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The Tribe: Portraits of Cuba
Teeming with life and compulsively readable, the pieces gathered together in The Tribe aggregate into an extraordinary mosaic of Cuba today. Carlos Manuel Álvarez, one of the most exciting young writers in Latin America, employs the crónica form - a genre unique to Latin American writing that blends reportage, narrative non-fiction, and novelistic forms - to illuminate a particularly turbulent period in Cuban history, from the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with the US, to the death of Fidel Castro, to the convulsions of the San Isidro Movement. Unique, edgy and stylishly written, The Tribe shows a society in flux, featuring sportsmen in exile, artists, nurses, underground musicians and household names, dissident poets, the hidden underclass at a landfill, migrants attempting to make their way across Central America, fugitives escaping the FBI, dealers from the black market, as well as revelers and policemen in the noisy Havana night. It is a major work of reportage by one of Granta's Best of Young Spanish-Language novelists.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2017
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725 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
October 15, 2023
When I signed up for the Fitzcarraldo essay subscription, I expected to be taken out of my comfort zone but I did not expect to be swept of my feet by the 1st title I received.
As the title suggests, The Tribe is a collection of writings about different aspects of Cuban life. The Format chosen by the author is the Crónica, a writing style specific to South America which „blends reportage, narrative nonfiction, and novelistic techniques”. This form allows the author to perfectly capture glimpses from Cuban society and historical moments. Among the subjects chosen I can mention: a day with the people who sell what they find in the main garbage hole in Cuba; the life and death of one of the country’s best known singers, a discussion with a dissident poet; a cronica about American wanted criminals who take refuge in Cuba and another about immigrants waiting in Mexico to be admitted in the US.
I learned a lot of information about Cuban life while enjoying the stylish and gripping writing. The themes chosen are incredibly varied and I found them all interesting, which rarely happens. The tone was not judgemental, even when narrating political events; it only reported the facts as they were, allowing the subject to tell the story.
I cannot recommend this book high enough if you have any interest in reading about Cuba.
As the title suggests, The Tribe is a collection of writings about different aspects of Cuban life. The Format chosen by the author is the Crónica, a writing style specific to South America which „blends reportage, narrative nonfiction, and novelistic techniques”. This form allows the author to perfectly capture glimpses from Cuban society and historical moments. Among the subjects chosen I can mention: a day with the people who sell what they find in the main garbage hole in Cuba; the life and death of one of the country’s best known singers, a discussion with a dissident poet; a cronica about American wanted criminals who take refuge in Cuba and another about immigrants waiting in Mexico to be admitted in the US.
I learned a lot of information about Cuban life while enjoying the stylish and gripping writing. The themes chosen are incredibly varied and I found them all interesting, which rarely happens. The tone was not judgemental, even when narrating political events; it only reported the facts as they were, allowing the subject to tell the story.
I cannot recommend this book high enough if you have any interest in reading about Cuba.
May 21, 2021
Me declaro fan de Carlos Manuel Álavarez. No es solo lo que cuenta, que son historias y retratos tan variadas entre sí, pero te hacen ver algo de las tantas situaciones distintas que se pueden dar en un país como Cuba, un lugar que tanta gente piensa desde afuera, pero que no puede saber, ni tener la menor idea de las muchas historias que se suceden ahí. Acá hay fugitivos, expatriadas, artistas, mujeres trans, músicos y música, y claro, Fidel Castro. Y algunas escenas espeluznantes la verdad, un poco fuertes, pero increíbles. Me emocionó mucho el retrato de "Alcides, el inédito" y con el retrato que hace del Malecón. Realmente fue como estar ahí. Su mirada es exacta, y a la vez poética. Un libro generoso, que me deja sintiéndome como si hubiera estado en La Habana, como si hubiera escuchado a Los Van Van, y bueno, después de leer justo la crónica que trata sobre su líder, llevo días con esa canción pegada "eh ah compóntela tú que ya está planteao..." (tururururururu...)
November 20, 2024
A very moving book about a recent period in Cuba’s history, roughly the period 2014-2019, the time at which, the author refers to as “late stage totalitarianism”.
To be honest I knew virtually nothing about Cuba before reading this - beyond the broad historical and cultural facts almost everyone knows. So I cannot judge the accuracy of the picture this book paints. But for anyone who has read about or experienced late stage totalitarian regimes, it feels honest and accurate. I feel I now have some sense for Cuba. It is this sense of understanding as well as the emotions the book gives that made me decide on 5 stars.
The book is not an analysis, critique or history, but instead a collection of personal stories - and in this way reminded me very much of the work of Svetlana Alexeivich, work I am a huge fan of. Like her writing, it is not a happy read and mostly tells the story of people living, surviving and dying, but never thriving, in the most challenging of situations. Included in this are all the endemic petty corruptions, excuses and bizarre behaviours of collapsing regimes. But there are hopeful elements as well, and happy memories of early days in the Castro period. One cannot but be impressed by the sheer resourcefulness, robustness and strength of people.
I don’t think this is quite a literary masterpiece. It is very well written, but occasionally the language seemed to make too much use of superlatives. But this may just be an accurate translation and the way Cubans naturally speak.
The book was one of those chance choices in a bookshop. I am often drawn to Fitzcarraldo Editions as they have published many fine and interesting books. I am glad to have stumbled on this one.
To be honest I knew virtually nothing about Cuba before reading this - beyond the broad historical and cultural facts almost everyone knows. So I cannot judge the accuracy of the picture this book paints. But for anyone who has read about or experienced late stage totalitarian regimes, it feels honest and accurate. I feel I now have some sense for Cuba. It is this sense of understanding as well as the emotions the book gives that made me decide on 5 stars.
The book is not an analysis, critique or history, but instead a collection of personal stories - and in this way reminded me very much of the work of Svetlana Alexeivich, work I am a huge fan of. Like her writing, it is not a happy read and mostly tells the story of people living, surviving and dying, but never thriving, in the most challenging of situations. Included in this are all the endemic petty corruptions, excuses and bizarre behaviours of collapsing regimes. But there are hopeful elements as well, and happy memories of early days in the Castro period. One cannot but be impressed by the sheer resourcefulness, robustness and strength of people.
I don’t think this is quite a literary masterpiece. It is very well written, but occasionally the language seemed to make too much use of superlatives. But this may just be an accurate translation and the way Cubans naturally speak.
The book was one of those chance choices in a bookshop. I am often drawn to Fitzcarraldo Editions as they have published many fine and interesting books. I am glad to have stumbled on this one.
January 24, 2021
As someone who has never visited Cuba, and who hasn’t read any Cuban literature by a writer younger than my parents’ generation, this was a really informative read. The articles are all really interesting, and often highlighted topics that I wasn’t really familiar with. He talks about authors I’m not familiar with, and he writes a lot about Cuban immigration through Central America. It’s a really insightful collection of articles about how people have made it through the privations and difficulties of the Castro regime, and how they may move forward in a world without Fidel. The ending article, which centers on Fidel’s death, is incredible.
July 8, 2017
Un periodista poeta, un testigo que hace un fresco. Increíble documento del Cuba de hoy.
April 13, 2018
Tiene razón Caparrós al decir que estas crónicas se leen con envidia. Envidia lectora que desde la primera línea alimenta el deseo de acompañar a Carlos Manuel Álvarez a través de estos retratos de Cuba.
Es jovencísimo escritor -seleccionado entre los escritores latinoamericanos de la última cochada del Bogotá39- disecciona con maestría y delicadeza el espíritu cubano, en medio de una crisis de identidad colectiva, alborotada por el anuncio del restablecimiento de las relaciones diplomáticas entre Estados Unidos y Cuba, que al ser la piedra angular que apuntalaba el paternalismo de la Revolución lo deja huérfano en este nuevo capítulo de la historia.
El testimonio de Álvarez de su tribu es una búsqueda muy propia de sus compatriotas por encontrar en la épica, la tragedia, la poética y el exilio, la clave de una existencia marcada por la disidencia y la particularidad. Álvarez es su nuevo cronista.
Es jovencísimo escritor -seleccionado entre los escritores latinoamericanos de la última cochada del Bogotá39- disecciona con maestría y delicadeza el espíritu cubano, en medio de una crisis de identidad colectiva, alborotada por el anuncio del restablecimiento de las relaciones diplomáticas entre Estados Unidos y Cuba, que al ser la piedra angular que apuntalaba el paternalismo de la Revolución lo deja huérfano en este nuevo capítulo de la historia.
El testimonio de Álvarez de su tribu es una búsqueda muy propia de sus compatriotas por encontrar en la épica, la tragedia, la poética y el exilio, la clave de una existencia marcada por la disidencia y la particularidad. Álvarez es su nuevo cronista.
February 19, 2022
Un libro realmente recomendable para quien quiera adentrarse en la cotidianidad cubana. Sus relatos son sobrecogedores.
August 29, 2022
Smart. insightful, well written essays on contemporary Cuba.
February 13, 2023
3+ for this stop in Cuba in my Travel around the world in books challenge.
It is December 17, 2014. Barack Obama and Raúl Castro are announcing to the world that, after fifty-three years of hostile rift, the United States and Cuba are restoring diplomatic relations.
This book is a breathtaking collection of essays/ snapshots that offers a unique and intimate look at life in Cuba and Cuban people.
The book is a visual journey that showcases the diverse and colorful personalities of the Cuban people, capturing the spirit and resilience of this vibrant culture. The stories by The Bote de Cien (the largest landfill in Cuba) and the economy at its borders will stay with me for a long time. Here people are coming and scraping a living here in a quimbo (places built from cardboard boxes, sacks, plastic garbage can lids, Styrofoam, scraps of all manner of materials).
Through powerful and poignant images, ”our whole vocabulary is based on confrontation, on warlike imagery” Álvarez explores themes of family, community, and tradition, showcasing the rich heritage and traditions of the island nation and the way it navigates the political landscape.
”Since 1959, any Cuban athlete who emigrated and launched—or attempted to launch—a professional career with any foreign league or championship had been denied the right to return home.” This was until 2013.
”Beautiful, punch-drunk people that we are.”
There are few arts in Cuba more important than pitching balls to home plate. You read the story of a famous player returning home from America, still seen as a traitor by the system, but a legend by the people. You read the story of a male nurse sent to Siera Leone to combat Ebola, when the medical services in Cuba are close to dying so that the propaganda could say they are heroes of the state.
This image is disturbing for any tourist: ”The Varadero hotels operated an “All Inclusive” policy so that, on paper, a figure was calculated of the food consumed by tourists. The figure was invariably exaggerated. Any surplus was distributed among the hotel staff, surreptitiously stolen.”
You also read that “Between the ’80s and ’90s, a generation of visual artists reinvigorated cultural life in Cuba. Tania Bruguera was one of them.”Butt here are some people who believe a monument should be erected to the ”salseros and the jineteras—the dancers and the prostitutes—who, being the only reliable sources of foreign currency, saved 1990s Cuba from utter disaster.”
From the bustling streets of Havana to the quiet countryside, "The Tribe" provides a window into the lives of the Cuban people, showcasing their strength, pride, and perseverance. This beautiful and inspiring book is a must-read for fans of cultural portraits and journalism and anyone interested in learning more about the vibrant and strangely disjointed culture of Cuba.
You read that up to 500 Cubans, 1000 in the past, wait to cross over to America in Millennium hotel in Panama. Some have nothing. Caritas sometimes brings stuff. ”The Catholic Church has the crassness and bad taste common to all charities: it records all the good deeds it does.”
”For a long time, people in Cuba have had nothing to do and no way to entertain themselves, and so they meekly sit or stand on balconies and street corners and allow the passing time of the barrio to gnaw away at them.”
I still look forward to walk the malecon, the wall in Havana near the sea where people meet, visit El Megano, one of the most popular beaches east of Havana and listen to Ray Fernández, the trovadore. Songs like “El gerente,” “Matarife,” “El obrero,” “El hambre,” or even “La yuca” made him the most fascinating social chronicler of the last, say, fifteen years in Cuba.
All this while I try some perniles, masas, higado, rabo, cabeza, pork stew, and a mountain of crispy chicharrones, chicharritas, quesadillas, carne deshebrada, and tacos al pasto, pan frio. With a Azabache on my hand, protecting me from evil eye and the words of the poet Raphael Alcides. ”And so with what I had everything I am was born: all too little, I admit, yet huge, and grateful as a dog.”
It is December 17, 2014. Barack Obama and Raúl Castro are announcing to the world that, after fifty-three years of hostile rift, the United States and Cuba are restoring diplomatic relations.
This book is a breathtaking collection of essays/ snapshots that offers a unique and intimate look at life in Cuba and Cuban people.
The book is a visual journey that showcases the diverse and colorful personalities of the Cuban people, capturing the spirit and resilience of this vibrant culture. The stories by The Bote de Cien (the largest landfill in Cuba) and the economy at its borders will stay with me for a long time. Here people are coming and scraping a living here in a quimbo (places built from cardboard boxes, sacks, plastic garbage can lids, Styrofoam, scraps of all manner of materials).
Through powerful and poignant images, ”our whole vocabulary is based on confrontation, on warlike imagery” Álvarez explores themes of family, community, and tradition, showcasing the rich heritage and traditions of the island nation and the way it navigates the political landscape.
”Since 1959, any Cuban athlete who emigrated and launched—or attempted to launch—a professional career with any foreign league or championship had been denied the right to return home.” This was until 2013.
”Beautiful, punch-drunk people that we are.”
There are few arts in Cuba more important than pitching balls to home plate. You read the story of a famous player returning home from America, still seen as a traitor by the system, but a legend by the people. You read the story of a male nurse sent to Siera Leone to combat Ebola, when the medical services in Cuba are close to dying so that the propaganda could say they are heroes of the state.
This image is disturbing for any tourist: ”The Varadero hotels operated an “All Inclusive” policy so that, on paper, a figure was calculated of the food consumed by tourists. The figure was invariably exaggerated. Any surplus was distributed among the hotel staff, surreptitiously stolen.”
You also read that “Between the ’80s and ’90s, a generation of visual artists reinvigorated cultural life in Cuba. Tania Bruguera was one of them.”Butt here are some people who believe a monument should be erected to the ”salseros and the jineteras—the dancers and the prostitutes—who, being the only reliable sources of foreign currency, saved 1990s Cuba from utter disaster.”
From the bustling streets of Havana to the quiet countryside, "The Tribe" provides a window into the lives of the Cuban people, showcasing their strength, pride, and perseverance. This beautiful and inspiring book is a must-read for fans of cultural portraits and journalism and anyone interested in learning more about the vibrant and strangely disjointed culture of Cuba.
You read that up to 500 Cubans, 1000 in the past, wait to cross over to America in Millennium hotel in Panama. Some have nothing. Caritas sometimes brings stuff. ”The Catholic Church has the crassness and bad taste common to all charities: it records all the good deeds it does.”
”For a long time, people in Cuba have had nothing to do and no way to entertain themselves, and so they meekly sit or stand on balconies and street corners and allow the passing time of the barrio to gnaw away at them.”
I still look forward to walk the malecon, the wall in Havana near the sea where people meet, visit El Megano, one of the most popular beaches east of Havana and listen to Ray Fernández, the trovadore. Songs like “El gerente,” “Matarife,” “El obrero,” “El hambre,” or even “La yuca” made him the most fascinating social chronicler of the last, say, fifteen years in Cuba.
All this while I try some perniles, masas, higado, rabo, cabeza, pork stew, and a mountain of crispy chicharrones, chicharritas, quesadillas, carne deshebrada, and tacos al pasto, pan frio. With a Azabache on my hand, protecting me from evil eye and the words of the poet Raphael Alcides. ”And so with what I had everything I am was born: all too little, I admit, yet huge, and grateful as a dog.”
Read
July 3, 2023Engaging. Some of the portraits were really interesting, some were boring.
August 11, 2024
I enjoyed everything about this book:
- real stories and sneak-peak into Cuban reality
- the way it’s written, something between short stories, autobiography and journalistic report
- the fact that in a way these were not unrelated stories, there is a connection between, and it’s more than just “Cuba itself”
- real stories and sneak-peak into Cuban reality
- the way it’s written, something between short stories, autobiography and journalistic report
- the fact that in a way these were not unrelated stories, there is a connection between, and it’s more than just “Cuba itself”
September 29, 2022
I’m not usually a fan of nonfiction. But The Tribe by Carlos Manuel Alvarez is a book filled with stories and voices of the real Cuban people, ranging from celebrities to government officials to ordinary citizens.
As someone who simply enjoys reading about people, and who often reminisces about my days travelling in Cuba, I gobbled up this book in a couple days.
Plot 📖: Every chapter follows one person or a connected group of people, making up a vibrant tapestry of Cuba. Some of my favourite chapters are about:
➖A mother trying to retrieve her daughter’s body from abroad despite the expensive bureaucratic complications
➖The lives of a group garbage pickers living in Havana’s biggest landfill
➖The grieving families of three little girls, killed by a collapsed balcony, trying to improve Havana’s building safety standards
Prose ✍️: In extremely charming and easy-to-digest language, Alvarez makes the lives of these people captivate. The characters are described in the most down-to-earth yet insightful terms. You can’t help but sympathise with every single Cubano in this collection.
