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Call Me Cassandra
From Marcial Gala, the author of the award-winning The Black Cathedral, Call Me Cassandra is a darkly magical tale of a haunted young dreamer, born in the wrong body and time, who believes himself to be a doomed prophetess from ancient Greek mythology
Ten-year-old Rauli lives in a world that is often hostile. His older brother is violent; his philandering father doesn’t understand him; his intelligence and sensitivity do not endear him to the other children at school. He loves to read, especially Greek myths, but in Cuba in the 1970s, novels and gods can be dangerous. Despite the signs that warn Rauli to repress and fear what he is, he knows three things to be true: First, that he was born in the wrong body. Second, that he will die, aged eighteen, as a soldier in the Cuban intervention in Angola. And third, that he is the reincarnation of the Trojan princess Cassandra.
Moving between Rauli’s childhood and adolescence, between the Angolan battlefield, the Cuban city of Cienfuegos, and the shores of ancient Troy, Marcial Gala’s Call Me Cassandra tells of the search for identity amid the collapse of Cuba’s utopian dreams. Burdened with knowledge of tragedies yet to come, Rauli nonetheless strives to know himself. Lyrical and gritty, heartbreaking and luminous, Rauli’s is the story of the inexorable pull of destiny.
Ten-year-old Rauli lives in a world that is often hostile. His older brother is violent; his philandering father doesn’t understand him; his intelligence and sensitivity do not endear him to the other children at school. He loves to read, especially Greek myths, but in Cuba in the 1970s, novels and gods can be dangerous. Despite the signs that warn Rauli to repress and fear what he is, he knows three things to be true: First, that he was born in the wrong body. Second, that he will die, aged eighteen, as a soldier in the Cuban intervention in Angola. And third, that he is the reincarnation of the Trojan princess Cassandra.
Moving between Rauli’s childhood and adolescence, between the Angolan battlefield, the Cuban city of Cienfuegos, and the shores of ancient Troy, Marcial Gala’s Call Me Cassandra tells of the search for identity amid the collapse of Cuba’s utopian dreams. Burdened with knowledge of tragedies yet to come, Rauli nonetheless strives to know himself. Lyrical and gritty, heartbreaking and luminous, Rauli’s is the story of the inexorable pull of destiny.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2019
49 people are currently reading
4797 people want to read
About the author
Marcial Gala
10 books60 followersMarcial Gala was born in Havana in 1965. He is a novelist, poet and architect, and is a member of UNEAC, the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. He won the Pinos Nuevos Award for short stories in 1999. LA CATEDRAL DE LOS NEGROS received the Alejo Carpentier Award for novels in 2012 and the Critics' Award for the best books published in Cuba in 2012. Gala has also won the Premio Ñ 2018 with INTENSOS COMPROMISOS CON LA NADA. He currently lives between Buenos Aires and Cienfuegos.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews
February 12, 2023
Have you seen all of those mythological retellings that seem to be all over the place right now? I have. Their covers even have a sameness to them that make me fear a uniformity to the stories. I suspect after the success of Madeline Miller’s books, a ton of writers jumped on that bandwagon and a slew of readers followed. I want to make it clear that THIS is the book you want to pick up if you seek not just a retelling of the old myths, but something refreshingly different that mixes up a bit of mythology and historical fiction using a very modern voice. Just look at that cool cover! Marcial Gala has written a devastatingly beautiful story that sets it apart from the rest.
“Everything is like that, I think, nothing and no one are as they should be.”
Raul is a young Cuban who doesn’t feel he belongs in his body; and he certainly doesn’t fit in a hostile post-revolutionary country like Cuba. He is most definitely not suited to the violent battlefields of Angola where he is sent as a soldier after finishing high school. What he does know to be true is that he is the reincarnation of the mythological Cassandra. Like Cassandra, Raul has the curse of prophecy. From the start, he predicts his own death as well as that of others. Raul is sensitive and intelligent and would be better suited studying literature at a university.
“I think that I am not here, in the violent land of Angola, I think that I have not crossed the ocean on a ship full of Russian soldiers… I think that I went to the university, where I study literature and read T.S. Eliot, I think that I am leaning out the balcony again to look at the sea.”
Structurally, this novel could have been a disaster. Written as a first-person narrative, Call Me Cassandra jumps frequently back and forth in time and place, between Raul’s childhood and young adulthood and between Cuba and Angola. Time shifts occur multiple times within just a single chapter. But Gala does this so effortlessly. It gives the reader a sense of urgency and foreboding. We feel a part of Raul’s life, remembering with him and sensing what lies ahead at the same time. There are a number of peripheral characters that play a hand in the shaping as well as the destiny of Raul. All of the time we stay grounded with Raul and see through his eyes. This makes for a wonderfully emotive reading experience – the kind I yearn to find whenever I take a chance on a book.
“I am Cassandra and I’m just passing through, I wanted to say that, but I didn’t.”
After finishing the last word, I thought for days about whether or not we truly have a hand in our own fate. Is it possible to change the course of our destiny or not? This isn’t the first time a book has asked this question, but it is one of the most creative ways it’s been presented to a contemplative reader. This is written in prose but could have been a song or a poem – it was so fluid and expressive. I loved it!
“I know that each of our fates is permanently fixed in the sky with no way out…”
“Everything is like that, I think, nothing and no one are as they should be.”
Raul is a young Cuban who doesn’t feel he belongs in his body; and he certainly doesn’t fit in a hostile post-revolutionary country like Cuba. He is most definitely not suited to the violent battlefields of Angola where he is sent as a soldier after finishing high school. What he does know to be true is that he is the reincarnation of the mythological Cassandra. Like Cassandra, Raul has the curse of prophecy. From the start, he predicts his own death as well as that of others. Raul is sensitive and intelligent and would be better suited studying literature at a university.
“I think that I am not here, in the violent land of Angola, I think that I have not crossed the ocean on a ship full of Russian soldiers… I think that I went to the university, where I study literature and read T.S. Eliot, I think that I am leaning out the balcony again to look at the sea.”
Structurally, this novel could have been a disaster. Written as a first-person narrative, Call Me Cassandra jumps frequently back and forth in time and place, between Raul’s childhood and young adulthood and between Cuba and Angola. Time shifts occur multiple times within just a single chapter. But Gala does this so effortlessly. It gives the reader a sense of urgency and foreboding. We feel a part of Raul’s life, remembering with him and sensing what lies ahead at the same time. There are a number of peripheral characters that play a hand in the shaping as well as the destiny of Raul. All of the time we stay grounded with Raul and see through his eyes. This makes for a wonderfully emotive reading experience – the kind I yearn to find whenever I take a chance on a book.
“I am Cassandra and I’m just passing through, I wanted to say that, but I didn’t.”
After finishing the last word, I thought for days about whether or not we truly have a hand in our own fate. Is it possible to change the course of our destiny or not? This isn’t the first time a book has asked this question, but it is one of the most creative ways it’s been presented to a contemplative reader. This is written in prose but could have been a song or a poem – it was so fluid and expressive. I loved it!
“I know that each of our fates is permanently fixed in the sky with no way out…”
January 22, 2023
This is just a stunning work, featuring some of the most evocative prose I've read. The tone is one of lamentation, taking fate as its starting point, and weaving a story so disarmingly beautiful that it's breathtaking. The principal character is Cassandra, of Homeric fame, reborn as Raúl in the city of Cienfuegos a decade after the Cuban Revolution. Raúl is seen as an effeminate boy, condemned to being misunderstood by family and tormented by peers, sent off to die on African soil during Cuba's involvement in the Angolan Civil War. It is a mistake, I think, to make a definitive statement about this reincarnation, whether it's real or imagined, or to affix labels onto the characters. The book is not about the experience of being trans or nonbinary per se, but rather an exploration of what it means to live a life where one's tragedy is preordained, using a character who may be trans or nonbinary or effeminate to ground that experience. The story also explores how we deal with grief and loss, using other people as a vessel for our unhappiness. In structural terms, this reads more like an epic poem than a novel, almost like an episode from The Iliad, as linear stories proceed on multiple planes at once, weaving in and out of each other like a mournful dance. Originally published in 2019 as Llámenme Casandra, Anna Kushner's translation from Marcial Gala's original is exquisite.
November 6, 2023
"Words flying, worn words, old as almond leaves that linger on in the park…"
This is the agonizing story of a predetermined death. Cassandra (Rauli) a cannon fodder, a tin soldier torn apart by intolerance, injustice, and hate. A sacrificial lamb waiting for her fate: "The Erinyes are calling, they hold out their hands and keep whispering." I am Cassandra, and I’m just passing through...her eyes an unmistakable patina of sadness.
Rarely a novel subjugated me with such strong feelings: a first-person tragic chronicle, a lament - an emotional powerhouse that left me angry and utterly overwhelmed.
This is a Greek tragedy, a litany of sorrow fixed in marble where no one can escape his fate. "All Cassandra wanted was for her soul to soar higher…to settle our debt with humanity."
…do not shed any tears for Cassandra, remember her, for she lives on!
Kudos Marcial Gala!
Magnificent translation by Anna Kushner!
PS. Cassandra was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy, bestowed by god Apollo with the gift of seeing the future but never to be believed.
This is the agonizing story of a predetermined death. Cassandra (Rauli) a cannon fodder, a tin soldier torn apart by intolerance, injustice, and hate. A sacrificial lamb waiting for her fate: "The Erinyes are calling, they hold out their hands and keep whispering." I am Cassandra, and I’m just passing through...her eyes an unmistakable patina of sadness.
Rarely a novel subjugated me with such strong feelings: a first-person tragic chronicle, a lament - an emotional powerhouse that left me angry and utterly overwhelmed.
This is a Greek tragedy, a litany of sorrow fixed in marble where no one can escape his fate. "All Cassandra wanted was for her soul to soar higher…to settle our debt with humanity."
…do not shed any tears for Cassandra, remember her, for she lives on!
Kudos Marcial Gala!
Magnificent translation by Anna Kushner!
PS. Cassandra was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy, bestowed by god Apollo with the gift of seeing the future but never to be believed.
March 18, 2022
I don't understand how something so surreal and dislocated can also feel so terribly sad. The novel is a beautiful lament, an elegy to what might have been. The narrator/author evokes the Cassandra myth in a way that is so poetic and so strong that it makes me see how Cassandra's story is the story of people's lives, that we live in a world where the most innocent and the most vulnerable among us are fatefully set on a course toward an inevitable unhappy ending. Every small happening in this novel was steeped in sadness. Somehow the unexpected wild swings back and forth through time in the novel made the story more meaningful and rich. It all fit together, a little magically. The writing is gorgeous. I was moved.
June 27, 2025
4,5*
A reinterpretação dos mitos gregos está em força na literatura actual e, claro, por cada fã, há um detetractor purista que acha tudo isso um disparate, um aproveitamento, que deviam antes estar a ler Homero e as tragédias originais se querem perceber alguma coisa da telenovela grega, perdão, da mitologia grega. Mas fora de brincadeiras, todas estas histórias são tão empolgantes como a boa ficção televisiva. Pessoalmente, acho que há espaço para Homero e quejandos bem como para todas as autoras que querem agora contar esses mitos da perspectiva feminina.
Quando eu já estiver morto, numa tarde agosto, os meus pais sentar-se-ão na sala da que foi a minha casa a pensar como é que tudo começou e ele culpará a ‘Ilíada’, um livro tão inadequado para uma criança hipersensível.
“Chamem-me Cassandra”, porém, é muito mais do que isso. É uma obra encantatória sobre identidade e disforia de género, em que o pequeno Rauli está convencido de que é a reencarnação da profetisa Cassandra, tendo, tal como ela, capacidades divinatórias, carregando o peso de ver como e quando todos à sua volta morrerão e, pior, o seu próprio fim, que é um facto assente desde o início e que apenas aguardamos pesarosamente para o ver chegar.
Apetece-me dizer-lhe (...) que olhe bem para mim porque é a última vez que me vê na vida, que em breve serei cinzas e nada terá sentido pois voltarei a ser Cassandra e que, se voltássemos a encontrar-nos noutra era, ela não me reconheceria. (...) Levam-me para Angola, sou mais um soldadinho de chumbo, sou carne para canhão.
Tal como os Estados Unidos tiverem o Vietname, uma guerra que não era sua, mas na qual empenharam a vida de milhares de soldados para combater o comunismo, Cuba sacrificou 10 mil homens no processo contrário, o de defesa desse sistema ideológico, para lutarem ao lado do MPLA contra a UNITA e os sul-africanos na guerra civil de Angola.
-Vejo mortos – digo-lhes, e não gostam. É mau ver mortos, é uma loucura, agora somos todos marxistas-leninistas, ateus, e se vês mortos é porque estás louco.
É um país de revolucionários onde o racismo é proibido mas comum, onde a homossexualidade é punida com violência ou a cadeia, onde Raúl cresceu a sentir-se diferente, porque é de facto diferente, gosta de ler e de se vestir com roupas de rapariga.
- Mas o Raúl, não é revolucionário – diz o Ariel, um rapaz quase tão pequeno e magro como eu, mas muito irrequieto – Os maricas não podem ser revolucionários.
Apesar de ser baixinho, de ter um aspecto frágil e efeminado, Raúl é enviado para combate sem se debater face à inevitabilidade do que previu.
E um coronel de traços achinesados, ao ver a minha inapelável feminilidade, me perguntou se era homossexual, neguei firmemente com a cabeça, e não só por medo das consequências, mas por saber que o meu destino era estar aqui em Angola e morrer no Velho Mundo onde tudo começou, meu Zeus, onde pela primeira vez fui Cassandra há tanto tempo.
É necessária uma certa suspensão da descrença para alinhar nesta cosmologia da Antiga Grécia transposta para a Cuba dos anos 80 e entrelaçada com a cultura dos orixás, mas se conseguirem fazê-lo, é uma leitura altamente compensadora.
Vejo Xangô, Iemanjá, Obatalá, mas também vejo Apolo, Ares, Artemísia e Atena. Somos um exército de vivos e de fantasmas que se levanta certa manhã com a alvorada.
A técnica de vaivém temporal que permite a Marcial Gala fundir presente, passado e futuro numa mesma narrativa, por vezes num mesmo parágrafo, é espantosa, e os acontecimentos apenas sugeridos num ponto e explanados mais tarde, com perguntas em suspenso durante capítulos, impressionaram-me.
Cavo sem olhar para eles. As suas palavras escorregam pela minha cabeça abaixo e não me tocam. (...) Estou a cavar o túmulo onde enterrarão o meu corpo (...) Cavo-o com o cuidado de quem esculpe uma casa de portas de carvalho e jardins invisíveis.
A reinterpretação dos mitos gregos está em força na literatura actual e, claro, por cada fã, há um detetractor purista que acha tudo isso um disparate, um aproveitamento, que deviam antes estar a ler Homero e as tragédias originais se querem perceber alguma coisa da telenovela grega, perdão, da mitologia grega. Mas fora de brincadeiras, todas estas histórias são tão empolgantes como a boa ficção televisiva. Pessoalmente, acho que há espaço para Homero e quejandos bem como para todas as autoras que querem agora contar esses mitos da perspectiva feminina.
Quando eu já estiver morto, numa tarde agosto, os meus pais sentar-se-ão na sala da que foi a minha casa a pensar como é que tudo começou e ele culpará a ‘Ilíada’, um livro tão inadequado para uma criança hipersensível.
“Chamem-me Cassandra”, porém, é muito mais do que isso. É uma obra encantatória sobre identidade e disforia de género, em que o pequeno Rauli está convencido de que é a reencarnação da profetisa Cassandra, tendo, tal como ela, capacidades divinatórias, carregando o peso de ver como e quando todos à sua volta morrerão e, pior, o seu próprio fim, que é um facto assente desde o início e que apenas aguardamos pesarosamente para o ver chegar.
Apetece-me dizer-lhe (...) que olhe bem para mim porque é a última vez que me vê na vida, que em breve serei cinzas e nada terá sentido pois voltarei a ser Cassandra e que, se voltássemos a encontrar-nos noutra era, ela não me reconheceria. (...) Levam-me para Angola, sou mais um soldadinho de chumbo, sou carne para canhão.
Tal como os Estados Unidos tiverem o Vietname, uma guerra que não era sua, mas na qual empenharam a vida de milhares de soldados para combater o comunismo, Cuba sacrificou 10 mil homens no processo contrário, o de defesa desse sistema ideológico, para lutarem ao lado do MPLA contra a UNITA e os sul-africanos na guerra civil de Angola.
-Vejo mortos – digo-lhes, e não gostam. É mau ver mortos, é uma loucura, agora somos todos marxistas-leninistas, ateus, e se vês mortos é porque estás louco.
É um país de revolucionários onde o racismo é proibido mas comum, onde a homossexualidade é punida com violência ou a cadeia, onde Raúl cresceu a sentir-se diferente, porque é de facto diferente, gosta de ler e de se vestir com roupas de rapariga.
- Mas o Raúl, não é revolucionário – diz o Ariel, um rapaz quase tão pequeno e magro como eu, mas muito irrequieto – Os maricas não podem ser revolucionários.
Apesar de ser baixinho, de ter um aspecto frágil e efeminado, Raúl é enviado para combate sem se debater face à inevitabilidade do que previu.
E um coronel de traços achinesados, ao ver a minha inapelável feminilidade, me perguntou se era homossexual, neguei firmemente com a cabeça, e não só por medo das consequências, mas por saber que o meu destino era estar aqui em Angola e morrer no Velho Mundo onde tudo começou, meu Zeus, onde pela primeira vez fui Cassandra há tanto tempo.
É necessária uma certa suspensão da descrença para alinhar nesta cosmologia da Antiga Grécia transposta para a Cuba dos anos 80 e entrelaçada com a cultura dos orixás, mas se conseguirem fazê-lo, é uma leitura altamente compensadora.
Vejo Xangô, Iemanjá, Obatalá, mas também vejo Apolo, Ares, Artemísia e Atena. Somos um exército de vivos e de fantasmas que se levanta certa manhã com a alvorada.
A técnica de vaivém temporal que permite a Marcial Gala fundir presente, passado e futuro numa mesma narrativa, por vezes num mesmo parágrafo, é espantosa, e os acontecimentos apenas sugeridos num ponto e explanados mais tarde, com perguntas em suspenso durante capítulos, impressionaram-me.
Cavo sem olhar para eles. As suas palavras escorregam pela minha cabeça abaixo e não me tocam. (...) Estou a cavar o túmulo onde enterrarão o meu corpo (...) Cavo-o com o cuidado de quem esculpe uma casa de portas de carvalho e jardins invisíveis.
January 17, 2023
Listen, guys, I know close to nothing about Greek mythology and I’m even a bit ashamed to admit I had no idea about the past “relationship” between Cuba and Angola. Also, I’ll have to say that as far as I’m concerned, and as a sucker for realistic fiction, the whole idea behind this novel should’ve been enough to “make the boat sink before leaving the harbour”.
I say “should’ve” because, thank Zeus, that was not the case, and this turned out to be, not only one of the most truthful stories I’ve ever read, but also one of the most subtle, beautiful and moving pieces of writing I came across in my now long quest for the most stunning novel ever written.
We are but shadows set on the canvas of this life , and that’s okay.
Perfect.
I say “should’ve” because, thank Zeus, that was not the case, and this turned out to be, not only one of the most truthful stories I’ve ever read, but also one of the most subtle, beautiful and moving pieces of writing I came across in my now long quest for the most stunning novel ever written.
We are but shadows set on the canvas of this life , and that’s okay.
Perfect.
June 27, 2024
This was an exceptional book. Blending the Greek classic The Iliad with Cuba’s intervention in Angola Marcial Gala and translator Anna Kushner tell the story of Rauli, a slightly built effeminate boy, trying to survive in the machismo culture of 1970s Cuba and then the military. Rauli is fair skinned with blond hair and blue eyes, he is sensitive, intelligent, and loves books, especially The Iliad. His gentle nature repels his father and older brother and draws the attention of closeted homosexuals, but Rauli seems to be a dispassionate observer in his own life.
Rauli believes that his life is such because he is Cassandra, daughter of Priam and Hecuba. Like Cassandra, Rauli is pretty and chaste, like Cassandra he is given the gift of foresight and he can see the dead, but like Cassandra, no one takes him seriously. Rauli moves through life with Athena’s guidance and Apollo’s disdain, he remembers the fall of Troy, and he knows that he will die and that his body will stay in the old world.
An exploration of identity, fate, and toxic masculinity with exceptional writing that gives the book, even the most brutal passages, a dream like quality. I loved this book and I highly recommend it.
Rauli believes that his life is such because he is Cassandra, daughter of Priam and Hecuba. Like Cassandra, Rauli is pretty and chaste, like Cassandra he is given the gift of foresight and he can see the dead, but like Cassandra, no one takes him seriously. Rauli moves through life with Athena’s guidance and Apollo’s disdain, he remembers the fall of Troy, and he knows that he will die and that his body will stay in the old world.
An exploration of identity, fate, and toxic masculinity with exceptional writing that gives the book, even the most brutal passages, a dream like quality. I loved this book and I highly recommend it.
December 28, 2021
Marciel Gala's Call Me Cassandra is so utterly new and unexpected that it forces the reader to ask "how on Earth did Gala come up with this?"
Cassandra is actually Raúl, born physiologically male in post-revolutionary Cuba. Their "femininity" means they're bullied at school by classmates and at home by their father and brother. Their mother likes to pretend they're her sister Nancy, killed by cancer. Their favorite pastime is reading, and many of the classics they read are considered counterrevolutionary, which complicates their life even further.
At some point, they realize they are not Raúl, but Cassandra: the Cassandra of the Iliad and the Trojan War, the prophetess condemned to be disbelieved by everyone and to witness the destruction of her nation. Cassandra dresses as female, goes out dancing—and sees the future.
As Raúl, Cassandra joins the military (just barely meeting the physical requirements) and becomes one of the Cuban soldiers fighting in Angola. Raúl is called "Marilyn Monroe" by their fellow enlisted and "Olivia Newton-John" by their Captain, who dresses Raúl as his wife and forces Raúl to engage in sex acts. Cassandra sees the dead inhabiting the land where her unit is stationed and knows that she will soon be joining them when the Captain shoots her to prevent the spread of rumors that could sully his military record.
See what I mean? How on Earth did Gala come up with this? But it works!
The experience of reading the book is less confusing than my summary above might indicate. Cassandra is certain of her identity and explains herself to readers gradually, so that her complexity becomes clearer across the course of the novel.
Readers may want to do some quick online reading about the Cassandra of the Trojan War and the Cuban role in Angola, but no burdensome research is required; a Wikipedia article or two will do the trick. Having this information fresh in one's mind makes the parallels with the original Cassandra story clearer.
Call Me Cassandra offers a dark read. It's not for those who like their stories lighthearted with happy endings. But if you like reading tragedy—and I very much do—Call Me Cassandra offers a complex experience with a great many opportunities for reflecting on belief/disbelief, how political ideologies are manifested in daily life, and on a tale that has been capturing human imaginations for millennia.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
Cassandra is actually Raúl, born physiologically male in post-revolutionary Cuba. Their "femininity" means they're bullied at school by classmates and at home by their father and brother. Their mother likes to pretend they're her sister Nancy, killed by cancer. Their favorite pastime is reading, and many of the classics they read are considered counterrevolutionary, which complicates their life even further.
At some point, they realize they are not Raúl, but Cassandra: the Cassandra of the Iliad and the Trojan War, the prophetess condemned to be disbelieved by everyone and to witness the destruction of her nation. Cassandra dresses as female, goes out dancing—and sees the future.
As Raúl, Cassandra joins the military (just barely meeting the physical requirements) and becomes one of the Cuban soldiers fighting in Angola. Raúl is called "Marilyn Monroe" by their fellow enlisted and "Olivia Newton-John" by their Captain, who dresses Raúl as his wife and forces Raúl to engage in sex acts. Cassandra sees the dead inhabiting the land where her unit is stationed and knows that she will soon be joining them when the Captain shoots her to prevent the spread of rumors that could sully his military record.
See what I mean? How on Earth did Gala come up with this? But it works!
The experience of reading the book is less confusing than my summary above might indicate. Cassandra is certain of her identity and explains herself to readers gradually, so that her complexity becomes clearer across the course of the novel.
Readers may want to do some quick online reading about the Cassandra of the Trojan War and the Cuban role in Angola, but no burdensome research is required; a Wikipedia article or two will do the trick. Having this information fresh in one's mind makes the parallels with the original Cassandra story clearer.
Call Me Cassandra offers a dark read. It's not for those who like their stories lighthearted with happy endings. But if you like reading tragedy—and I very much do—Call Me Cassandra offers a complex experience with a great many opportunities for reflecting on belief/disbelief, how political ideologies are manifested in daily life, and on a tale that has been capturing human imaginations for millennia.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
June 27, 2025
Somos meras sombras fixas na tela desta vida, meu Zeus...
Aos 10 anos, Rauli destaca-se pela sua singularidade em relação às outras crianças. Ele é de natureza efeminada, nutre uma paixão pelos livros, aprecia o uso de vestidos e possui três convicções inabaláveis na sua existência:
O seu corpo não corresponde à sua verdadeira essência.
O destino aguarda-o, levando-o à morte aos dezanove anos.
Meu Zeus, tenho plena consciência de que partirei deste mundo aos dezanove anos, longe de Cienfuegos, aqui em Angola.
Identifica-se como a reencarnação da princesa troiana Cassandra.
Sou Cassandra e, se revelasse aquilo que sei, ninguém acreditaria...
Rauli enfrenta uma realidade hostil, onde o irmão é violento, o pai demonstra comportamento violento e promíscuo, e os colegas da escola rejeitam rapazes que sejam diferentes. Para a mãe, Rauli é a materialização do espírito da sua falecida irmã Nancy. Já na escola, ele é apelidado de "Sem Ossos". Para o capitão do seu regimento em Angola, Rauli se assemelha tanto à esposa Katerina, que permanece em Holguín, que chega a impressionar. Para seus companheiros de armas, ele é Marilyn Monroe, Wendy, Olivia Newton-John... ele maricas.
Entretanto, para Atena, Apolo, Ulisses, Aquiles e até para aquele leopardo oculto entre as árvores, nas noites quentes de Angola, Rauli é reconhecido como Cassandra.
Deuses, destino e violência são elementos intrínsecos à sua existência.
É através dos olhos de Rauli que vemos Príamo, Helena, Heitor, Ájax, Telamónio, os mirmidões e um gigantesco cavalo de madeira atravessar as muralhas de Troia.
No entanto, também testemunhamos episódios da guerra em Angola, assim como o destino dos soldados ao lado de Rauli, vestindo os uniformes das FAPLA.
Morrerá daqui a uma semana, eu sei, mas não digo nada...
Também desvendamos o destino do irmão de Rauli, dos seus pais e o seu próprio destino. Rauli possui clareza quanto ao seu desfecho.
Sempre acreditei que o meu irmão acabaria por matar a família, que um dia apareceríamos apunhalados nas camas, acreditei nisto até ter a revelação de como morreríamos todos e de que eu morreria aqui em África, nas fronteiras do Velho Mundo, de certa forma seria um regresso a Ílion, onde os velhos deuses estariam à minha espera, e também os fantasmas dos meus amantes Agamémnon e Ájax, o que nunca devia ter-me arrancado da estátua de Atena quando me abracei a ela, Ájax, o que levou à força o que eu lhe teria dado de bom grado e que me apareceu ao longe assim que desembarquei aqui em Angola, difuso sob a luz de África, para me dizer:
— Ó Cassandra, filha de Príamo, voltaste.
Marcial Gala possui uma escrita exímia, demonstrando habilidade no uso da linguagem, a qual frequentemente se revela lírica, evocativa e repleta de imagens vívidas. No entanto, senti falta de uma maior complexidade nas interações de Rauli com algumas personagens.
Aos 10 anos, Rauli destaca-se pela sua singularidade em relação às outras crianças. Ele é de natureza efeminada, nutre uma paixão pelos livros, aprecia o uso de vestidos e possui três convicções inabaláveis na sua existência:
O seu corpo não corresponde à sua verdadeira essência.
O destino aguarda-o, levando-o à morte aos dezanove anos.
Meu Zeus, tenho plena consciência de que partirei deste mundo aos dezanove anos, longe de Cienfuegos, aqui em Angola.
Identifica-se como a reencarnação da princesa troiana Cassandra.
Sou Cassandra e, se revelasse aquilo que sei, ninguém acreditaria...
Rauli enfrenta uma realidade hostil, onde o irmão é violento, o pai demonstra comportamento violento e promíscuo, e os colegas da escola rejeitam rapazes que sejam diferentes. Para a mãe, Rauli é a materialização do espírito da sua falecida irmã Nancy. Já na escola, ele é apelidado de "Sem Ossos". Para o capitão do seu regimento em Angola, Rauli se assemelha tanto à esposa Katerina, que permanece em Holguín, que chega a impressionar. Para seus companheiros de armas, ele é Marilyn Monroe, Wendy, Olivia Newton-John... ele maricas.
Entretanto, para Atena, Apolo, Ulisses, Aquiles e até para aquele leopardo oculto entre as árvores, nas noites quentes de Angola, Rauli é reconhecido como Cassandra.
Deuses, destino e violência são elementos intrínsecos à sua existência.
É através dos olhos de Rauli que vemos Príamo, Helena, Heitor, Ájax, Telamónio, os mirmidões e um gigantesco cavalo de madeira atravessar as muralhas de Troia.
No entanto, também testemunhamos episódios da guerra em Angola, assim como o destino dos soldados ao lado de Rauli, vestindo os uniformes das FAPLA.
Morrerá daqui a uma semana, eu sei, mas não digo nada...
Também desvendamos o destino do irmão de Rauli, dos seus pais e o seu próprio destino. Rauli possui clareza quanto ao seu desfecho.
Sempre acreditei que o meu irmão acabaria por matar a família, que um dia apareceríamos apunhalados nas camas, acreditei nisto até ter a revelação de como morreríamos todos e de que eu morreria aqui em África, nas fronteiras do Velho Mundo, de certa forma seria um regresso a Ílion, onde os velhos deuses estariam à minha espera, e também os fantasmas dos meus amantes Agamémnon e Ájax, o que nunca devia ter-me arrancado da estátua de Atena quando me abracei a ela, Ájax, o que levou à força o que eu lhe teria dado de bom grado e que me apareceu ao longe assim que desembarquei aqui em Angola, difuso sob a luz de África, para me dizer:
— Ó Cassandra, filha de Príamo, voltaste.
Marcial Gala possui uma escrita exímia, demonstrando habilidade no uso da linguagem, a qual frequentemente se revela lírica, evocativa e repleta de imagens vívidas. No entanto, senti falta de uma maior complexidade nas interações de Rauli com algumas personagens.
January 19, 2023
“We have seen ten years of war and in the eleventh year, Ilios will fall. I know it, it’s branded with iron on the back of time and there’s nothing to be done about it anymore.”
Do y’all remember that episode of Supernatural, maybe season one or two, where we are first introduced to the concept of a crossroads demon? I can’t remember all the details, something about Mississippi, Dean’s cheekbones and an architect dead under mysterious circumstances. What I do remember is that the boys do a brief dive into the lives of a handful of people, all of whom at their most desperate made devil deals a decade ago. Money, talent, power, the usual. Now their contracts have expired, and their final days are spent in agony as they wait for the hellhounds to come for them, where they will then be ripped to shreds and sent to the underworld. That phenomenon, of knowing that some excruciating end is near and there is nothing to be done about it, that it is as inevitable as taxes and sundown and no one will be coming to help you, is the founding principle of Call Me Cassandra. The hellhounds are invisible to everyone except who they hunt, so even if you tried to confide in your wife about all the snarling and scratching that’s been haunting you for days, she hears nothing and you sound crazy. In Call Me Cassandra, the Trojan princess is reincarnated as a young Cuban boy in the 1970s.
Imagine the agony. You’re twelve years old and sitting in your unmade room. A cricket crawls across the hardwood and all you want is to be left alone but instead you are bombarded by the sounds of outside traffic and the residual of your parents' last argument. Being young is hard enough, never mind the fact that every time you blink you see in vivid color precisely how and when this will all end. Your brother's motorcycle accident, your fathers other family, your own final breaths, none are a mystery to you. You haven’t been wrong yet.
But as Apollo promised, no one will believe you. You are Rauli, a quiet, gentle boy who reads big books on the playground and likes his hair long. You are also the cursed Cassandra. Memories of ancient Troy mix with your current encounters in 1970’s Cuba, and “it’s unraveling, it’s unraveling, it’s unraveling.”
I would love to say that I cannot imagine the frustration of being ignored and talked down to and called crazy constantly, but I’m a daughter with a father. So I absolutely get it.
A story about loneliness and grief. Many beloved people are lost in this novel. And their loved ones; their husbands and sisters and fellow soldiers, turn towards our protagonist. What begins as a wish to be held, a need for comfort and familiarity, quickly sours. Rauli is wise and sensitive and it makes him vulnerable. His tender, knowing nature is mistaken for malleability. People make him into whatever they need him to be, demanding that he fill these now empty roles. But being a stand-in is a painful, confusing existence. One minute you are showered in adoration and tearful praise, the next you are punished for the small but distinguishable differences between you and the character you play. It’s a synthetic exchange and nobody wins. Because of the body he is in, his youth and small stature and aforementioned temperament, he lives at the whim of the adults who surround him. Adults who value their pleasure and access to power above all else, who rarely if ever have his best interest at heart. From ancient Troy to the elementary playground to the Angolan military base, abuse and exploitation seem to always follow our prophets.
A story of toxic masculinity and anti-Blackness and the suffocating, short-sighted existence that bigotry creates for its disciples. So much potential is wasted. So much harm is done.
Poetic, painful and entirely it’s own, Call Me Cassandra by Marcial Gala is a must read for anyone who favors tragedies.
*TW for literally everything. Not for the sensitive or squeamish.*
“In his dark, golden eyes there is a resentment that goes beyond the life we’re currently living.”
Do y’all remember that episode of Supernatural, maybe season one or two, where we are first introduced to the concept of a crossroads demon? I can’t remember all the details, something about Mississippi, Dean’s cheekbones and an architect dead under mysterious circumstances. What I do remember is that the boys do a brief dive into the lives of a handful of people, all of whom at their most desperate made devil deals a decade ago. Money, talent, power, the usual. Now their contracts have expired, and their final days are spent in agony as they wait for the hellhounds to come for them, where they will then be ripped to shreds and sent to the underworld. That phenomenon, of knowing that some excruciating end is near and there is nothing to be done about it, that it is as inevitable as taxes and sundown and no one will be coming to help you, is the founding principle of Call Me Cassandra. The hellhounds are invisible to everyone except who they hunt, so even if you tried to confide in your wife about all the snarling and scratching that’s been haunting you for days, she hears nothing and you sound crazy. In Call Me Cassandra, the Trojan princess is reincarnated as a young Cuban boy in the 1970s.
Imagine the agony. You’re twelve years old and sitting in your unmade room. A cricket crawls across the hardwood and all you want is to be left alone but instead you are bombarded by the sounds of outside traffic and the residual of your parents' last argument. Being young is hard enough, never mind the fact that every time you blink you see in vivid color precisely how and when this will all end. Your brother's motorcycle accident, your fathers other family, your own final breaths, none are a mystery to you. You haven’t been wrong yet.
But as Apollo promised, no one will believe you. You are Rauli, a quiet, gentle boy who reads big books on the playground and likes his hair long. You are also the cursed Cassandra. Memories of ancient Troy mix with your current encounters in 1970’s Cuba, and “it’s unraveling, it’s unraveling, it’s unraveling.”
I would love to say that I cannot imagine the frustration of being ignored and talked down to and called crazy constantly, but I’m a daughter with a father. So I absolutely get it.
A story about loneliness and grief. Many beloved people are lost in this novel. And their loved ones; their husbands and sisters and fellow soldiers, turn towards our protagonist. What begins as a wish to be held, a need for comfort and familiarity, quickly sours. Rauli is wise and sensitive and it makes him vulnerable. His tender, knowing nature is mistaken for malleability. People make him into whatever they need him to be, demanding that he fill these now empty roles. But being a stand-in is a painful, confusing existence. One minute you are showered in adoration and tearful praise, the next you are punished for the small but distinguishable differences between you and the character you play. It’s a synthetic exchange and nobody wins. Because of the body he is in, his youth and small stature and aforementioned temperament, he lives at the whim of the adults who surround him. Adults who value their pleasure and access to power above all else, who rarely if ever have his best interest at heart. From ancient Troy to the elementary playground to the Angolan military base, abuse and exploitation seem to always follow our prophets.
A story of toxic masculinity and anti-Blackness and the suffocating, short-sighted existence that bigotry creates for its disciples. So much potential is wasted. So much harm is done.
Poetic, painful and entirely it’s own, Call Me Cassandra by Marcial Gala is a must read for anyone who favors tragedies.
*TW for literally everything. Not for the sensitive or squeamish.*
“In his dark, golden eyes there is a resentment that goes beyond the life we’re currently living.”
April 22, 2023
I feel like I don't want to be this Raul, I want to be Cassandra, not Raul. I don't want them to call me Spineless at school, I don't want my mother to call me Rauli, I want to spend a long time watching the sea, until the sea runs out before my eyes and becomes nothing more than a white line that makes my eyes tear up. I'm in Cienfuegos, I'm not yet a little pretend soldier here in Angola where it never rains, the captain still hasn't called me over to his tent to tell me, "Take off your clothes, we're going to play a game you'll like."
Call Me Cassandra (2022) is Anna Kushner's translation of Marcial Gala's original Llámenme Casandra (2019).
I came to this book because it was recommended by so many of my Goodreads friends from the Mookse and Gripes Forum as one of the best books of 2022 and it didn't disappoint.
We will hear the dead again, will hear them fluttering over our heads like reckless birds but the others can't see them clearly, only I can hear them, I out of everyone in our unit, I see them look at me as they turn in their endless Whirlwind, Achilles close to Heracles with his cudgel, Heracles close to the great Zulu king Shaka and a Napoleonic general whose eyes teared up when he heard that part about soldiers, from these walls, three hundred centuries watch over us, the general alongside a young Bantu warrior who preferred death to becoming a slave, he swallowed his own tongue in front of the Portuguese who were already dragging him to the boat that would take him to the Americas, King Shaka by Ajax Telamonius, Ajax Telamonius by Ajax of Locride, Ajax of Locride by an Egyptian pharaoh, Kheops by a Woman raped by the South Africans, a beautiful woman who looks at me with sad eyes, that woman standing by my brother Hector who doesn't answer me when I call to him without opening my mouth, I call to my brother Hector solely with my eyes as he leaves, hanging his head in shame for not having known how to protect Ilios.
Call Me Cassandra (2022) is Anna Kushner's translation of Marcial Gala's original Llámenme Casandra (2019).
I came to this book because it was recommended by so many of my Goodreads friends from the Mookse and Gripes Forum as one of the best books of 2022 and it didn't disappoint.
We will hear the dead again, will hear them fluttering over our heads like reckless birds but the others can't see them clearly, only I can hear them, I out of everyone in our unit, I see them look at me as they turn in their endless Whirlwind, Achilles close to Heracles with his cudgel, Heracles close to the great Zulu king Shaka and a Napoleonic general whose eyes teared up when he heard that part about soldiers, from these walls, three hundred centuries watch over us, the general alongside a young Bantu warrior who preferred death to becoming a slave, he swallowed his own tongue in front of the Portuguese who were already dragging him to the boat that would take him to the Americas, King Shaka by Ajax Telamonius, Ajax Telamonius by Ajax of Locride, Ajax of Locride by an Egyptian pharaoh, Kheops by a Woman raped by the South Africans, a beautiful woman who looks at me with sad eyes, that woman standing by my brother Hector who doesn't answer me when I call to him without opening my mouth, I call to my brother Hector solely with my eyes as he leaves, hanging his head in shame for not having known how to protect Ilios.
June 2, 2022
It's a thing of (brutal) beauty.
Raul, a young Cuban in the 1970s, is the reincarnation of the ancient Greek prophet Cassandra of Troy, doomed to see the future and all related consequences, but believed by no one.
Told in a time-fluid first-person narration, in one moment, Cassandra is warning her fellow Trojans against War with the Achaeans (e.g. The Iliad), in the next Raul, as a young Cuban soldier, sent to Angola for the Cold War-era proxy war, or conversing with Athena and Apollo.
Raul, like Cassandra, knows the fate of every person, including themselves; and thereby so do we as the reader. In awe of Gala's concept and putting such a story to page, and Kushner's translation here - tenses, times shifting from sentence to sentence.
Unexpected, devastating, and impeccable.
It's one of the most unique stories I've ever come across and will not be forgotten.
Raul, a young Cuban in the 1970s, is the reincarnation of the ancient Greek prophet Cassandra of Troy, doomed to see the future and all related consequences, but believed by no one.
Told in a time-fluid first-person narration, in one moment, Cassandra is warning her fellow Trojans against War with the Achaeans (e.g. The Iliad), in the next Raul, as a young Cuban soldier, sent to Angola for the Cold War-era proxy war, or conversing with Athena and Apollo.
Raul, like Cassandra, knows the fate of every person, including themselves; and thereby so do we as the reader. In awe of Gala's concept and putting such a story to page, and Kushner's translation here - tenses, times shifting from sentence to sentence.
Unexpected, devastating, and impeccable.
It's one of the most unique stories I've ever come across and will not be forgotten.
March 21, 2023
Atípico. Não pela linguagem que é delicada e elegante ou pela fluidez da escrita com capítulos curtos mas porque o narrador é um jovem cubano transgénero que foi combater para Angola, sabendo o que o espera. Chamem-me Cassandra é quem foi. E se se espera um romance que se centre apenas nesta peculiaridade não acontece.
Poderia ser uma grande confusão com os saltos no tempo e no espaço de Cuba a Angola e a mudança de registo quando recupera o mito mas é trágico, belo e comovente, sem perder o prumo e o rumo e sem se impedir de fazer o enquadramento histórico. Os preconceitos e os abusos não faltam. A violência também não. E as pessoas... Vulneráveis. Presságio de Raúl Iriarte/Cassandra.
Poderia ser uma grande confusão com os saltos no tempo e no espaço de Cuba a Angola e a mudança de registo quando recupera o mito mas é trágico, belo e comovente, sem perder o prumo e o rumo e sem se impedir de fazer o enquadramento histórico. Os preconceitos e os abusos não faltam. A violência também não. E as pessoas... Vulneráveis. Presságio de Raúl Iriarte/Cassandra.
February 7, 2022
Gala’s latest book translated into English is an eloquent testament to the power of story-telling as this tale hauntingly explores identity against cultural expectations.
Raul, a slightly built effeminate 10-year-old who enjoys reading the classics, living in Cienfuegos, Cuba is tired of being bullied, declares he wants to be Cassandra. The reader quickly learns that Raul/Cassandra knows he will die at age 19 while “fighting” in Angola. After, all Cassandra, the Greek prophetess, could state the future, but no one will believe her.
In a non-linear manner this smooth following narrative moves between Cienfuegos, the Trojan War, and the Angolan battlefields. Growing up Raul does not know peace as his violent older brother wants him to continue in his footsteps, and his philandering father wants him to be more like his older brother, and to console his grieving mother dressing like a girl pretends to be her dead sister. Just barely making being accepted by the Cuban army, Raul/Cassandra becomes part of the 1975 Cuban contingent being sent to fight in the liberation of Angola.
I enjoyed the mash-up of Greek and African mythology and deities in this coming-of-age tale.
Translator Anna Kushner does a flawless job with this disquieting tale that in turns is a gut-puncher and a lyrical sanctuary.
Overall, this is an inventive page-turner that uniquely and cleverly looks at gender identity cruelty when expectations are not met.
This is my second book book by the Gala and I am definitely looking forward to any future works.
Raul, a slightly built effeminate 10-year-old who enjoys reading the classics, living in Cienfuegos, Cuba is tired of being bullied, declares he wants to be Cassandra. The reader quickly learns that Raul/Cassandra knows he will die at age 19 while “fighting” in Angola. After, all Cassandra, the Greek prophetess, could state the future, but no one will believe her.
In a non-linear manner this smooth following narrative moves between Cienfuegos, the Trojan War, and the Angolan battlefields. Growing up Raul does not know peace as his violent older brother wants him to continue in his footsteps, and his philandering father wants him to be more like his older brother, and to console his grieving mother dressing like a girl pretends to be her dead sister. Just barely making being accepted by the Cuban army, Raul/Cassandra becomes part of the 1975 Cuban contingent being sent to fight in the liberation of Angola.
I enjoyed the mash-up of Greek and African mythology and deities in this coming-of-age tale.
Translator Anna Kushner does a flawless job with this disquieting tale that in turns is a gut-puncher and a lyrical sanctuary.
Overall, this is an inventive page-turner that uniquely and cleverly looks at gender identity cruelty when expectations are not met.
This is my second book book by the Gala and I am definitely looking forward to any future works.
February 21, 2023
Comentário publicado aqui: https://www.instagram.com/p/Co7nySiso...
April 3, 2023
É uma história linda, de uma sensibilidade espantosa. A personagem principal é trans e assexuada, identidades que raramente encontram representação na literatura. A escrita é cuidada e poética.
No entanto achei que as múltiplas referências a nomes (de músicas, artistas, escritores, deuses, episódios da mitologia, referências de guerra, políticas…) me distraíram muito do protagonista.
Não obstante, recomendo muito a leitura e estou apaixonado pelo Rauli…
No entanto achei que as múltiplas referências a nomes (de músicas, artistas, escritores, deuses, episódios da mitologia, referências de guerra, políticas…) me distraíram muito do protagonista.
Não obstante, recomendo muito a leitura e estou apaixonado pelo Rauli…
July 16, 2023
Eu não tenho futuro, sou uma árvore de raízes na areia..."
Em 1975, Cuba enviou tropas para apoiar o MPLA na guerra civil de Angola contra a UNITA.
Este é o pano de fundo deste Chamem-me Cassandra que nos conta a história de Raul, nascido na cidade portuária de Cienfuegos em Cuba. Raul acredita que é a reencarnação de Cassandra, uma sacerdotisa do deus Apolo, que possuía o dom de ver o futuro, mas em quem ninguém acreditava.
Raul sempre foi um menino diferente dos outros, inteligente, timido, franzino para a idade e muito bonito, adora ler e tem um amor desenfreado pela mitologia grega e conhece de cor a Ilíada. Mas a Cuba dos anos 70 e 80 não admite estas paixões e ele é tratado pelos colegas de escola, pelo irmão mais velho e até pelo pai com escárnio e desprezo.
Na adolescência Raul é chamado para se juntar ao exército cubano e partir para Angola, mas os companheiros de luta o humilham, acham que ele é efeminado e demasiado frágil e é alvo de humilhações, violência e abusos constantes.
Este é um romance sobre a busca de identidade, sobre o sofrimento de se nascer no corpo errado e de tentar cortar as amarras que nos guiam a um destino que não queremos. Marcial Gala transmite numa escrita soberba, elegante e por vezes poética as diferentes realidades de Raul e permite-nos uma visão fascinante dos seus pensamentos mais íntimos.
Em 1975, Cuba enviou tropas para apoiar o MPLA na guerra civil de Angola contra a UNITA.
Este é o pano de fundo deste Chamem-me Cassandra que nos conta a história de Raul, nascido na cidade portuária de Cienfuegos em Cuba. Raul acredita que é a reencarnação de Cassandra, uma sacerdotisa do deus Apolo, que possuía o dom de ver o futuro, mas em quem ninguém acreditava.
Raul sempre foi um menino diferente dos outros, inteligente, timido, franzino para a idade e muito bonito, adora ler e tem um amor desenfreado pela mitologia grega e conhece de cor a Ilíada. Mas a Cuba dos anos 70 e 80 não admite estas paixões e ele é tratado pelos colegas de escola, pelo irmão mais velho e até pelo pai com escárnio e desprezo.
Na adolescência Raul é chamado para se juntar ao exército cubano e partir para Angola, mas os companheiros de luta o humilham, acham que ele é efeminado e demasiado frágil e é alvo de humilhações, violência e abusos constantes.
Este é um romance sobre a busca de identidade, sobre o sofrimento de se nascer no corpo errado e de tentar cortar as amarras que nos guiam a um destino que não queremos. Marcial Gala transmite numa escrita soberba, elegante e por vezes poética as diferentes realidades de Raul e permite-nos uma visão fascinante dos seus pensamentos mais íntimos.
July 23, 2025
3,5
Literariamente, senti que os três planos simultâneos são excessivos. Fiquei com a sensação que o autor quis dar uma justificação trágica e mitológica para a personagem de Raul ser tão diferente e se identificar com uma mulher.
Cassandra teria feito mais sentido para mim, se Raul esperneasse um pouco mais, se, mesmo sabendo do desfecho trágico de Ilion, gritasse aos ouvidos de Príamo para que devolvesse Helena aos Aqueus.
Cassandra teria cuspido na cara do capitão Agamémnon. Teria sido aconselhada por um Apolo em fúria, contra Atena e Poseidon.
Ou então, Raul seria um rapaz com cara de menina loura, arrebatada pelas mãos de um Páris desvairado. Seria Helena e não Cassandra.
Historicamente, gostei muito dos planos cubano e angolano (embora precisasse de mais contexto político e menos cenas de capitães a abusarem de Raul) e gostei especialmente da forma como o autor nos mostra a desprezível homofobia do regime castrista (lembrou-me muito o livro de Reinaldo Arenas).
Portanto, embora eu AME a Ilíada e a mitologia grega, acho que esta mistura não favoreceu a minha experiência de leitura, porque só pensava num Raul muito pouco credível enquanto personagem que encorpora um soldado cubano e uma sacerdotisa de Apolo.
É um problema meu, porque Cassandra, tal como todas as Troianas, são muito sagradas para mim. Embora tenha Atena desenhada nas minhas costas, e Atena tivesse sido totalmente favorável aos Aqueus.
A vida está cheia de contradições.
Literariamente, senti que os três planos simultâneos são excessivos. Fiquei com a sensação que o autor quis dar uma justificação trágica e mitológica para a personagem de Raul ser tão diferente e se identificar com uma mulher.
Cassandra teria feito mais sentido para mim, se Raul esperneasse um pouco mais, se, mesmo sabendo do desfecho trágico de Ilion, gritasse aos ouvidos de Príamo para que devolvesse Helena aos Aqueus.
Cassandra teria cuspido na cara do capitão Agamémnon. Teria sido aconselhada por um Apolo em fúria, contra Atena e Poseidon.
Ou então, Raul seria um rapaz com cara de menina loura, arrebatada pelas mãos de um Páris desvairado. Seria Helena e não Cassandra.
Historicamente, gostei muito dos planos cubano e angolano (embora precisasse de mais contexto político e menos cenas de capitães a abusarem de Raul) e gostei especialmente da forma como o autor nos mostra a desprezível homofobia do regime castrista (lembrou-me muito o livro de Reinaldo Arenas).
Portanto, embora eu AME a Ilíada e a mitologia grega, acho que esta mistura não favoreceu a minha experiência de leitura, porque só pensava num Raul muito pouco credível enquanto personagem que encorpora um soldado cubano e uma sacerdotisa de Apolo.
É um problema meu, porque Cassandra, tal como todas as Troianas, são muito sagradas para mim. Embora tenha Atena desenhada nas minhas costas, e Atena tivesse sido totalmente favorável aos Aqueus.
A vida está cheia de contradições.
November 14, 2022
Effeminate and bookish, 10 year old Rauli grows up in a Cuba suppressed by Fidel Castro. His drunken father and violent older brother enforce a gender stereotype from which he rebels; he prefers to wear dresses in a culture that prizes machismo. At times lost in a dreamworld, he sees himself as Cassandra, the Trojan princess of Apollo, cursed to utter true prophecies. He, or she, can see the demise of those around him, and indeed himself, as a young soldier in Angola, where he is dispatched to as part of a Cuban Intervention at the age of 17.
Its a cracking premise, but as often when such a summary is so enticing, the wider plot falls flat, as here, where not a lot else happens. The real pleasure in the novel is Gala's stylish prose, reliant of course on Kushner as translator, the combination of which convey Rauli's world so well; unsure what is fantasy and what is reality.
Its a cracking premise, but as often when such a summary is so enticing, the wider plot falls flat, as here, where not a lot else happens. The real pleasure in the novel is Gala's stylish prose, reliant of course on Kushner as translator, the combination of which convey Rauli's world so well; unsure what is fantasy and what is reality.
February 28, 2024
Cassandra, figlia di Priamo, la profetessa inascoltata subisce un ulteriore castigo: ciclicamente e tramite metempsicosi sarà sempre consapevole di stare per morire e in maniera violenta. In questo caso la sua anima si fonde a quella di Raul, ragazzo dai tratti androgini che ricordano quelli di sua zia Nancy, scomparsa prematuramente. Sa già cosa lo aspetta: arruolarsi in Angola per portare alto l’onore cubano e lì conoscerà il capitano del reggimento, che nota un’incredibile somiglianza con la moglie lontana da dove si trovano adesso e questa sarà la sua croce e rovina.
Sospeso tra epicità e inquietudine, sullo sfondo di un mosaico storico e psicologico sapientemente ricostruito - quello di Cuba negli anni ’70 e ’80 - leggiamo le vicissitudini di Raul\Cassandra che si ritrova a metà tra un’esistenza passata, che affonda le radici nelle vicende narrate nell’Iliade omerica, e un presente in cui sa già di essere condannato a morte poiché nessuno può sfuggire al destino che le Moire hanno intrecciato.
Nell’opera di Marcial Gala c’è un escamotage narrativo che, alle volte, si rivela un’arma a doppio taglio: fin dalle prime pagine sappiamo cosa ne sarà del nostro protagonista, grazie all’alternanza di presagio e realtà. Nonostante ciò, resti incollato al libro e non molli, senti davvero incombere il dramma e il cuore salirti in gola capitolo dopo capitolo.
L’autore si serve di questo personaggio strano, non so bene come altro definirlo, e sempre più dissociato per farci conoscere lo spaccato di una realtà che sembra essere distante anni luce da noi, ma non così tanto. Vengono esplorati diversi temi che fanno di “Chiamatemi Cassandra” anche un’opera di stampo queer calata in un contesto restrittivo per le aspettative culturali e sociali: omosessualità sia latente sia manifesta, ricerca dell’identità, machismo deleterio, fluidità di genere. Si dà spazio anche alle brutture della guerra quali ostruzionismo, corruzione, smodatezza nell’esercizio di potere, omertà e altro ancora.
Si arriva all’epilogo quasi stremati dall’intensità di quanto letto perché, anche noi, come Raul ci troviamo impotenti di fronte a un mondo ostile che non agevola la ricerca di sé stessi.
Sospeso tra epicità e inquietudine, sullo sfondo di un mosaico storico e psicologico sapientemente ricostruito - quello di Cuba negli anni ’70 e ’80 - leggiamo le vicissitudini di Raul\Cassandra che si ritrova a metà tra un’esistenza passata, che affonda le radici nelle vicende narrate nell’Iliade omerica, e un presente in cui sa già di essere condannato a morte poiché nessuno può sfuggire al destino che le Moire hanno intrecciato.
Nell’opera di Marcial Gala c’è un escamotage narrativo che, alle volte, si rivela un’arma a doppio taglio: fin dalle prime pagine sappiamo cosa ne sarà del nostro protagonista, grazie all’alternanza di presagio e realtà. Nonostante ciò, resti incollato al libro e non molli, senti davvero incombere il dramma e il cuore salirti in gola capitolo dopo capitolo.
L’autore si serve di questo personaggio strano, non so bene come altro definirlo, e sempre più dissociato per farci conoscere lo spaccato di una realtà che sembra essere distante anni luce da noi, ma non così tanto. Vengono esplorati diversi temi che fanno di “Chiamatemi Cassandra” anche un’opera di stampo queer calata in un contesto restrittivo per le aspettative culturali e sociali: omosessualità sia latente sia manifesta, ricerca dell’identità, machismo deleterio, fluidità di genere. Si dà spazio anche alle brutture della guerra quali ostruzionismo, corruzione, smodatezza nell’esercizio di potere, omertà e altro ancora.
Si arriva all’epilogo quasi stremati dall’intensità di quanto letto perché, anche noi, come Raul ci troviamo impotenti di fronte a un mondo ostile che non agevola la ricerca di sé stessi.
June 30, 2022
Gala creates such vivid portraits of his character, that it is a sure thing for a reader to fall into the pages, inhabiting their psyche. Raul/Cassandra is a character that will not soon be forgotten.
—We are but shadows set on the canvas of this life, my Zeus...
—Everyone makes their own ship out of their lives and enters whichever ocean they want—
There is something special in the way that Gala writes. It was present in The Black Cathedral and it is here as well. The almost disjointed prose does nothing to deter from the poignancy of the despair in which our main character exists.
Growing up in a macho society with a father that was vocally and physically a representation of the ideals of machismo culture, Raul could not truly express themself and claim their identity.
Just like Cassandra of Troy, they are not believed and is cast as someone they are not, because of how they look and twisted societal expectations.
There is a certain intimacy in the way the narrator tells this story, as if they are speaking directly to us and wants us to be as engaged and immersed in Raul/Cassandra's existence.
From the very first encounter, you are gripped by the destiny of Raul, you feel the yearning to be free, even as they carry and share the weight of the time and place of their demise. With vivid prose Gala makes his reader truly experience Raul Iriarte.
—We are but shadows set on the canvas of this life, my Zeus...
—Everyone makes their own ship out of their lives and enters whichever ocean they want—
There is something special in the way that Gala writes. It was present in The Black Cathedral and it is here as well. The almost disjointed prose does nothing to deter from the poignancy of the despair in which our main character exists.
Growing up in a macho society with a father that was vocally and physically a representation of the ideals of machismo culture, Raul could not truly express themself and claim their identity.
Just like Cassandra of Troy, they are not believed and is cast as someone they are not, because of how they look and twisted societal expectations.
There is a certain intimacy in the way the narrator tells this story, as if they are speaking directly to us and wants us to be as engaged and immersed in Raul/Cassandra's existence.
From the very first encounter, you are gripped by the destiny of Raul, you feel the yearning to be free, even as they carry and share the weight of the time and place of their demise. With vivid prose Gala makes his reader truly experience Raul Iriarte.
January 23, 2022
A wicked, insightful look at the intersection of identity and fate. Raul, who has many names, is a feminine boy coming of age in 1980s Cuba. He is also Cassandra reborn, and like Cassandra, he is doomed to know the future. I can't help but interpret the novel through the lens of my own transness. I identify with Raul, a gender non-conforming child who cannot believe he will live a long life or amount to much. The novel is told in a nonlinear fashion, slipping in and out of the scant few years of the protagonist's lives. Gala and Kushner use bold, impactful prose is cutting here, especially in the relationship between Raul and his captain. This intensity is tempered by hazy, almost dream-like memories of a child growing up in a dysfunctional family struggling under an oppressive regime.
Call Me Cassandra is truly an impeccable novel, as another review stated. It touches on themes of gender, race, identity, state oppression, and how those factors can determine what we think is possible for ourselves. Absolutely check it out.
Call Me Cassandra is truly an impeccable novel, as another review stated. It touches on themes of gender, race, identity, state oppression, and how those factors can determine what we think is possible for ourselves. Absolutely check it out.
April 24, 2023
Porque o fazes, pai Zeus omnipotente, quem é a Cassandra para te interrogar? Eu não sou ninguém, perdi-me na escuridão dos tempos, fui abrindo quartos de paredes de vidro transparente e num deles encontrei o meu vermelho e insaciável coração a bater."
Quantas "personas" temos dentro de nós? Quantas são intermitentemente afogadas, travestidas do preconceito social e moral? Quantas vêm à tona, com espasmos de liberdade?
Foi muito prazeroso conhecer os pensamentos e angústias de Raul Iriarte, as suas premonições, que herdou de Cassandra, e o seu fardo. O protagonista sente na pele a aspereza de viver numa sociedade machista. Esse sentimento de ostracismo começa bem cedo, no seio familiar, ganha força nos bancos de escola e, posteriormente, na sua ingressão no exército cubano. É catártico para o leitor sentir o contraste do aprisionamento manifestado no corpo de Raul, e a sua libertação quando respirava e se vestia como Cassandra, desnudando a sua verdadeira essência, que nenhum escudo foi capaz de esconder.
A escrita do autor é belíssima, mas o talento não se fica por aí. A articulação da narrativa foi muitíssimo bem conseguida. O vaivém cronológico está incrivelmente bem articulado. Vamos devaneando entre o céu azul de Cuba, os ecos de tiros de Angola e uma chuva de flechas na guerra de Tróia.
Estava muito curiosa com esta inusitada mescla, que inclui uma incursão pela mitologia grega. E só tenho de parabenizar o autor.
Quantas "Cassandras" andarão por aí? Encarceradas dentro de um corpo que não sentem como seu, abafadas pelo preconceito social, com tanto homofobismo entranhado... haverá bem maior que a nossa liberdade?
A ler.
Quantas "personas" temos dentro de nós? Quantas são intermitentemente afogadas, travestidas do preconceito social e moral? Quantas vêm à tona, com espasmos de liberdade?
Foi muito prazeroso conhecer os pensamentos e angústias de Raul Iriarte, as suas premonições, que herdou de Cassandra, e o seu fardo. O protagonista sente na pele a aspereza de viver numa sociedade machista. Esse sentimento de ostracismo começa bem cedo, no seio familiar, ganha força nos bancos de escola e, posteriormente, na sua ingressão no exército cubano. É catártico para o leitor sentir o contraste do aprisionamento manifestado no corpo de Raul, e a sua libertação quando respirava e se vestia como Cassandra, desnudando a sua verdadeira essência, que nenhum escudo foi capaz de esconder.
A escrita do autor é belíssima, mas o talento não se fica por aí. A articulação da narrativa foi muitíssimo bem conseguida. O vaivém cronológico está incrivelmente bem articulado. Vamos devaneando entre o céu azul de Cuba, os ecos de tiros de Angola e uma chuva de flechas na guerra de Tróia.
Estava muito curiosa com esta inusitada mescla, que inclui uma incursão pela mitologia grega. E só tenho de parabenizar o autor.
Quantas "Cassandras" andarão por aí? Encarceradas dentro de um corpo que não sentem como seu, abafadas pelo preconceito social, com tanto homofobismo entranhado... haverá bem maior que a nossa liberdade?
A ler.
February 8, 2022
A bittersweet & fatalistic musing on identity & fate that crosses borders of area, time, gender, politics, & tradition/religion/belief. It poses some interesting questions.
The cover art is very fitting.
P.S. If this book hits the spot for you & you are looking for another Caribbean-based novel with similar topics (but a wildly different story), you might want to check out Tentacle by Rita Indiana.
The cover art is very fitting.
P.S. If this book hits the spot for you & you are looking for another Caribbean-based novel with similar topics (but a wildly different story), you might want to check out Tentacle by Rita Indiana.
June 10, 2023
„Podobałoby mi się być córką mojego ojca, wtedy nie musiałbym ubierać się na zielono, uczyć się używać karabinu, wsiadać na statek i wyjeżdżać bardzo daleko, do granic Starego Świata. Gdybym naprawdę był dziewczyną, przytulałbym się do taty i on by mnie pocieszał w okropieństwach życia, ale muszę iść na wojnę (...).“
December 9, 2024
”We are but shadows set on the canvas of this life."
This was a stunning piece of literature. "Call Me Cassandra" is one of those books that you instantly fall in love with—one you cannot help but read in a single sitting. Once you finish, your heart feels both broken and full.
This was a stunning piece of literature. "Call Me Cassandra" is one of those books that you instantly fall in love with—one you cannot help but read in a single sitting. Once you finish, your heart feels both broken and full.
June 3, 2023
This book does things right on so many levels, it’s uncanny. I don’t even know where to begin: the beautiful prose, the fragmentary narrative which reflects the shattered identity of the narrator, the setting of a cold-war communist Cuba, all the mythological and literary allusions, or just a perfectly crafted tragedy where, true to the genre’s conventions, no-one escapes what fate has in store for them.
Marcial Gala’s story appropriates the mythological character of Cassandra, daughter of Priam of Troy, who is cursed by Apollo to know everyone’s fate but not be believed, and carefully inserts her in a Cuban society which is struggling to keep its identity under the powerful ideological influence of communism. Cassandra is molded into a blond and slender boy named Raul, whose father wants to make a man out of him, whose mother dresses him as a girl to remind her of her dead sister Nancy, whose teachers want him to compose propagandistic poetry, whose captain uses him as a surrogate for his wife, whose comrades allow him to fade into nothingness and be forgotten.
Cassandra’s curse follows him to this new incarnation and lets him convey everyone’s fate to the reader, the exact moment and circumstances of their death, but powerless to influence them in any way. Gala’s prose is a wonderful exercise in simultaneity, in mixing different timelines with a fluid and elegant prose that manages to anchor the moments of the story precisely, even as the moment of telling is devoid of any temporal affiliation.
My only (small) regret in reading this book is that I would not be able to enjoy it in the original Spanish. Nonetheless, I am absolutely certain that Anna Kushner’s translation was as essential to my enjoyment of this book as the author’s own words, and I’m sure to return to both of them for Gala’s previous book.
Marcial Gala’s story appropriates the mythological character of Cassandra, daughter of Priam of Troy, who is cursed by Apollo to know everyone’s fate but not be believed, and carefully inserts her in a Cuban society which is struggling to keep its identity under the powerful ideological influence of communism. Cassandra is molded into a blond and slender boy named Raul, whose father wants to make a man out of him, whose mother dresses him as a girl to remind her of her dead sister Nancy, whose teachers want him to compose propagandistic poetry, whose captain uses him as a surrogate for his wife, whose comrades allow him to fade into nothingness and be forgotten.
Cassandra’s curse follows him to this new incarnation and lets him convey everyone’s fate to the reader, the exact moment and circumstances of their death, but powerless to influence them in any way. Gala’s prose is a wonderful exercise in simultaneity, in mixing different timelines with a fluid and elegant prose that manages to anchor the moments of the story precisely, even as the moment of telling is devoid of any temporal affiliation.
My only (small) regret in reading this book is that I would not be able to enjoy it in the original Spanish. Nonetheless, I am absolutely certain that Anna Kushner’s translation was as essential to my enjoyment of this book as the author’s own words, and I’m sure to return to both of them for Gala’s previous book.
April 11, 2022
4.5 stars
Call me Cassandra is not an easy read as far as content goes but is an entirely inventive one where a young Cuban boy, Raul, believes he is the reincarnation of Cassandra, she who could predict the future but was destined to be disbelieved. Marcial Gala manages to make us also easily accept this premise - not that Raul simply thinks he is Cassandra, but that he is her. As the novel progresses this slight effeminate boy who loves to read and who is part of a family where madness and brutality exist, relives the life of Cassandra, has her memories of Priam, Hector, Ajax and Apollo.
These memories flow in and out but the bulk of the novel is set in Angola where the Cuban army has gone to assist in the fight against the South Africans, fighting ‘colonial exploitation’ in communistic solidarity. Here, Raul encounters bullying and abuse from the other soldiers, which naturally makes for difficult reading but it is made less so because of Raul’s apparent absence from this body and this life. His emotions seem to be confined to the past and he is simply going through the motions in this life until he gets back to being Cassandra once again.
Interweaved with the Angolan scenes and Cassandra’s memories are scenes with his family, his parents his father’s girlfriend, a Russian English teacher who encourages his love of reading and his misfit brother. It is only when he dresses as a woman that Raul seems to be himself, the rest of the time it’s as though he is always playing a part. He cannot but be distant from those around him when he knows how they will all die, knows their secrets and often their thoughts, yet has to keep it all to himself.
Of course, Raul also knows when his own death will come and the novel becomes more and more compelling as this date draws near. In the background is communism after the revolution, a country where it was forbidden to have a homosexual child and where dreams have faded. There is a deep sadness to all the lives we are privy to in the novel but none more so than Raul as he recounts the tragedies that he went through as Cassandra, a tragedy that is still manifesting itself at the whim of the Gods.
Resonant of Greek myth itself this is a beautifully written, dark and emotional read that I can highly recommend.
Call me Cassandra is not an easy read as far as content goes but is an entirely inventive one where a young Cuban boy, Raul, believes he is the reincarnation of Cassandra, she who could predict the future but was destined to be disbelieved. Marcial Gala manages to make us also easily accept this premise - not that Raul simply thinks he is Cassandra, but that he is her. As the novel progresses this slight effeminate boy who loves to read and who is part of a family where madness and brutality exist, relives the life of Cassandra, has her memories of Priam, Hector, Ajax and Apollo.
These memories flow in and out but the bulk of the novel is set in Angola where the Cuban army has gone to assist in the fight against the South Africans, fighting ‘colonial exploitation’ in communistic solidarity. Here, Raul encounters bullying and abuse from the other soldiers, which naturally makes for difficult reading but it is made less so because of Raul’s apparent absence from this body and this life. His emotions seem to be confined to the past and he is simply going through the motions in this life until he gets back to being Cassandra once again.
Interweaved with the Angolan scenes and Cassandra’s memories are scenes with his family, his parents his father’s girlfriend, a Russian English teacher who encourages his love of reading and his misfit brother. It is only when he dresses as a woman that Raul seems to be himself, the rest of the time it’s as though he is always playing a part. He cannot but be distant from those around him when he knows how they will all die, knows their secrets and often their thoughts, yet has to keep it all to himself.
Of course, Raul also knows when his own death will come and the novel becomes more and more compelling as this date draws near. In the background is communism after the revolution, a country where it was forbidden to have a homosexual child and where dreams have faded. There is a deep sadness to all the lives we are privy to in the novel but none more so than Raul as he recounts the tragedies that he went through as Cassandra, a tragedy that is still manifesting itself at the whim of the Gods.
Resonant of Greek myth itself this is a beautifully written, dark and emotional read that I can highly recommend.
February 28, 2023
Que livro bom, este! Confesso que não sabia para o que ia quando peguei nele porque só tinha lido a sinopse e com base nela não fiquei com uma ideia clara se ia gostar ou não.
E é tão rico em pormenores, esta obra, que certamente deixarei aqui coisas por falar! Rauli vive em Cuba e sente-se diferente. Os outros sentem o mesmo e é discriminado na escola. Cresce tendo sensações diferentes, sabendo de antemão o destino de quem está ao seu redor e o seu próprio. Cala-se, nada diz. Socialmente, Cuba caracteriza-se por uma sociedade fechada, cheia de preconceitos. Rauli não sabe quem é e a sua busca de identidade leva-nos a percorrer as páginas com sofreguidão!
No entanto, o leitor acompanha todo este processo, as suas premonições/certezas. E, mesmo sabendo como, em parte, se vai desenrolar a história, a escrita do autor mantém o leitor preso.
Paralelamente, existem na narrativa outros dois planos temporais. Um é em Angola, na guerra de guerrilha, e Raul Iriarte tem 18 anos, acabados de fazer, foi obrigado a alistar-se e está integrado numa companhia cubana. Também aí sofre abusos e é discriminado. A sua fisionomia fina, alva e de olhos claros e cabelos loiros proporciona risos e gozos. O abuso é forte e perpetrado. Tratam-no muitas vezes por Marilyn Monroe.
O outro plano decorre no interior da sua mente. Recordações, flashes de uma vida passada. Sente-se Cassandra, uma sacerdotisa de Apolo da mitologia grega. Mesmo não estando confortável com esta temática, bastou pesquisar um pouco para me familiarizar. Raul é uma reencarnação desta princesa de Tróia! Tal como ela, está fadado a visualizar o futuro sem que ninguém acredite nele.
Como é possível que, em tempo algum, o leitor são se perca e saiba exactamente quem está a falar e onde se encontra? As passagens de um tempo para outro são rápidas, muitas vezes apenas curtas referências e lá está, o leitor situa-se rapidamente e sem se perder.
Com uma escrita maravilhosa é livro para se voltar a reler. Decerto encontraremos pormenores que não reparámos na primeira leitura! Uma nota deliciosa: Rauli é um amante da leitura...
E é tão rico em pormenores, esta obra, que certamente deixarei aqui coisas por falar! Rauli vive em Cuba e sente-se diferente. Os outros sentem o mesmo e é discriminado na escola. Cresce tendo sensações diferentes, sabendo de antemão o destino de quem está ao seu redor e o seu próprio. Cala-se, nada diz. Socialmente, Cuba caracteriza-se por uma sociedade fechada, cheia de preconceitos. Rauli não sabe quem é e a sua busca de identidade leva-nos a percorrer as páginas com sofreguidão!
No entanto, o leitor acompanha todo este processo, as suas premonições/certezas. E, mesmo sabendo como, em parte, se vai desenrolar a história, a escrita do autor mantém o leitor preso.
Paralelamente, existem na narrativa outros dois planos temporais. Um é em Angola, na guerra de guerrilha, e Raul Iriarte tem 18 anos, acabados de fazer, foi obrigado a alistar-se e está integrado numa companhia cubana. Também aí sofre abusos e é discriminado. A sua fisionomia fina, alva e de olhos claros e cabelos loiros proporciona risos e gozos. O abuso é forte e perpetrado. Tratam-no muitas vezes por Marilyn Monroe.
O outro plano decorre no interior da sua mente. Recordações, flashes de uma vida passada. Sente-se Cassandra, uma sacerdotisa de Apolo da mitologia grega. Mesmo não estando confortável com esta temática, bastou pesquisar um pouco para me familiarizar. Raul é uma reencarnação desta princesa de Tróia! Tal como ela, está fadado a visualizar o futuro sem que ninguém acredite nele.
Como é possível que, em tempo algum, o leitor são se perca e saiba exactamente quem está a falar e onde se encontra? As passagens de um tempo para outro são rápidas, muitas vezes apenas curtas referências e lá está, o leitor situa-se rapidamente e sem se perder.
Com uma escrita maravilhosa é livro para se voltar a reler. Decerto encontraremos pormenores que não reparámos na primeira leitura! Uma nota deliciosa: Rauli é um amante da leitura...
December 28, 2022
This is a stellar novel. The writing is delicious. The premise is unique and wonderful.
The setting is Cuba in the 1970’s to 80’s and moves to Angola where the Cuban government seeks to impose Marxism-Leninism through the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), fighting against Western-backed forces and South Africa. This is a historical fact of which I was not aware—I always like it when I learn something from fiction. But what makes the book so interesting is it’s told through the eyes of Cuban Raul beginning at age 10 and onward to his military service in Angola at 18.
At ten years old, Raul decides he wants to be the goddess Cassandra. He’s a sleight, short, effeminate boy with blond hair and blue eyes. He likes to wear women’s clothes and put on makeup. He’s sick of students calling him Spineless, his brother calling him a fag, and his mother calling him Rauli. The Greek gods and goddesses offer him solace as he navigates the exceedingly macho Cuban culture.
He decides to join the MPLA and is shipped off to Angola. Even though he’s now a soldier, the others taunt him and dub him Marilyn Monroe. His captain abuses him. Raul survives the hatred since like Cassandra, he can see the future, even though no one believes him when he tells them what it is. What he sees for himself is his death in Angola. Around this point in the story, Gala does an excellent job of weaving Greek mythology into Raul’s experiences. Raul never stops believing he’s Cassandra and brings mythology to life in his mind with visions of a happier existence. He believes in death he’ll turn back into Cassandra.
The book really brings home how difficult it was (is?) to be gay in macho Cuba. Interestingly, Raul never admits to being gay and is never aroused by men. The reader is allowed into Raul’s head and it seems Raul doesn’t really know what his sexual identity is—he struggles with his identity. Identity is a big theme in the book.
The paragraphs jump around in time which can be a little jarring but largely works. For instance, in the first 35 pages the reader finds out Raul is ridiculed for being effeminate, he is abused by his captain, and he wears women’s clothes and makeup. Then the chapters go backward in time.
All in all it is a really good book and I recommend it.
The setting is Cuba in the 1970’s to 80’s and moves to Angola where the Cuban government seeks to impose Marxism-Leninism through the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), fighting against Western-backed forces and South Africa. This is a historical fact of which I was not aware—I always like it when I learn something from fiction. But what makes the book so interesting is it’s told through the eyes of Cuban Raul beginning at age 10 and onward to his military service in Angola at 18.
At ten years old, Raul decides he wants to be the goddess Cassandra. He’s a sleight, short, effeminate boy with blond hair and blue eyes. He likes to wear women’s clothes and put on makeup. He’s sick of students calling him Spineless, his brother calling him a fag, and his mother calling him Rauli. The Greek gods and goddesses offer him solace as he navigates the exceedingly macho Cuban culture.
He decides to join the MPLA and is shipped off to Angola. Even though he’s now a soldier, the others taunt him and dub him Marilyn Monroe. His captain abuses him. Raul survives the hatred since like Cassandra, he can see the future, even though no one believes him when he tells them what it is. What he sees for himself is his death in Angola. Around this point in the story, Gala does an excellent job of weaving Greek mythology into Raul’s experiences. Raul never stops believing he’s Cassandra and brings mythology to life in his mind with visions of a happier existence. He believes in death he’ll turn back into Cassandra.
The book really brings home how difficult it was (is?) to be gay in macho Cuba. Interestingly, Raul never admits to being gay and is never aroused by men. The reader is allowed into Raul’s head and it seems Raul doesn’t really know what his sexual identity is—he struggles with his identity. Identity is a big theme in the book.
The paragraphs jump around in time which can be a little jarring but largely works. For instance, in the first 35 pages the reader finds out Raul is ridiculed for being effeminate, he is abused by his captain, and he wears women’s clothes and makeup. Then the chapters go backward in time.
All in all it is a really good book and I recommend it.
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