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Revolution Sunday
A novel about glamour, surveillance, and corruption in contemporary Cuba, from an internationally bestselling author — who has never before been translated into English
Cleo, scion of a once-prominent Cuban family and a promising young writer in her own right, travels to Spain to collect a prestigious award. There, Cuban expats view her with suspicion — assuming she’s an informant for the Castro regime. To Cleo’s surprise, that suspicion follows her home to Cuba, where she finds herself under constant surveillance by the government. When she meets and falls in love with a Hollywood filmmaker, she discovers her family is not who she thought they were… and neither is the filmmaker.
Cleo, scion of a once-prominent Cuban family and a promising young writer in her own right, travels to Spain to collect a prestigious award. There, Cuban expats view her with suspicion — assuming she’s an informant for the Castro regime. To Cleo’s surprise, that suspicion follows her home to Cuba, where she finds herself under constant surveillance by the government. When she meets and falls in love with a Hollywood filmmaker, she discovers her family is not who she thought they were… and neither is the filmmaker.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
52 people are currently reading
871 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Guerra
26 books125 followersWendy Guerra (born December 1970) is a Cuban poet and novelist. Guerra contributes to different magazines, such as Encuentro, La gaceta de Cuba, and Nexos, as well as visual arts magazines.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
May 14, 2024
Η σημερινη ιλαροτραγικη κατασταση μιας χωρας , με τα παραδοξα της, την προοδευτικοτητα κ το βαθυτατο συντηριτισμο μεσα απο τη ζωη της Guerra , ονομα κ πραγμα
Δεν παυει ομως να είναι τοσο ξεχωριστά υπεροχη . Η Κούβα!!
Δεν παυει ομως να είναι τοσο ξεχωριστά υπεροχη . Η Κούβα!!
December 16, 2018
I almost shelved this on "dystopian" for its description of the paranoia and strangness of living in a police state, but of course, that world is reality.
I picked this book up for two reasons: I needed a book by an author with my first name for the Popsugar challenge, and my boss is Cuban, and I keep feeling that some of the things about him that jar for the staff are cultural, not personal.
If you love the book, I'm happy for you. I am just too literal of a reader to really enjoy the poetic musings of a confused poet, who may or may not be a stand-in for the author. There are lots of interesting thoughts about the diaspora and what it means to leave or stay, but otherwise I skimmed through, confused and thus bored.
I picked this book up for two reasons: I needed a book by an author with my first name for the Popsugar challenge, and my boss is Cuban, and I keep feeling that some of the things about him that jar for the staff are cultural, not personal.
If you love the book, I'm happy for you. I am just too literal of a reader to really enjoy the poetic musings of a confused poet, who may or may not be a stand-in for the author. There are lots of interesting thoughts about the diaspora and what it means to leave or stay, but otherwise I skimmed through, confused and thus bored.
February 27, 2017
Un libro bien escrito, pero que, por una parte, repite lo ya escrito por otros escritores cubanos en Cuba o el exilio, y, por la otra, cae en contradicciones que no parecieran resolverse en el libro. La dicotomía de "quedarse o huir" luce un tanto exagerada, pero puede que la vida en Cuba sea exagerada, al igual que la persecución por parte de los cuerpos de seguridad nacional.
La relación con el actor norteamericano, que le revela el secreto de su vida, no termina "de cuajar", de convencer.
Trataré de buscar otros libros de Wendy Guerra, los que la hicieron merecedora de numerosos premios y publicaciones, siempre fuera de Cuba, porque en su país natal continúa prohibida la difusión de sus libros. Y es de esos misterios, ¿si Padura es igual de duro en sus críticas a Cuba, porque sí lo publican y leen en Cuba, pero Wendy Guerra no?
La relación con el actor norteamericano, que le revela el secreto de su vida, no termina "de cuajar", de convencer.
Trataré de buscar otros libros de Wendy Guerra, los que la hicieron merecedora de numerosos premios y publicaciones, siempre fuera de Cuba, porque en su país natal continúa prohibida la difusión de sus libros. Y es de esos misterios, ¿si Padura es igual de duro en sus críticas a Cuba, porque sí lo publican y leen en Cuba, pero Wendy Guerra no?
January 16, 2020
Some good writing, some cheesy writing, an abundance of ludicrous plot happenings. The experience of governmental surveillance and oppression was seriously undermined by the protagonist's cool, privileged lifestyle. The Land of Green Plums did it better.
June 30, 2021
Es un libro con una buena trama, pero me ha resultado lineal, no me ha hecho sentir ninguna emoción y para mí eso es lo más importante.
August 5, 2019
¡Qué voz la de Wendy Guerra! Usa las palabras perfectas para transportarte a su mundo.
Es un libro que resume esa disyuntiva entre amar tu país pero no estar satisfecha con él. Ella (Cleo) es una autora que vive perseguida por el gobierno y los fantasmas de su pasado, aquéllos que murieron y aquéllos que la dejaron. Vive amenazada, espiada y cuestionada. Todos saben algo fundamental de ella que ella misma ha desconocido toda su vida y otros la usan para cumplir con sus agendas. Ella sólo quiere encontrarse en su país pero se siente completamente excluida. ¡Es una narración preciosa!
Es un libro que resume esa disyuntiva entre amar tu país pero no estar satisfecha con él. Ella (Cleo) es una autora que vive perseguida por el gobierno y los fantasmas de su pasado, aquéllos que murieron y aquéllos que la dejaron. Vive amenazada, espiada y cuestionada. Todos saben algo fundamental de ella que ella misma ha desconocido toda su vida y otros la usan para cumplir con sus agendas. Ella sólo quiere encontrarse en su país pero se siente completamente excluida. ¡Es una narración preciosa!
December 2, 2020
«Yo soy el grito y no el eco.»
