba and staying, but I'm not sure I appreciated it.
April 21, 2015
A lyrical romantic trip through Havana, Cuba.
July 18, 2015
Loved it. It's about a teacher in Cuba, so timing is good.
February 18, 2016
(2016 RC: A book written by authors from at least 5 different countries that I’ve never read anything from - 1. Cuba)
January 21, 2018
I liked this book a lot. I felt for the way it depicts Havana and the Cuban blues. Stay or leave? Just choose the lesser type of unhappiness.
February 26, 2019
Intimate and nuanced treatment of the perennial dilemma of staying or going in contemporary Cuban society.
February 17, 2023
Nelle parole dell'autrice traspare una grande malinconia, che lega le vicende del romanzo. Ti porta con sé di fronte al Malecon, che ti sembra di sentire il rumore del mare
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews