Το κορίτσι απ' την Αβάνα

Mambo Kings #2

by Oscar Hijuelos, Βασίλης Χατζηδημητράκης (Translator)

Ένα πανέμορφο κορίτσι, ένας βιρτουόζος τρομπετίστας του μάμπο, ένας μεγάλος έρωτας με φόντο την Αβάνα της δεκαετίας του 1950.
Η Μαρία έχει φύγει από την Κούβα και ζει πλέον στο Μαϊάμι με την κόρη της Τερέζα. Είναι εξήντα ετών, αλλά παραμένει μια όμορφη, γοητευτική γυναίκα.
Παρά τα χρόνια που έχουν περάσει, δεν μπορεί να βγάλει από το μυαλό της τον φτωχό μουσικό Νέστορ Καστίγιο. Τον ερωτεύτηκε παράφορα, αλλά του ράγισε την καρδιά και τον ενέπνευσε να γράψει το μεγάλο χιτ των Mambo Kings με τίτλο "Beautiful Maria of My Soul". Καθώς επιστρέφει με τη μνήμη της στις λαμπερές και πικάντικες μέρες και νύχτες στην Αβάνα της νιότης της, η ιστορία της ζωής της ξεδιπλώνεται μέσα από μια εντελώς νέα οπτική.

Το τελευταίο μυθιστόρημα του Oscar Hijuelos αποτελεί τη συνέχεια της εκπληκτικής ιστορίας του "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love", του βιβλίου που του χάρισε το Βραβείο Πούλιτζερ το 1990.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Cultural, Music, Historical, Literary Fiction, Cultural Heritage

448 pages

First published June 1, 2010

About the author

Oscar Hijuelos (born August 24, 1951) was an American novelist. He is the first Hispanic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Hijuelos was born in New York City, in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, to Cuban immigrant parents. He attended the Corpus Christi School, public schools, and later attended Bronx Community College, Lehman College, and Manhattan Community College before matriculating into and studying writing at the City College of New York (B.A., 1975; M.A. in Creative Writing, 1976). He then practiced various professions before taking up writing full time. His first novel, Our House in the Last World, was published in 1983 and received the 1985 Rome Prize, awarded by the American Academy in Rome. His second novel, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It was adapted for the film The Mambo Kings in 1992 and as a Broadway musical in 2005.

Hijuelos has taught at Hofstra University and at Duke University.

Reviews

[Harold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo Hijuelos!! I flat out LOVED this book! For the first time in a long time finishing a book left me sorry it was over. What am I going to read next that will go down that smoothly?

The book is the story of the beautiful love interest from The Mambo Kings Sing Songs Of Love. It that book she was a peripheral but important character in that she was the inspiration for a hit song, the title of which is Beautiful Maria Of My Soul, written by Nestor Castillo, one of two brothers who are the focus of Mambo Kings. She is a beauty of mythical quality and the book indeed has a mythical air about it. She, for example, is rarely, perhaps never, referred to as Maria, she is always Beautiful Maria in the narrative.

Beautiful Maria Of My Soul starts with Maria leaving the small village in Cuban countryside where she was born and going to Havana, and as mundane as that sounds, I was hooked from the first sentence. The book is the story of a long journey that as a reader we can take with her. Hijuelos is a very skillful and clever writer. He mingles real events and personalities (even himself!) into the story and creates a novel that takes on life. The one criticism that a lot of readers seem to have is the somewhat graphic sex scenes. They didn't bother me at all and Hijuelos, speaking as himself in the novel and referring to this matter says they are “...presented with a redeeming romantic touch.” I agree.

[Tara Chevrestt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Halfway thru the reading of this novel, I had to drop it and run to the computer and open itunes where I proceeded to listen to The Mambo Kings for what may have been the first time in my life. My interest was picqued. I didn't buy this book to learn about the Mambo Kings. I got it cause the subject matter appealed to me. Maria, a Cuban woman so beautiful, she inspired a hit song...

Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed reading about the beginnings of the Mambo Kings, about love struck Nestor and arrogant, flashy Cesar Castillo. However, this novel is about Maria who inspired the song, Beautiful Maria of My Soul and her life before, during, and after The Mambo Kings. It's a story about a country girl who is dealt many bad hands as her family seems to drop dead around her, a naive girl who flees to the nightlife of Havana, a woman so beautiful she can get no respite from the greedy hands and minds of lusty men, and a love story that lives on forever thru the lines of a song.

The love story is sad. Maria turns away poor Nestor and his muscial dreams for an immediate life of luxury and wealth. If she had only had a little faith... As Nestor becomes successful in America, Maria decides to make one last attempt at rekindling their romance. Anything could happen..

I was quite enthralled with this. There were times I liked and sympathized with Maria and there were times I hated her and cried for Nestor. It would be a five star read except for one thing. WAY too much sex, masturbation, and dramatization of Nestor's "pinga." I get it, it's huge, no need to mention it 25 times.

Nevertheless, once I got past the sex stuff, the story was great. I plan on reading more by this author.

[Μαρια Κουλουρη · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το βιβλίο ‘’The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love ‘’ χάρισε στον συγγραφέα Oscar Hijuelos το βραβείο Πούλιτζερ το 1990. Πρωταγωνιστές ήταν τα αδέλφια Νέστορ και Σίζαρ, που το όνειρό τους ήταν, φεύγοντας από την Κούβα, να κατακτήσουν τη μουσική σκηνή της Ν.Υόρκης. Χαρακτήρες τελείως διαφορετικοί – ο Νέστορ τρυφερός και ρομαντικός, ο Σίζαρ τολμηρός και αποφασιστικός - ενώνουν το πάθος τους για τη μουσική και γίνονται διάσημοι. Μεγάλη τους επιτυχία το τραγούδι που έγραψε ο Νέστορ ‘’ Beautiful Maria of my soul ΄΄ και το αφιέρωσε στον μεγάλο άτυχο έρωτά του.

Στο βιβλίο '' Το κορίτσι απ΄ την Αβάνα '' που μπορούμε να το θεωρήσουμε σαν συνέχεια του πρώτου βιβλίου, αλλά και να το διαβάσουμε τελείως ανεξάρτητα, ηρωίδα είναι η πανέμορφη Μαρία Γκαρσία
ι Σιφουέντες, η μούσα του Νέστορ Καστίγιο.
Δεκαεφτά χρονών και μετά το θάνατο της μικρής της αδελφής και της μητέρας της, η Μαρία εγκαταλείπει το μικρό χωριό σε μια κοιλάδα στην δυτική άκρη της Κούβας, και καταφεύγει από καθαρή τύχη και όχι από επιλογή της, στην πρωτεύουσα την Αβάνα.
Κουβαλά μαζί της την ενοχή για το θάνατο της μικρής της αδελφής και τα ανεκπλήρωτα όνειρα του πατέρα της, ενός περιπλανώμενου μουσικού. Ζώντας μέχρι τότε στην ύπαιθρο, βρίσκει την απεραντοσύνη της πρωτεύουσας αβάσταχτη.
'' Πορ Ντίος ! Είναι ένας πολύ μοναχικός τόπος '' για τη Μαρία που καταφεύγει σε μια άθλια συνοικία κοντά στο λιμάνι. Η ιδιοκτήτρια της πανσιόν την παίρνει υπό την προστασία της και την προειδοποιεί να μην μπλέξει με λάθος δουλειές. '' Και πίστεψέ με, κερίδα, η Αβάνα είναι γεμάτη από δαύτες '' .
Η πανέμορφη Μαρία πιάνει δουλειά σαν χορεύτρια σε κλαμπ και καίει καρδιές ακόμη και με το πέρασμά της στους δρόμους της πρωτεύουσας.
'' Όταν διέσχιζε τη Μαλεκόν με το απλό φόρεμα της, καθυστερούσε την κυκλοφορία, οι οδηγοί φορτηγών, αυτοκινήτων, ακόμη και οι αστυνομικοί της Αβάνας πατούσαν φρένο για να προσέξουν καλύτερα το γοητευτικό βάδισμά της. Λούστροι σκοτώνονταν για να της κάνουν δωρεάν γυάλισμα. Ποδηλάτες έκαναν στη Μαρία ντλιν, ντλιν με τα κουδουνάκια τους. Φρουτέμποροι και παντοπώλες που πουλούσαν τα αγαθά τους σε καρότσες και σε πάγκους αρνούνταν να της πάρουν λεφτά ή όταν το έκαναν, δεν της χρέωναν ποτέ όλο το ποσό και την ξεπροβόδιζαν με περισσότερα μάνγκο, αβοκάντο και σκόρδα απ΄όσα θα μπορούσε ποτέ να χρησιμοποιήσει. ''

Η άγνοια της μυθικής ομορφιάς της και η γνώση της μέσα από τα μάτια των άλλων - ΄Έρες ούνα μαραβίγια – είσαι ένα θαύμα - δεν οδηγεί τη Μαρία να αφεθεί και να δρέψει τα οφέλη που προκύπτουν.
Με στωικότητα αντιμετωπίζει τις εκφράσεις θαυμασμού και αντιδρά όταν βλέπει πως για την ομορφιά της όλα γίνονται. Προσπαθεί να τελειοποιήσει τον εαυτό της, παίρνει μαθήματα χορού και σωστής συμπεριφοράς αλλά στα δικά της μάτια χρειάζεται πολλά ακόμη για να ισχυροποιηθεί. Είναι μια αναλφάβητη. Αγαπημένο της μέρος ένας πάγκος βιβλιοπώλη στη λαϊκή αγορά – προσποιείται πως διαβάζει ανασηκώνοντας πότε πότε το ένα της φρύδι - και αγοράζει βιβλία που τα προσέχει σαν πορσελάνινα αντικείμενα.
Συγκινητικές σκηνές είναι εκείνες με τη Μαρία να κάθεται στο πεζοδρόμιο – ακόμη κι όταν έχει γίνει πλούσια – και δάσκαλός της να είναι για πολλά χρόνια , ο ζητιάνος Λάσαρο Παρτίγιο.

Η πορεία της ζωής της από τα πρώτα της χρόνια στα πλακόστρωτα της Αβάνας, η καριέρα της σαν χορεύτριας, και κυρίως ο μεγάλος έρωτας με τον μουσικό Νέστορ Καστίγιο, μέχρι τη συμβατική σχεδόν ζωή της, στα εξήντα της χρόνια, περνούν μέσα από τις σελίδες του βιβλίου κάτω από την επιδέξια πένα του συγγραφέα, που έχει μια μοναδική ικανότητα να ζωντανεύει εικόνες της κουβανικής πρωτεύουσας εκείνων των χρόνων.

Η Αβάνα της προεπαναστατικής Κούβας με τα πλακόστρωτα δρομάκια της και το φλογερό ταμπεραμέντο των κατοίκων της και η αρχή των αλλαγών μετά την επανάσταση του Κάστρο - μέσα από μια διαφορετική ματιά - είναι το φόντο πάνω στο οποίο κτίζεται η ιστορία μέχρι τα μέσα του βιβλίου. '' Αν μπορούσε να ακούσει μέσα από τους τοίχους μερικών από τα λιγότερο ευυπόληπτα κτίρια που συναντούσε, θα την κατέκλυζαν χιλιάδες αγκομαχητά μεθυσμένης ηδονής. Αν μπορούσε να στήσει αυτί στα κελιά της κεντρικής αστυνομικής διεύθυνσης, όπου κρατούνταν, γεγονός εντελώς άγνωστο σ΄εκείνη, πολιτικά ταραχοποιά στοιχεία- οι σοσιαλίστας, οι κομουνίστας, οι αρχηγοί συνδικάτων - μισοπεθαμένοι από τα βασανιστήρια και το ξύλο μέσα σε πνιγηρά, σκοτεινά δωμάτια, θα τους άκουγε να καταριούνται, να κλαίνε και να στενάζουν, όχι από ηδονή, αλλά από το μαρτύριο ''.
Και η νοσταλγία των Κουβανών μεταναστών για την πατρίδα που άφησαν πίσω, καταφεύγοντας στο Μαϊάμι ή και σε άλλα μέρη της Αμερικής, μετά την επανάσταση του Κάστρο, είναι το μεγαλύτερο συναίσθημα που κυριαρχεί στο υπόλοιπο βιβλίο.

Η Μαρία, με μια πρόχειρη ματιά, φαίνεται ένας χαρακτήρας ρηχός και επιπόλαιος. Όμως θαρρώ πως ο συγγραφέας έδωσε μια πιο πολύπλοκη διάσταση στην προσωπικότητά της. Άσχετα αν αφήνει την εντύπωση πως δεν αγαπά την ηρωίδα του!
Η αφελής αντιμετώπιση των καταστάσεων που αντιμετωπίζει στα πρώτα βήματά της στην αχανή πρωτεύουσα, σε συνδυασμό με τη θρησκευτική προσήλωση σε ό,τι έμαθε από τη μητέρα της, και οι απαντήσεις που εξηγούν τη συμπεριφορά της και τη δικαιολογούν ταυτόχρονα, στον εαυτό της, εφησυχάζοντας τη συνείδησή της, είναι το ένα ιδιόρρυθμο στοιχείο του χαρακτήρα της.
Η πρακτικότητα που αντιμετωπίζει όλα τα θέματα, ακόμη κι αυτό του έρωτα - '' Τι είναι ο έρωτας ανάμεσα σ΄ έναν άντρα και σε μια γυναίκα ; σίνο ουν βαπόρ – κάτι που έρχεται και φεύγει σαν τον άνεμο '' - , ο τρόπος που προσπαθεί να καλύψει όλα τα τραύματα της παιδικής της ηλικίας, ή μάλλον το ότι ψάχνει να δικαιολογήσει τα γεγονότα που τη σημάδεψαν, και οι τελικές επιλογές της δείχνουν έναν πιο πολύπλοκο χαρακτήρα.

Ο συγγραφέας αναλύει σε βάθος το χαρακτήρα της ηρωίδας του. Σταματά σε κάθε γεγονός, τονίζει τη διαφορετικότητα στη σκέψη της και παρακολουθεί την εξέλιξη σε μια γυναίκα αρκετά κυνική, αποστασιοποιημένη από τα γεγονότα που ταλανίζουν τη χώρα της '' Στ΄αλήθεια Λάσαρο, τι με νοιάζουν εμένα όλα αυτά ; '' . Όπως και αρκετά σκληρή! ''Με πούσο μούι, μούι δουρίτα! Έγινα πολύ σκληρόπετση'' εξομολογείται χρόνια αργότερα στην κόρη της.

Η γραφή του Οscar Hijuelos είναι βαθιά περιγραφική. Είτε μιλά για τον έρωτα, είτε για τη ζωή των ηρώων του. Ο λόγος του διακρίνεται για τις μεγάλες προτάσεις που δεν ξενίζουν τον αναγνώστη αλλά τον παρασύρουν στη ροή του. Η λυρικότητα των φράσεων που χρησιμοποιεί ενισχύεται στο βιβλίο, με την ύπαρξη – σε πολλά σημεία – των αντίστοιχων εκείνων, από το πρωτότυπο. Γεγονός που δεν το βρήκα καθόλου αρνητικό, αντίθετα ήταν φοβερά ελκυστικό.

Το βιβλίο χωρίζεται σε πέντε μέρη. Καθένα από αυτά οριοθετεί μία περίοδο της ζωής της Μαρίας.
Ο συγγραφέας έχοντας επιλέξει την τεχνική εκείνη του παντογνώστη αφηγητή, - γνωρίζει τα πάντα και επεμβαίνει, θέτοντας παράλληλα ερωτήματα στον αναγνώστη - προχωρεί στο τελευταίο κεφάλαιο και κάνει ο ίδιος την εμφάνισή του υποδυόμενος τον εαυτό του. Συζητά με τους ήρωές του, προβάλλει τη δική του σκοπιά για το μυθιστόρημα και ταυτόχρονα δένει την ιστορία του με την ιστορία του προηγούμενου βιβλίου του.
‘Ετσι στο τέλος το ‘’ Τhe Mambo Kings ‘’ δένεται με το Κορίτσι από την Αβάνα και ο κύκλος κλείνει.
Ο ξενόγλωσσος τίτλος του βιβλίου είναι ΄΄ Beautiful Maria of my soul ‘’, ο ίδιος με τον τίτλο στο ομώνυμο τραγούδι που πρώτο-ακούστηκε στην ταινία με πρωταγωνιστές τον Armand Assante και τον Αntonio Banderas που προβλήθηκε το 1992.
Είναι το πρώτο βιβλίο του Oscar Hijelos που διαβάζω, θα αναζητήσω κι άλλο έργο του, και πιστεύω πως θα είχε πολλά ακόμη να δώσει αν δεν είχε φύγει από τη ζωή.

Δυνατά σημεία του βιβλίου :
Η εξαιρετική περιγραφική γραφή .
Η ανάλυση σε βάθος των χαρακτήρων του βιβλίου, ειδικά αυτού της Μαρίας.
Η πολύ καλή δομή.
Η χρήση της γλώσσας του πρωτότυπου, σε αρκετές φράσεις, παράλληλα με την ελληνική.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is historical fiction and a sequel to The Mambo Kings, telling the story of the Maria behind the Castillo's bolero "Beautiful Maria of My Soul". The problem for me was, I didn't care. Perhaps by design, Maria is a cold character - beautiful, at first naive, and just, well, not a character I related to at all. Her choices, her life, her problems, nothing made me really care about her.

Perhaps if I'd read The Mambo Kings I'd feel differently but since I didn't read it...

ARC provided by publisher.

[Abbey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stopped reading this book. I stopped reading it because the author described, in almost every scene, the main character's vagina. I'm all for vaginas, you see, but sometimes there can be too much... vagina.
Vagina, vagina, vagina.
See what I mean?

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Author is fixated with the sexual act and abuse of women; it got very tiring.

[Florinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Oscar Hijuelos'’ award-winning novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love nearly 20 years ago, when it was first published, and never gave much thought to its having a sequel. But when I learned that it had one - told from the perspective of the woman who inspired the fictional Castillo brothers’ best-known song, “Beautiful Maria of My Soul” - I remembered enough about the original novel to be interested.

Maria is a woman who seems to exist primarily under the male gaze; her most remarkable quality - not just to those male gazers, but to herself - is her physical beauty. Descriptions of her face, hair, and “traffic-stopping” body abound in the novel - and I'’m not sure a woman would have written her that way. There is more to her, though; the sections of the novel that focus on other aspects of the character - her illiterate country upbringing, her drive to educate herself, her motherhood - were some of the parts I liked most, and I don'’t think there were enough of them. There was more than enough about her looks, her desirability, and the sexual aspects of her relationships, though, including the skill and physical attributes of her lovers - and that all came across to me in a male voice, despite the fact that the protagonist is female.

As for the song-inspiring love between Maria and Nestor Castillo - my take on that is that theirs was a hormone-driven connection that they believed must therefore be a romantic one. Even in the midst of it, Maria realized they didn'’t have a lot to talk about. Had they stayed together - that is, had she not refused him because she felt his ambitions were too narrow - biology dictates that the fires would have subsided eventually, and I'’m not sure they’d have had much beyond that.

Hijuelos'’ writing is vivid and descriptive throughout, bringing mid-century, pre-Castro Cuba to life, and generously sprinkled with Spanish words and phrases; I just would have preferred less description of some aspects. My favorite part of the book was its final section, an amusingly meta twist in which the author becomes a character in his own novel when he writes the novel that first told Maria and Nestor’'s story, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. Up until then, I’d have called Beautiful Maria of My Soul my most disappointing read of the year; while it kept my attention, I didn'’t always want it to. I think it would be of interest primarily to readers who recall the earlier novel, and would also appeal to fans of Latino-American literature for its depictions of pre-revolutionary Cuba and the Cuban-American exile community in Miami. I'’m not sorry I read it, but I’'m sorry I didn’t like it better.

[Chitra Divakaruni · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read on many levels, with some serious shortcomings that might bother feminist readers. Be prepared for graphic sex scenes. Hijuelos' great strength lie in recreating a place, a time and a culture. See the review I wrote for the Portland Oregonian here: http://www.oregonlive.com/books/index...

[Evi Routoula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Η ιστορία της Μαρίας Ριβέρα, μιας πανέμορφης νεαρής μουλάτας στην Κούβα του Μπατίστα. Ο τρομπετίστας Νέστορ Καστίγιο του συγκροτήματος Μάμπο Κινγκς την ερωτεύεται τρελά και γράφει για αυτήν ένα υπέροχο μπολέρο.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maria Garcia y Cifuentes, the muse who inspired so much passion, longing and music in The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, returns as the center of attention in Oscar Hijuelos’ extension and re-telling of the Mambo Kings story. Set in both pre-revolution Cuba and the United States, this novel traces Maria’s fifty-year journey from her humble origins in the Cuban countryside to her rise as a notable figure in Havana’s night club scene to her two trips—and eventual self-imposed exile—to America. Much of the story involves Maria’s attempt to find a balance between her passions and her need for comfort and security, an issue she struggles with throughout her life. In the process of telling her story, the author introduces the reader to a dizzying array of real and imagined supporting characters and some of the most lasciviously extravagant language I have come across in quite some time.