January 21, 2019
This certainly isn’t the sort of thing I would usually read, but I did enjoy it and certainly have learnt something more about Cuba and it’s politics. Guerre mixes the story with poetry in a novel, if it can be called that, based on her own experiences. Her protagonist Cleo, a writer from Havana, wins a competition for her book of poetry in Madrid, where the book, and her subsequent books become very successful. They are not published, or even know in her own country, which mirrors Guerre’s own experience with her writing. The plot, though it wanders frequently, is based around the death of her parents; Cleo believes them to have been killed in a car crash, but doubt is thrown on that.
As Cleo becomes more and more successful she becomes more isolated, as the Cuban authorities become more suspicious of her motives.
As Cleo becomes more and more successful she becomes more isolated, as the Cuban authorities become more suspicious of her motives.
June 15, 2024
Entretenido y poético, súper poético y no solo por los poemas incrustados sino porque hay momentos tremendos narrados con una potencia poética fulminante. La novela exuda Cubanidad y nos transporta, en una muy lograda primera voz, en un show not tell, a cada rincón del cuerpo habanero, en la memoria, las expectativas de lo que hay por fuera de ese reducido mundo, confrontadas con la nostalgia de un hogar, que bajo la calma elegante propia de la isla y su clima congelado en una opresión que más parece un teatro del absurdo, te sumerge y te envuelve.
September 14, 2020
Leer a Wendy me transporta a La Habana, a la calle 23, a las casas de El Vedado. Leer este libro me hace entender por qué no la pude encontrar en ninguna de las librerías de la isla. Me recuerda que no hay otro lugar en el mundo donde me sienta más extranjera que ahí, que quizá alguien grabe mis palabras, mis miradas y mis ideas y no me las devuelva nunca.
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May 29, 2017Empezó genial pero se tornó insoportable. No pude seguirlo.
August 22, 2019
I'm not sure I really got this book. The message seemed to be that "men are crap with added poetry."
Except for perhaps the poetry, it's been done better.
Except for perhaps the poetry, it's been done better.
August 27, 2017
On ne peut pas aimer tout ce qu’on lit et avec ce roman c’est le cas.
Le résumé m’attirait beaucoup, j’aime en savoir plus sur les pays vivant sous dictature, sur un peuple qui « revit » après un régime totalitaire, sur l’histoire et les mœurs et coutumes de pays différents.
Je voulais en apprendre plus sur ce Cuba contemporain.
Je reste malheureusement sur ma faim, je n’ai rien eu de tout cela.
Ce fut une lecture laborieuse, non pas pour l’écriture de Wendy Guerra qui sans être magnifique est fluide, mais pour la narratrice et la trame qui part un peu dans tous les sens.
Pour les multiples interrogations qu’il me reste après avoir refermé le roman, j’ai l’impression de m’être totalement perdue au court de ma lecture.
Si le postulat de départ est intéressant à savoir Cleo, une poétesse reconnue à l’étranger, mais censurée dans son pays, Cuba, la difficulté qu’elle a à s’adapter ailleurs que cela soit au Mexique, à New York ou à Barcelone, où les Cubains immigrés la soupçonnent d’être une infiltrée à la solde du régime en place, ou encore une enquête sur le passé de ses parents et une histoire d’amour, je n’ai pas apprécié ma lecture.
Pourquoi me direz-vous
— Au début du roman, on fait la connaissance de Cleo, elle n’est plus sortie de chez elle depuis 1 an, depuis la mort de ses parents dans un accident de voiture.
Je ne sais toujours pas si elle n’est plus sortie de chez elle à cause de la surveillance dont elle (et sa famille avant) est victime ou si c’est la dépression qui l’empêche de sortir.
— Quand elle reçoit son prix elle part pour le recevoir, elle rentre à Cuba ensuite et se réveille de sa torpeur, range la maison, rénove ce qui doit l’être, bref refait tout à neuf, mais.... replonge dans la tristesse.
Tristesse qui devient pesante au fur et à mesure, car si au début du livre on la comprend, on a de l’empathie pour elle, comment d’ailleurs ne pas l’être puisqu’elle a perdu ses parents et qu’ensuite quand elle parvient à être publiée elle est censurée dans son propre pays et harcelée par des agents du gouvernement en place.
Oui, MAIS à aucun moment on ne nous explique le pourquoi de cette surveillance acharnée, si je comprends et sais qu’à Cuba la liberté d’expression n’a pas lieu d’être ici ce n’est pas expliqué clairement surtout aussi fort et souvent pour un recueil de poèmes qui moi m’ont semblé inoffensifs .
La peur des citoyens, oui on la comprend, l’oppression on la ressent, la nostalgie des expatriés et leur méfiance vis-à-vis des Cubains qui sont restés est normale, mais l’auteure se contente de survoler encore une fois ces faits, ces sentiments.
— l’arrivée de Geronimo, acteur américain qui annonce à Cleo que son père n’est pas son père biologique, qu’il était en fait un agent de la CIA (?), fusillé quand il a été démasqué (?).
Geronimo voudrait réaliser un film documentaire sur cet homme avec l’accord de Cleo.
Cleo apprend la vérité de la bouche de cet homme, j’ai pensé alors que le récit allait démarrer sur cette intrigue et cette histoire d’amour qui commence entre la narratrice et Geronimo, j’ai perpétué dans ma lecture en me disant qu’avec l’enquête autour du passé des parents de Cleo cela allait rattraper le tout (tout ce que je vous dis là se passe avant la page 100 du livre). Cleo prend un nouveau souffle au côté de l’américain, elle reprend l’écriture d’un nouveau recueil de poésie, voyage à Paris et New York, mais encore une fois l’auteure m’a perdu dans tous les thèmes qu’elle aborde, mais ne développe pas.
— Si presque tout ce que l’on nous promet en quatrième de couverture se trouve dans le roman, soit ce n’est pas expliqué soit c’est survolé ce qui fait que l’on reste indécis, dans le doute.
Dans certains romans laisser planer le doute fonctionne et apporte du suspens, ici pas du tout, car ce n’est pas un ou plusieurs mystères qui sont maintenus, mais des questionnements sur les rebondissements qui restent sans réponses.
Au final je n’ai pas réponse à mes questions :
Qui étaient vraiment les parents de Cleo, des médecins à la solde du gouvernement ou des espions ? Pourquoi les autorités cubaines s’acharnent-elles autant sur Cleo (écoute téléphonique, fouille corporelle, perquisitions, caméra, violence) Comment Geronimo, un acteur, donc un homme qui n’est pas censé avoir tous ces documents en sa possession a eu ces révélations sur le passé de Cleo ?
— Comment cela se fait-il qu’avec toutes les machinations, les surveillances, les secrets d’État Cleo ne se pose pas plus de questions et suit quasi aveuglement cet homme débarqué de Hollywood ? C’est une incohérence pour moi puisque les Cubains vivent sous la méfiance là notre héroïne a un soupçon le temps d’un verre de whisky.
L’auteure essaie de nous faire comprendre pourquoi Cleo ne se sent plus à sa place dans son pays ni ailleurs, mais encore une fois la narration et l’état d’esprit de l’héroïne fait qu’on reste en dehors même si vraiment jusqu’au bout j'ai tenté de la comprendre.
Wendy Guerra aurait peut-être pu me faire aimer son récit si j’avais été dépaysée, entraînée dans les rues de La Havane, mais là encore je ne l’ai pas été, les descriptions de l’état dépressif prennent le pas sur le récit sur l’ensemble en fait et c’est bien ce point qui m’a le plus gêné.
D’autres aimeront sûrement ce roman, mais moi je le termine en étant frustrée.
Le résumé m’attirait beaucoup, j’aime en savoir plus sur les pays vivant sous dictature, sur un peuple qui « revit » après un régime totalitaire, sur l’histoire et les mœurs et coutumes de pays différents.
Je voulais en apprendre plus sur ce Cuba contemporain.
Je reste malheureusement sur ma faim, je n’ai rien eu de tout cela.
Ce fut une lecture laborieuse, non pas pour l’écriture de Wendy Guerra qui sans être magnifique est fluide, mais pour la narratrice et la trame qui part un peu dans tous les sens.
Pour les multiples interrogations qu’il me reste après avoir refermé le roman, j’ai l’impression de m’être totalement perdue au court de ma lecture.
Si le postulat de départ est intéressant à savoir Cleo, une poétesse reconnue à l’étranger, mais censurée dans son pays, Cuba, la difficulté qu’elle a à s’adapter ailleurs que cela soit au Mexique, à New York ou à Barcelone, où les Cubains immigrés la soupçonnent d’être une infiltrée à la solde du régime en place, ou encore une enquête sur le passé de ses parents et une histoire d’amour, je n’ai pas apprécié ma lecture.
Pourquoi me direz-vous
— Au début du roman, on fait la connaissance de Cleo, elle n’est plus sortie de chez elle depuis 1 an, depuis la mort de ses parents dans un accident de voiture.
Je ne sais toujours pas si elle n’est plus sortie de chez elle à cause de la surveillance dont elle (et sa famille avant) est victime ou si c’est la dépression qui l’empêche de sortir.
— Quand elle reçoit son prix elle part pour le recevoir, elle rentre à Cuba ensuite et se réveille de sa torpeur, range la maison, rénove ce qui doit l’être, bref refait tout à neuf, mais.... replonge dans la tristesse.
Tristesse qui devient pesante au fur et à mesure, car si au début du livre on la comprend, on a de l’empathie pour elle, comment d’ailleurs ne pas l’être puisqu’elle a perdu ses parents et qu’ensuite quand elle parvient à être publiée elle est censurée dans son propre pays et harcelée par des agents du gouvernement en place.
Oui, MAIS à aucun moment on ne nous explique le pourquoi de cette surveillance acharnée, si je comprends et sais qu’à Cuba la liberté d’expression n’a pas lieu d’être ici ce n’est pas expliqué clairement surtout aussi fort et souvent pour un recueil de poèmes qui moi m’ont semblé inoffensifs .
La peur des citoyens, oui on la comprend, l’oppression on la ressent, la nostalgie des expatriés et leur méfiance vis-à-vis des Cubains qui sont restés est normale, mais l’auteure se contente de survoler encore une fois ces faits, ces sentiments.
— l’arrivée de Geronimo, acteur américain qui annonce à Cleo que son père n’est pas son père biologique, qu’il était en fait un agent de la CIA (?), fusillé quand il a été démasqué (?).
Geronimo voudrait réaliser un film documentaire sur cet homme avec l’accord de Cleo.
Cleo apprend la vérité de la bouche de cet homme, j’ai pensé alors que le récit allait démarrer sur cette intrigue et cette histoire d’amour qui commence entre la narratrice et Geronimo, j’ai perpétué dans ma lecture en me disant qu’avec l’enquête autour du passé des parents de Cleo cela allait rattraper le tout (tout ce que je vous dis là se passe avant la page 100 du livre). Cleo prend un nouveau souffle au côté de l’américain, elle reprend l’écriture d’un nouveau recueil de poésie, voyage à Paris et New York, mais encore une fois l’auteure m’a perdu dans tous les thèmes qu’elle aborde, mais ne développe pas.
— Si presque tout ce que l’on nous promet en quatrième de couverture se trouve dans le roman, soit ce n’est pas expliqué soit c’est survolé ce qui fait que l’on reste indécis, dans le doute.
Dans certains romans laisser planer le doute fonctionne et apporte du suspens, ici pas du tout, car ce n’est pas un ou plusieurs mystères qui sont maintenus, mais des questionnements sur les rebondissements qui restent sans réponses.
Au final je n’ai pas réponse à mes questions :
Qui étaient vraiment les parents de Cleo, des médecins à la solde du gouvernement ou des espions ? Pourquoi les autorités cubaines s’acharnent-elles autant sur Cleo (écoute téléphonique, fouille corporelle, perquisitions, caméra, violence) Comment Geronimo, un acteur, donc un homme qui n’est pas censé avoir tous ces documents en sa possession a eu ces révélations sur le passé de Cleo ?
— Comment cela se fait-il qu’avec toutes les machinations, les surveillances, les secrets d’État Cleo ne se pose pas plus de questions et suit quasi aveuglement cet homme débarqué de Hollywood ? C’est une incohérence pour moi puisque les Cubains vivent sous la méfiance là notre héroïne a un soupçon le temps d’un verre de whisky.
L’auteure essaie de nous faire comprendre pourquoi Cleo ne se sent plus à sa place dans son pays ni ailleurs, mais encore une fois la narration et l’état d’esprit de l’héroïne fait qu’on reste en dehors même si vraiment jusqu’au bout j'ai tenté de la comprendre.
Wendy Guerra aurait peut-être pu me faire aimer son récit si j’avais été dépaysée, entraînée dans les rues de La Havane, mais là encore je ne l’ai pas été, les descriptions de l’état dépressif prennent le pas sur le récit sur l’ensemble en fait et c’est bien ce point qui m’a le plus gêné.
D’autres aimeront sûrement ce roman, mais moi je le termine en étant frustrée.
July 28, 2024
Confusing!
July 13, 2017
Cleo, poétesse et écrivaine, tente de percer dans son propre pays Cuba, alors qu'elle brille à l'étranger. Après la mort brutale de ses parents dans un accident de voiture, elle se retrouve assaillie par les gens du gouvernements qui fouillent et surveillent sa maison sans relâche. Elle ne comprend pas cette suspicion qui s'étend vite à tous les pans de sa vie.
J'étais plutôt optimiste, et le fond de ce livre est bon. En effet, Wendy Guerra raconte avec poésie et pertinence le quotidien à La Havane, capitale de Cuba:
- suspicions
- incertitudes
- impossibilité de partir mais impossibilité de rester
Et bien d'autres choses !
Ce qui m'a profondément déplu est la forme qu'elle utilise pour raconter tout cela, c'est très "brouillon". J'étais parfois perdue dans le dédale de ses phrases alambiquées et ça a été très difficile pour moi d'atteindre des émotions... La moitié du temps je me laissais porter par son écriture mais sans me sentir impliqué dans son histoire pourtant intéressante ! La plupart du temps je me demandais ce que je foutais là parce qu'on passait de A à D sans transition... Après, c'est peut-être la faute à la traduction et/ou au fait que ce sont des épreuves non corrigées, mais c'était vraiment étrange comme sensation.
Ou alors, je suis juste bête.
Je ne sais pas.
J'étais plutôt optimiste, et le fond de ce livre est bon. En effet, Wendy Guerra raconte avec poésie et pertinence le quotidien à La Havane, capitale de Cuba:
- suspicions
- incertitudes
- impossibilité de partir mais impossibilité de rester
Et bien d'autres choses !
Ce qui m'a profondément déplu est la forme qu'elle utilise pour raconter tout cela, c'est très "brouillon". J'étais parfois perdue dans le dédale de ses phrases alambiquées et ça a été très difficile pour moi d'atteindre des émotions... La moitié du temps je me laissais porter par son écriture mais sans me sentir impliqué dans son histoire pourtant intéressante ! La plupart du temps je me demandais ce que je foutais là parce qu'on passait de A à D sans transition... Après, c'est peut-être la faute à la traduction et/ou au fait que ce sont des épreuves non corrigées, mais c'était vraiment étrange comme sensation.
Ou alors, je suis juste bête.
Je ne sais pas.
May 14, 2019
Cover picks, I claim I don't do them and then I go and do them. I also liked the idea of reading something set in Cuba. But that was my drive to go into this short novel: cover and Cuba. This time, that was not the best call.
Guerra's almost stream of consciousness style with very little action and a lot time inside her head was a struggle for me. I realize I often don't enjoy reading from the perspective of passive and/ or depressed characters, I guess it hits too close too home (see, not everybody needs a relatable protagonist all the time). I find it exhausting in an uncomfortable way, so the novel in question has to do something else really well to help me with that. Due to the style the book is full of tell and little show. The poetic style sometimes hit it home and sometimes overturned its own attempts especially when it tried to sell me that in dialogue or character descriptions. Too much and too artificially dramatic.
What worked for me was how this novel really puts its finger on the torn feeling of the main character of loving and hating her home country simultaneously. How the surveillance and control literally destroys her but how without this island as part of herself she doesn't feel whole. Those were the elements I found really interesting. But as far as the actual plot was involved, first her work as a writer who only publishes outside of Cuba and later on the documentary about the mystery around her father, I found it underdeveloped and lacking.
P.S. Why is it called "Revolution Sunday"? With that title I expected something a bit more explosive on the inside, like maybe a revolution....
Guerra's almost stream of consciousness style with very little action and a lot time inside her head was a struggle for me. I realize I often don't enjoy reading from the perspective of passive and/ or depressed characters, I guess it hits too close too home (see, not everybody needs a relatable protagonist all the time). I find it exhausting in an uncomfortable way, so the novel in question has to do something else really well to help me with that. Due to the style the book is full of tell and little show. The poetic style sometimes hit it home and sometimes overturned its own attempts especially when it tried to sell me that in dialogue or character descriptions. Too much and too artificially dramatic.
What worked for me was how this novel really puts its finger on the torn feeling of the main character of loving and hating her home country simultaneously. How the surveillance and control literally destroys her but how without this island as part of herself she doesn't feel whole. Those were the elements I found really interesting. But as far as the actual plot was involved, first her work as a writer who only publishes outside of Cuba and later on the documentary about the mystery around her father, I found it underdeveloped and lacking.
P.S. Why is it called "Revolution Sunday"? With that title I expected something a bit more explosive on the inside, like maybe a revolution....
October 6, 2023
http://www.neapoulain.com/2018/03/wen...
Y esta es, finalmente, la última novela de Wendy Guerra que leí. Ahora puedo decir que conozco Wendy Guerra un poco más, porque en todas sus novelas, lo único que se tiene en común, es el apego a La Habana y a Cuba. Los personajes son completamente diferentes en todas y las maneras de retratarlos van variando. Domingo de revolución lo protagoniza Cleo, una escritora que radica en La Habana pero que nunca ha visto sus libros publicados en su propio país. Al ser la protagonista una escritora que no ha visto sus libros en su propio país (tal como ha ocurrido con varios libros de Wendy Guerra), todo el libro me hace preguntarme qué tan inspirada está Cleo en la propia autora, cuánto se vio reflejada en ella.
Domingo de revolución lidia con la censura cubana, pero más que con eso, lidia todavía más que las novelas anteriores con esa dicotomía de irse/quedarse y lo que implica. Pareciera que Cleo quiere irse, pero nunca para siempre. Es un tema común entre los cubanos y sobre todo en los libros de Guerra, lo que me hace pensar que es un dilema que tiene y que vive la propia escritora. Además, de los muchos otros temas tratados en este libro, me gustó la relación de Cleo con su empleada doméstica, esa relación de protección mutua, donde ambas se entienden en su condición de mujeres, aunque, evidentemente, los intereses de Cleo siempre andan por las nubes.
De todos los libros, quizá esté me dejó un poco más indiferente que los anteriores, pero no para mal. Simplemente siento que está bueno aunque no llega al nivel que le vi a Todos se van, ni tengo grandes quejas sobre él. En Domingo de Revolución, Cleopatra también está intentando descubrirse cuando un hombre llega y la cambia la historia de su familia que conoce. Es increíble ver reflejadas las relaciones de Cleo con los hombres y darse cuenta cuando son rapaces y sólo buscan de qué aprovecharse para sacar ganacia. Casi duele, porque la narradora es Cleo y nos vuelva todos sus sentimientos sobre el papel. La verdad se los recomiendo bastante.
Y esta es, finalmente, la última novela de Wendy Guerra que leí. Ahora puedo decir que conozco Wendy Guerra un poco más, porque en todas sus novelas, lo único que se tiene en común, es el apego a La Habana y a Cuba. Los personajes son completamente diferentes en todas y las maneras de retratarlos van variando. Domingo de revolución lo protagoniza Cleo, una escritora que radica en La Habana pero que nunca ha visto sus libros publicados en su propio país. Al ser la protagonista una escritora que no ha visto sus libros en su propio país (tal como ha ocurrido con varios libros de Wendy Guerra), todo el libro me hace preguntarme qué tan inspirada está Cleo en la propia autora, cuánto se vio reflejada en ella.
Domingo de revolución lidia con la censura cubana, pero más que con eso, lidia todavía más que las novelas anteriores con esa dicotomía de irse/quedarse y lo que implica. Pareciera que Cleo quiere irse, pero nunca para siempre. Es un tema común entre los cubanos y sobre todo en los libros de Guerra, lo que me hace pensar que es un dilema que tiene y que vive la propia escritora. Además, de los muchos otros temas tratados en este libro, me gustó la relación de Cleo con su empleada doméstica, esa relación de protección mutua, donde ambas se entienden en su condición de mujeres, aunque, evidentemente, los intereses de Cleo siempre andan por las nubes.
De todos los libros, quizá esté me dejó un poco más indiferente que los anteriores, pero no para mal. Simplemente siento que está bueno aunque no llega al nivel que le vi a Todos se van, ni tengo grandes quejas sobre él. En Domingo de Revolución, Cleopatra también está intentando descubrirse cuando un hombre llega y la cambia la historia de su familia que conoce. Es increíble ver reflejadas las relaciones de Cleo con los hombres y darse cuenta cuando son rapaces y sólo buscan de qué aprovecharse para sacar ganacia. Casi duele, porque la narradora es Cleo y nos vuelva todos sus sentimientos sobre el papel. La verdad se los recomiendo bastante.
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October 4, 2019
For the full review and a short analysis of the gender gap and some initiatives or projects that are working to improve the situation of the women in Cuba visit:
https://fictionbywomenmap.wordpress.c...
Domingo de Revolución” is a poem turned into a novel. It follows Cleo, a Cuban poet that lives in Havana and is currently under suspicion by the Cuban government. At the beginning, Cleo is depressed and alone mourning her parents in her childhood house. Time passes by and she gets interesting news about her poems’ success outside of Cuba. She travels to Mexico and France in different moments and for different reasons, always struggling to get a permit to travel. As a Mexican, I loved reading about the eternal rainy summers of Mexico City and how the light differs from that of Cuba. One day, she meets a beautiful actor that will make her question her entire existence.
Guerra masters the descriptions of the time not passing in Cuba, even in contrast with the world today. She lets us know the novel takes place in the present because she mentions two precise moments- the death of García Márquez in Mexico and the first conversations between Obama and Raúl Castro. Despite writing with sad notes, she masters certain sarcastic moments including the feeling of being spied on. How certain behaviors change when you know you are being spied on and the moment you stop caring...
Our long-term goal is to read one book written by a female author from every country of the world. Follow our progress!
https://fictionbywomenmap.wordpress.com/
We also have a new Goodreads group:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
February 8, 2019
I met Wendy in person while travelling to Cuba with the Authors' Guild about a year ago. I was impressed with her combination of youth, spirit and courage. She spoke frankly about her objection to the practices of the oppressive regime, but seemed unconcerned for her own safety, which seemed at odd with the fact of the regime's suppression of any critical voices.
This novel is entirely consistent with what the author had talked about--a story told by a poet whose work is censored, whose computer is erased if not confiscated, yet she is free to travel, to have her books published elsewhere in the original Spanish. But while in real-life Wendy is married to a known musician and is anchored to Cuba more than just by culture, in the fictional version the protagonist returns time and again to the punishment that is Cuba, where, after the mysterious deaths of both her parents, she is culturally and socially isolated.
Interestingly, it is this freedom to travel and her return to her homeland that makes her suspect by her fellow expats when she hangs out with them for a while in Mexico City. They suspect that she works for the government.
It is also in Mexico City where she experiences violence that never happens in Havana, a poignant point that raises the question of where one could be safer....
The novel is clearly written by a poet whose love of words often takes over the need to just move the story along. The prose--in translation--is beautiful, but after a while, I became impatient with the repetitions of ideas and of the protagonist's seemly aimless life.
This novel is entirely consistent with what the author had talked about--a story told by a poet whose work is censored, whose computer is erased if not confiscated, yet she is free to travel, to have her books published elsewhere in the original Spanish. But while in real-life Wendy is married to a known musician and is anchored to Cuba more than just by culture, in the fictional version the protagonist returns time and again to the punishment that is Cuba, where, after the mysterious deaths of both her parents, she is culturally and socially isolated.
Interestingly, it is this freedom to travel and her return to her homeland that makes her suspect by her fellow expats when she hangs out with them for a while in Mexico City. They suspect that she works for the government.
It is also in Mexico City where she experiences violence that never happens in Havana, a poignant point that raises the question of where one could be safer....
The novel is clearly written by a poet whose love of words often takes over the need to just move the story along. The prose--in translation--is beautiful, but after a while, I became impatient with the repetitions of ideas and of the protagonist's seemly aimless life.
June 16, 2020
«Si hay sospecha no hay confianza», dice una canción de Buena Fe y sirve perfectamente para definir esta obra de Wendy Guerra. La sospecha constante a la que la protagonista de esta novela es sometida recuerda a la que la Premio Nobel Herta Müller reflejó de forma tan poética en «Hoy hubiera preferido no encontrarme a mí misma».
El ambiente asfixiante de la novela es contagioso y vemos cómo la escritora, incluso fuera de Cuba, sufre las consecuencias de la persecución política y psicológica que sufre. No se libera de ella. La persigue como una sombra y la aísla cada vez más. Un relato que engancha con su trama y que nos muestra las consecuencias terribles de las dictaduras. Se lee del tirón.
El ambiente asfixiante de la novela es contagioso y vemos cómo la escritora, incluso fuera de Cuba, sufre las consecuencias de la persecución política y psicológica que sufre. No se libera de ella. La persigue como una sombra y la aísla cada vez más. Un relato que engancha con su trama y que nos muestra las consecuencias terribles de las dictaduras. Se lee del tirón.
June 4, 2020
La novela comienza siendo una gran dialéctica entre Cuba y los cubanos, entre quienes no llegaremos a ser y entre quienes seremos. Sin embargo, poco a poco la presencia de un monólogo interior se vuelve abrumadora, con una poesía empalagosa de la que uno quiere zafar, pues esta se mezcla con la crudeza de la situación que vive su protagonista, que se estanca en un relato que pareciera lejano a lo que ella sufre. Así se comienza a dar un descenso en que la novela decae más como una agrupación de opiniones y descripciones de las políticas represivas por parte del gobierno cubano que de una historia que dialogue con los tópicos tocados.
De todas formas, no es mal libro. Wendy Guerra escribe muy bien y logra hacerme sentir el dolor que vive su protagonista. Aunque a veces la protagonista no reacciona de ninguna forma ante cosas que sí la harán reaccionar más adelante.
De todas formas, no es mal libro. Wendy Guerra escribe muy bien y logra hacerme sentir el dolor que vive su protagonista. Aunque a veces la protagonista no reacciona de ninguna forma ante cosas que sí la harán reaccionar más adelante.
April 26, 2016
Casualmente leía dos novelas sobre el drama de los artistas dentro de la disciplina socialista. Una es la excelente El ruido del tiempo, de Barnes, que nos presenta a un atolondrado Shostakovich lidiando entre su genio creativo y las autoridades comunistas. En Domingo de Revolución la adorable Cleo, denostada por el régimen castrista, busca su propia identidad y alterna una existencia de celebrity fuera de la isla con un frustrante exilio interior en su amada Cuba. No he podido evitar recordar la conocida sentencia de Marx: La historia siempre se repite dos veces ...
March 12, 2019
Meh. I enjoy reading books by Cubans, as it gives an insight into the goings-on of their country. This book, however, was boring and didn't seem to really have a point.
May 27, 2019
Actually 3 1/2 stars. Rounded up because Cleo became exceptionally intriguing for me, and also perhaps because marijuana was featured semi-prominently in the tale.
March 18, 2022
I tried to enjoy this book, but I ended up finishing it out of a sense of commitment to my project of reading a book in Spanish from every Spanish-speaking country - now I can check off Cuba.
My main irritation with the book was that I found it incoherent. It is ostensibly the story of Cleo, a youngish female poet. After both her parents perish in a car accident, she lives like a recluse in their big house. A manuscript of poems sent to Spain wins a literary prize and suddenly she's a published author, spending time in Europe to promote the book. That was as far as I could follow an orderly progression in the narrative. From then on it's a confused, impressionistic mess of coming back to Cuba and feeling spied upon, a victim of a police state. Then a trip to Mexico to reconnect with an old flame, only to realize that the Cuban exiles now think that she's a Cuban government spy. Then she's back in Cuba, again subject to spy cameras, strange bureaucratic harassments, and daily visits from Alberto, who is both a friend and a government informer. Then a handsome Mexican actor shows up, telling her that her father was not the man she grew up with, but a Cuban revolutionary who may or may not have been a double agent for the CIA and ended up in front of a firing squad. More bureaucratic hassles as Geronimo and Cleo try to obtain access to official papers. Then suddenly they are both in Mexico again, arriving at Gabriel Garcia Marquez' apartment just hours after his death. Then they're back in Cuba, then Geronimo is expelled from Cuba, then Cleo flies to New York to help Geronimo with his movie about her father. Then she's in France for the movie's premiere, which brings surprises of its own. At the end, she's not allowed to disembark in Cuba and is sent back to France, now a real exile.
That, at least, is how I reconstructed the story, with various interludes about art projects and musings about dictatorships, the dysfunctional society of Cuba, the life of the writer (I almost feel this should be written with capital letters : The Life of the Writer). The problem was, that things didn't make sense to me. Cleo is alternatively harassed and allowed to leave the country and then back in (except at the end). She is constantly being spied upon, yet she can receive visitors. She can't receive letters or email, but she has friends in Mexico, New York, Princeton... who are eager to welcome and host her. The Cuban authorities seem to want to cover up the story of her biological father, yet they don't crack down until the very end. I can't figure out what was the role of Alberto, and whether he committed suicide or not.
I found the writing confusing. The tenses changed from past to present in the middle of a paragraph, about the same event. The author went from "I do this and that" to "You do this and that", in the style of "Bright Lights, Big City", again, in the middle of the same episode. Then there are the repetitive ruminations about Cleo's life, often with questions of the type "Who am I? What am I doing here?". Here and there some of the descriptions and metaphors were poetic, but there were too many of them.
Cleo is not likable or unlikable, she's totally passive, constantly self-analyzing, constantly generalizing about what it means to be Cuban or living in Cuba. It seems that the main theme of the book was that she couldn't live in Cuba and couldn't live outside it, as an exile.
So in the end the book failed as a narrative of suspense (we don't know nor care what happened to Cleo's father). It failed as a psychological novel (Cleo's thoughts go in circles, not much progress in her thinking). It succeeded somewhat as a description of life in a political climate of suspicion and repression. Its main failure is that Cleo, despite the bizarre events in her life (arriving at GGM's door just when his death is announced to the media - really?) is uninteresting, someone who doesn't inspire any interest or sympathy in the reader.
My main irritation with the book was that I found it incoherent. It is ostensibly the story of Cleo, a youngish female poet. After both her parents perish in a car accident, she lives like a recluse in their big house. A manuscript of poems sent to Spain wins a literary prize and suddenly she's a published author, spending time in Europe to promote the book. That was as far as I could follow an orderly progression in the narrative. From then on it's a confused, impressionistic mess of coming back to Cuba and feeling spied upon, a victim of a police state. Then a trip to Mexico to reconnect with an old flame, only to realize that the Cuban exiles now think that she's a Cuban government spy. Then she's back in Cuba, again subject to spy cameras, strange bureaucratic harassments, and daily visits from Alberto, who is both a friend and a government informer. Then a handsome Mexican actor shows up, telling her that her father was not the man she grew up with, but a Cuban revolutionary who may or may not have been a double agent for the CIA and ended up in front of a firing squad. More bureaucratic hassles as Geronimo and Cleo try to obtain access to official papers. Then suddenly they are both in Mexico again, arriving at Gabriel Garcia Marquez' apartment just hours after his death. Then they're back in Cuba, then Geronimo is expelled from Cuba, then Cleo flies to New York to help Geronimo with his movie about her father. Then she's in France for the movie's premiere, which brings surprises of its own. At the end, she's not allowed to disembark in Cuba and is sent back to France, now a real exile.
That, at least, is how I reconstructed the story, with various interludes about art projects and musings about dictatorships, the dysfunctional society of Cuba, the life of the writer (I almost feel this should be written with capital letters : The Life of the Writer). The problem was, that things didn't make sense to me. Cleo is alternatively harassed and allowed to leave the country and then back in (except at the end). She is constantly being spied upon, yet she can receive visitors. She can't receive letters or email, but she has friends in Mexico, New York, Princeton... who are eager to welcome and host her. The Cuban authorities seem to want to cover up the story of her biological father, yet they don't crack down until the very end. I can't figure out what was the role of Alberto, and whether he committed suicide or not.
I found the writing confusing. The tenses changed from past to present in the middle of a paragraph, about the same event. The author went from "I do this and that" to "You do this and that", in the style of "Bright Lights, Big City", again, in the middle of the same episode. Then there are the repetitive ruminations about Cleo's life, often with questions of the type "Who am I? What am I doing here?". Here and there some of the descriptions and metaphors were poetic, but there were too many of them.
Cleo is not likable or unlikable, she's totally passive, constantly self-analyzing, constantly generalizing about what it means to be Cuban or living in Cuba. It seems that the main theme of the book was that she couldn't live in Cuba and couldn't live outside it, as an exile.
So in the end the book failed as a narrative of suspense (we don't know nor care what happened to Cleo's father). It failed as a psychological novel (Cleo's thoughts go in circles, not much progress in her thinking). It succeeded somewhat as a description of life in a political climate of suspicion and repression. Its main failure is that Cleo, despite the bizarre events in her life (arriving at GGM's door just when his death is announced to the media - really?) is uninteresting, someone who doesn't inspire any interest or sympathy in the reader.
April 2, 2019
"The story isn't what you want to tell, but what the story itself dictates as it reveals itself."
2.5 stars. i'll begin with the positives. or positive. i really liked how this was written. because the narrator is a poet, there were many lines that related to writing that i enjoyed:
"It's really incredible how literature can soar, travel alone, freely; even when I try to strangle it with my tense and veiny hands, it refuses to condemn me; it flies on its own accord; becomes independent from me; refuses to be silenced; and if it returns, it's with a different accent."
i thought the prose was beautiful, there were definitely many lines that were memorable and relatable, and so that made up for the negatives which i will now get into. first, how is this a mystery? i borrowed this from the library and it's listed under mystery, and the blurb made it feel like this was going to be a story that was thrilling, with lies and deception and espionage. this has none of that. not even a romance that you could get into (the blurb says the woman gets in a relationship with an actor, but really all i could see was that they had lots of sex, and that was the extent of the so-called relationship). adding to that, the characters were dull to me. dull in the sense that i felt distant from them. indifferent. i tried to see where the mystery was in this, and i guess it's that cleo's father wasn't really her father? did i care? no. there was no climax, no resolution because there was no problem. is this even a spoiler? i'll label it as one since it's about the ending. no mystery, no attachment to the characters, and i learned very little about cuba. overall, meh.
March 31, 2019
2.5/5
Around the world book challenge #13
Country: Cuba
(Reseña en español debajo)
The story is about Cleo, a Cuban woman and writer. Her parents died in an accident, and from there she notices that the people who used to surround her are leaving her aside. Also her works are forbidden on the island and many times her house is "inspected", so it is common for her to lose her writings.