I am really torn in my feelings about this book. At its best, the novel does a wonderful job recreating the intoxicating atmosphere and rhythms of daily life in Havana in the years before Castro assumed control of the country. These descriptions were moving and very evocative; collectively, they amount to nothing short of a paean and love letter to the spirit and resilience of the Cuban people in that long-gone time and place. Also, the relatively brief section describing the years that Cesar and Nestor Castillo—Los Reyes del Mambo themselves—spent in New York and their rise to fame was engaging and a great reminder of what made their original story so deservedly popular in the first place.

On the other hand, what did not work nearly as well was the chronicle of Maria’s life, which, of course, is the main point of this book. Simply put, this woman is neither interesting nor particularly likeable. Hijuelos spends so much time convincing us that “Beautiful Maria” is really, truly beautiful—he seldom lets a page go by without reminding us of that fact—that her character becomes flat and one-dimensional. He seems to want us to believe that Maria is a complex, sympathetic person who has survived life in a heroic fashion, but what we ultimately get is a portrait of someone who merely learns to trade her looks in order to improve her economic status. Even her great on-again, off-again love affair with Nestor seems to have little basis other than their mutual obsession with her beauty and the size of his “pinga” (which, by the way, is described in lurid detail throughout the book). That this brief, physically motivated affair could so profoundly influence the actions of the protagonists over the next forty years is implausible, to say the least.

This novel, then, is one of contrasts: it is at once a lovingly rendered portrait of an era that is rapidly receding from our memory as well as a rather pedestrian account of a woman the reader never learns to care much about. I can recommend reading it—Hijuelos is certainly a talented enough writer that it is unlikely you will be bored, even in the most repetitive passages—but unfortunately that recommendation is not without significant reservations.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several themes are intertwined in this not totally successful novel. Among them is the fictional biography of Beautiful Maria, her career, her lovers, and most importantly, the love she has for her daughter Teresita. Another theme is Maria's love of country especially a valley in Pinar del Rio, her family home. This is offset by a description of Havana's seedy side before the Castro revolution. Finally, there is the song, Beautiful Maria of My Soul written by her dreamy and extremely passionate lover, Nestor Castillo.

After travelling from Pinar del Rio to Havana, Maria, innocent and illiterate, becomes a dancer in a second rate night club. She avoids becoming a prostitute. Many other dancers engaged in the trade. She does, however, become the mistress of Ignacio Fuentes, a gangster. Lazaro, an elderly black man, teaches her to read. Maria becomes more confident, independent and firm. Then she meets handsome and well endowed Nestor Castillo, a guitar player. They fall in love and have steamy sex. To her everlasting regret, Maria breaks the relationship believing there is no future with a poor musician.

After taking over, Castro tried to reform Havana and closed the seedy clubs where Maria danced. She and three year old Teresita flee to Miami where they experience much hardship. Eventually this is overcome and Teresita becomes an ontological pediatrician.

Hijuelos has several problems. His ending, which some may call daring, while others will consider it to be very poorly chosen, is the greatest problem. In the novel's ending chapters, he introduces himself, as Oscar Hijuelos the writer. He describes several meetings with his fictional characters. Hijuelos is also redundant. Maria's beauty is noted all too often. He also uses Spanish words and phrases, sometimes immediately translated to English but often not, causing a loss of thought.

Beautiful Maria does not live up to his earlier book, Mambo Kings. Mari's life is mildly interesting, but the book is justified by the strong descriptions of pre-revolutionary Havana and post- revolutionary Miami.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1990, Oscar Hujuelos wrote “The Mambo Kings Play Songs Of Love” and won a Pulitzer Prize. I didn’t read that book about the Castillo brothers, but “Beautiful Maria of My Soul” tells the story of the woman who captured the heart of Nestor Castillo, who with his brother Cesar left Cuba for New York and eventually became popular Cuban musicians due to Desi Arnez who featured them on “I Love Lucy.” Nestor and Maria were madly in love, but Maria chose to live with a man who gave her more security and let Nestor go. Nestor worked on the song about Maria (“Beautiful Maria of My Soul”) for many years and reworked it over 40 times. Nestor longed for Maria all of his life even though he married and had children. Maria’s regret is also dealt with as the novel unfolds. For years, no one knew who the Maria was in the song.

Maria is far too beautiful for her own good. She left her small village in Cuba for Havana in a pig-farmer’s truck, illiterate and with no money, and becomes well known as a dancer in Havana’s second rate clubs. She eventually flees Castro’s Cuba and makes her way to Miami where she lives in relative comfort proud of her only daughter who is a pediatrician.

That description sounds much too simplistic. Though she appears to be merely an object of desire, there is a lot to Maria that gets buried in the many explicit and sometimes seedy sexual scenes, and the multitude of pages that describe Maria’s beauty. Maria is able to come to terms with the love song that was written in her honor and the love song becomes that much more meaningful. I would have appreciated fewer pages, less descriptions of the sex and more insight into Maria as a person who suffered a lot to get to where she ended up. The descriptions of Havana during Batista’s rule with the sharp contrast between the slums and the wealthy neighborhoods are outstanding. The story of Cuban immigrants is also an interesting aspect of this novel.

[Mag · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just when I decided that this book was a complete waste of my time, the author appeared in the novel creating an interesting intrusion of non-fiction into fiction, and the story somewhat redeemed itself.

Designed as a sequel to Mambo Kings, the novel is about the object of Nestor’s love- Beautiful Maria. Beautiful Maria is, as the name suggests, beautiful. An illiterate peasant girl, fairly reasonable and levelheaded, Beautiful Maria makes her way up in the dance clubs of Havana, but there is neither a spectacular career nor a breathtaking character development there. She is and stays pretty shallow, and there isn’t much there besides her beauty, and it gets ultimately boring to be hearing about it over and over again.

Even though I wasn’t thrilled with the story, it seems to me that if a woman like Maria existed in real life, Hijuelos portrayed her well. It’s just that she didn’t have very much to offer. When I picked up this book, I also hoped for a broader picture of Havana in the fifties, but since Beautiful Maria didn’t lead a busy social life and wasn’t interested in politics either, we don’t get much of it in the story.

I had the audio version of the book, and it was very well read by Armando Durán. I liked the frequent Spanish intrusions into the text as they added authenticity to the language, even though they might have been a hinderance had I been reading the book.

[Pete Dematteo · Rating 4 out of 5]

once again, reading Oscar hijuelos is like sitting in some old timer's living room on southwest calle 8, or under the palms in his back yard, with a cup of delicious Cuban coffee, and having some old lady in a housedress bringing out pastels to nibble on.

Maria was certainly a beautiful woman, but she was attracted to the wrong types of men because she was a victim of incest by her papi. As a young lady, she had been quite sensitive indeed, despite the abuse, but Havana ruined her. She seemed to have made a career out of making bad decisions and degrading herself, addicted exclusively to garish men, with exaggerated masculinity, at the cost of forming healthy relationships with more appropriate and available men, or even women. A psychoananlyst's dream.

Even well into her 50's, strutting however restrictedly around opulent Coral Gables, she was the type who would quickly meet the eyes of some youth 30 years her junior and actually consider him to be a potential lover. That's how damaged she was! But look what she'd been through with the poverty and the machismo. Like an aged street prostitute or promiscuious homosexual, her spiritual bankruptcy had only been partially self-imposed, but I couldn't help but think about the similarities of the three groups.

She ended up a cold and lonely woman, with only her cat and her troubled daughter to keep her from utter madness, I guess, but the book was a real roller coaster ride.

[Rhiannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

María is pretty. Really pretty. Every single page we're reminded just how beautiful María is. Did I mention she's pretty? Like, the prettiest girl EVER? Because God forbid you forget for one second how really, really pretty she is and start wondering if there was going to be any character development, complexity or inner life. Nope, don't worry about that, just keep your eyes on the prize, and the prize is beautiful (did you forget she was beautiful when I was writing that last sentence? Because you can NEVER FORGET she's beautiful) María.