Despite the tragedy that surrounds her in several aspects of her life, I have not managed to connect with the character. The book was quite tedious, although it is very well written and the prose is poetic. Only in the last pages I get hooked, but at that point I did not have much interest.
However, I might read some other work by this author.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
La novela trata sobre Cleo, una mujer cubana y escritora. Sus padres murieron en un accidente, y a partir de allí nota que las personas que antes la rodeaban la van dejando de lado. Además, sus obras, por la crítica al gobierno, son prohibidas en la isla y muchas veces su casa es "registrada", por lo que es habitual que pierda sus escritos en papel y digitales.
A pesar de la tragedia que la envuelve en varios aspectos de su vida, no he logrado conectar con el personaje. El libro me resultó bastante tedioso, aunque está muy bien escrito y la prosa es poética. Recién en las últimas páginas pude engancharme, pero en ese punto ya no tenía gran interés.
sin embargo, no descarto la idea de leer alguna otra obra de esta autora.
Around the world book challenge #13
Country: Cuba
(Reseña en español debajo)
The story is about Cleo, a Cuban woman and writer. Her parents died in an accident, and from there she notices that the people who used to surround her are leaving her aside. Also her works are forbidden on the island and many times her house is "inspected", so it is common for her to lose her writings.
Despite the tragedy that surrounds her in several aspects of her life, I have not managed to connect with the character. The book was quite tedious, although it is very well written and the prose is poetic. Only in the last pages I get hooked, but at that point I did not have much interest.
However, I might read some other work by this author.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
La novela trata sobre Cleo, una mujer cubana y escritora. Sus padres murieron en un accidente, y a partir de allí nota que las personas que antes la rodeaban la van dejando de lado. Además, sus obras, por la crítica al gobierno, son prohibidas en la isla y muchas veces su casa es "registrada", por lo que es habitual que pierda sus escritos en papel y digitales.
A pesar de la tragedia que la envuelve en varios aspectos de su vida, no he logrado conectar con el personaje. El libro me resultó bastante tedioso, aunque está muy bien escrito y la prosa es poética. Recién en las últimas páginas pude engancharme, pero en ese punto ya no tenía gran interés.
sin embargo, no descarto la idea de leer alguna otra obra de esta autora.
June 29, 2018
Potete leggere la recensione completa su Blog Expres a questo link
http://blogexpres.blogspot.com/2018/0...
Wendy Guerra mi ha riportato tra le strade polverose e affascinanti de L'Havana raccontando una storia molto cruda e dolorosa ovvero quella di Cleo, una giovane poetessa che rimane sola al mondo dopo un misterioso incidente automobilistico in cui perde entrambi i genitori.
Da quel giorno la sua vita cambia radicalmente non solo per la perdita di mamma e papà, ma anche perchè vincendo un premio letterario in Spagna diventa una potenziale dissidente per il rigido regime castrista.
Puniscono te o i tuoi libri? Censurano le tue idee o il tuo atteggiamento?Esiste davvero qualcuno in quell'ufficio di proibizioni o c'è solo una segretaria che riceve e restituisce i libri senza neanche sfogliarli?
Nello stesso tempo proprio perchè Cleo non abbandona Cuba come la maggior parte dei suoi amici, viene vista male anche dai cubani esuli in Messico e in Usa. Paradossalmente Cleo si ritrova a vivere in una specie di "limbo" immersa nelle sue poesie con piccole boccate di ossigeno quando va in giro per il mondo a promuoverle e la dura realtà che la aspetta a casa, una realtà fatta di solitudine e di continue perquisizioni domestiche da parte della Seguridad cubana.
http://blogexpres.blogspot.com/2018/0...
Wendy Guerra mi ha riportato tra le strade polverose e affascinanti de L'Havana raccontando una storia molto cruda e dolorosa ovvero quella di Cleo, una giovane poetessa che rimane sola al mondo dopo un misterioso incidente automobilistico in cui perde entrambi i genitori.
Da quel giorno la sua vita cambia radicalmente non solo per la perdita di mamma e papà, ma anche perchè vincendo un premio letterario in Spagna diventa una potenziale dissidente per il rigido regime castrista.
Puniscono te o i tuoi libri? Censurano le tue idee o il tuo atteggiamento?Esiste davvero qualcuno in quell'ufficio di proibizioni o c'è solo una segretaria che riceve e restituisce i libri senza neanche sfogliarli?
Nello stesso tempo proprio perchè Cleo non abbandona Cuba come la maggior parte dei suoi amici, viene vista male anche dai cubani esuli in Messico e in Usa. Paradossalmente Cleo si ritrova a vivere in una specie di "limbo" immersa nelle sue poesie con piccole boccate di ossigeno quando va in giro per il mondo a promuoverle e la dura realtà che la aspetta a casa, una realtà fatta di solitudine e di continue perquisizioni domestiche da parte della Seguridad cubana.
March 25, 2022
Read for the Literary Life Challenge 2022
International (1)
Saqué algunas citas y conceptos interesantes. Pero, más allá de eso, nada. Porque en el fondo parece que fuese más una excusa para meter esos pasajes desagradables a lo García Márquez que otra cosa.
Cierto, se vive una vida de represión y censura en Cuba desde hace más de medio siglo y es muy psosible que la historia de "Cleo" sea real para algunas personas, de tanta mentira en la que se vive, pero por lo demás, se siente como algo demasiado 'perfecto'. Todo se desencadena porque a ella salen a buscarla, no tiene que moverse un centímetro, y cuando lo hace, es traicionada...
International (1)
Saqué algunas citas y conceptos interesantes. Pero, más allá de eso, nada. Porque en el fondo parece que fuese más una excusa para meter esos pasajes desagradables a lo García Márquez que otra cosa.
Cierto, se vive una vida de represión y censura en Cuba desde hace más de medio siglo y es muy psosible que la historia de "Cleo" sea real para algunas personas, de tanta mentira en la que se vive, pero por lo demás, se siente como algo demasiado 'perfecto'. Todo se desencadena porque a ella salen a buscarla, no tiene que moverse un centímetro, y cuando lo hace, es traicionada...
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