I know Hijuelos met women in his life, some typically beautiful --though none as beautiful as Beautiful Maria of His Imaginary Spank Bank-- but I can't imagine he's ever truly known or understood one. It's a shame he'll never have the chance.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The guy can tell a story, but the story lacked depth. Unrequited love, love for the sake of money, sex equals love are universal themes presented here with some passion. The only character I really loved was Maria's reading maestro. And even he was so bewitched by her beauty that he didn't criticize her.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't read a lot of books about the Cuban experience, so this book taught me several things about the culture and what Maria does to leave her poor background. The author won the Pulitzer for his first book "Mambo Kings," in which Maria appears, and I was eager to read what happened to her. She's a very complex character. Warning -some people might be put off by how risque the book is.

[Amy]

I give up. I made it about 1/3 in and that's it. A lightbulb went off and I realized, I don't HAVE to keep going. I can stop.
Anyone looking for this new title? I'm going to put it on swap...

[Cindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is boring and repetitive. It was tiresome hearing how the character thought she was so beautiful and oversexed.

[Christie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope.

[Zoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s this review of Mad Men that argues the show is flawed for being both critical of the 1960s misogyny it depicts, while simultaneously reveling in getting to depict that misogyny (through objectifying shots of their female protagonists’ bodies). That’s the big issue of “Beautiful Maria of My Soul.” There are points where Hijuelos gets so close to capturing this nuanced, insightful portrait of the identity of a woman who is repeatedly used by men, as a body and as an artistic object—which is a massively challenging task to do without falling back on stereotype. But then Hijuelos pairs these scenes with like, pages upon pages upon pages of inane and cartoonish depictions of Maria being sexy, Maria having sex, Maria thinking about sex, etc. etc. etc. I’m not as scandalized by discussion of sex in books as I think a typical Goodreads reader tends to be, but good god the number of times we hear about the protagonist’s nipples is like, about as objectifying as you can get. There is a fantastic book in here somewhere that probably a better editor could have pulled out, but as-is “Beautiful Maria of My Soul” is Hijuelos trying to have his cake and eat it too—all the soul of a insightful deconstruction of misogyny, but all the trappings of a steamy and unoriginal romance.

[Anastasiya Romashka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why use so many Spanish words? It’s absolutely useless in this book - and so annoying! First of all, if the reader doesn’t know Spanish these words don’t mean anything to them and they can’t even phonetically imagine what they sound like. These random Spanish phrases and words were some of the worst parts of the book.

Second - we get it. Maria is BEAUTIFUL! But chapter after chapter he takes up pages describing how beautiful she is. No you don’t get it - she’s really beautiful. And men want her. She’s really beautiful and stunning. Did I mention she’s really pretty and has great NALGAS?

Bad. Don’t waste your time.

[Ulla-riitta Mankki · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Cuban love story with extreme erotic tension. But now I am a bit confused. Is this story fact or fiction? The sexual scenes with Maria Garcia y Cifuentes and Nestor Castillo are described in a very detailed way. Who has given a permission for that? In the end of the book there is an argument of that between the daughter of Maria and the author himself.
I am searching the couple by google, but I don't find any real persons. If it is a fiction story, I have been cheated in a very skilful way! But it is a good story anyway.

[Mike Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one's hard to rate. There was a lot to like...and a lot of fluff. I have yet to read the original it was based on, but even so, could feel it go off the rails once it diverged from the source material. The end is salvaged somewhat by fourth-wall bursting meta moment that was so audacious, it has to be applauded

[Paula Murtagh · Rating 1 out of 5]

ABANDONED.
I expected a good book. Pulitzer Prize winning author.
This is porn. This is the 3rd time I gave up on the book and I’m done for sure. I’m halfway through and I had wanted to know what was going to happen but I’m left wondering, what was the point? If I never hear the word pinga again, I would be happy.
Zero stars. I want my time back.

[Sophia Barsuhn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ll probably write a longer review at some point. For now, I’ll say that I’m at a loss as to why this author is so lauded. This was a single step up from Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and that’s not a compliment. However, there were some so-bad-they-were-good moments that had me laughing out loud, which is more than I can say for TJR.

[Mary]

Yes, I realize this book is all about Cuba, and that they speak Spanish there. And I really wish I knew Spanish. But, given that I don't, the frequent sprinkling of Spanish words took me out of the flow of the story so often that I couldn't enjoy the story.

[Brooke Galbreath · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this. I remember Maria being a pretty shallow, one-dimensional character in The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love and this book didn't fill her out or make her any more likable for me.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book, I enjoyed it a lot. The author does a very good job painting the scenes and emotions.

[Paschalis]

elibrary