‘Luz María: A slip of a woman. A thirty-nine-year-old wizened stump who looked sixty and who had already endured more than any life could bear.’
A dazzling 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As someone who simply enjoys reading about people, and who often reminisces about my days travelling in Cuba, I gobbled up this book in a couple days.
Plot 📖: Every chapter follows one person or a connected group of people, making up a vibrant tapestry of Cuba. Some of my favourite chapters are about:
➖A mother trying to retrieve her daughter’s body from abroad despite the expensive bureaucratic complications
➖The lives of a group garbage pickers living in Havana’s biggest landfill
➖The grieving families of three little girls, killed by a collapsed balcony, trying to improve Havana’s building safety standards
Prose ✍️: In extremely charming and easy-to-digest language, Alvarez makes the lives of these people captivate. The characters are described in the most down-to-earth yet insightful terms. You can’t help but sympathise with every single Cubano in this collection.
‘Luz María: A slip of a woman. A thirty-nine-year-old wizened stump who looked sixty and who had already endured more than any life could bear.’
A dazzling 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 29, 2023
Picked this book up on a whim but so glad I did. It gives an overview of Cuba as it is today - a revolutionary experiment gone wrong - but does so by detailing a range of specific Cuban topics, from the salsa band Los Van Van to the Kafka-esque bureaucracy of the country’s political and legal systems.
I couldn’t believe how easy this was to read and thoroughly enjoyed learning about a subject of which I had very little prior knowledge.
I couldn’t believe how easy this was to read and thoroughly enjoyed learning about a subject of which I had very little prior knowledge.
August 12, 2017
"...Mientras, en la calle Concordia del guetto de Centro Habana me topo con lo que creo es la imagen conclusiva de la Revolución. Dos hombres en una esquina, sentados en cubos volteados. Sobre sus muslos, un tablero. A un lado, el vaso plástico con la línea de ron. Los rostros absortos, tan ajenos al bullicio circundante, que uno no puede menos que catalogarlos como soberbios. No hay nada en ellos que no indique escasez, incluso franca penuria.
Sólo que lo que los hombres juegan no es dominó. No juegan cubilete. No juegan brisca, ni siquiera póker. No juegan nada de lo que suelen jugar los hombres de su tipo. Lo que juegan es ajedrez. Y ahora la mano de uno mueve el alfil."
joyita.
Sólo que lo que los hombres juegan no es dominó. No juegan cubilete. No juegan brisca, ni siquiera póker. No juegan nada de lo que suelen jugar los hombres de su tipo. Lo que juegan es ajedrez. Y ahora la mano de uno mueve el alfil."
joyita.
January 2, 2020
Excelente, excelente, excelente.
Éste libro! ♥
Es una serie de retratos sobre una variedad de personas cubanas, de lo más pobre a lo muy rico, mujeres y hombres, jovenes y viejos, ellos que han salido de Cuba y los que han regresado. Claro que hay la política en estos retratos porque, bueno, es Cuba, pero el libro supera
lo político y llega a describir la humanidad de cada persona mientras también enseña el ambiente único, los problemas únicos y la única perspectiva de los cubanos.
Estoy un poco de luto que lo he terminado, pero he encontrado que es posible de leer más ensayos de este autor en la revista online "El Estornudo" y estoy animada de leer más.
Éste libro! ♥
Es una serie de retratos sobre una variedad de personas cubanas, de lo más pobre a lo muy rico, mujeres y hombres, jovenes y viejos, ellos que han salido de Cuba y los que han regresado. Claro que hay la política en estos retratos porque, bueno, es Cuba, pero el libro supera
lo político y llega a describir la humanidad de cada persona mientras también enseña el ambiente único, los problemas únicos y la única perspectiva de los cubanos.
Estoy un poco de luto que lo he terminado, pero he encontrado que es posible de leer más ensayos de este autor en la revista online "El Estornudo" y estoy animada de leer más.
January 2, 2019
Ir a Cuba me animo a entender y buscar respuestas a todo lo que vi y viví en mi tiempo en la isla. Este libro cuenta varias anécdotas de expatriados o personas que algún viven en la isla y la manera como han vivido esta “revolución”
Algunas historias son un poco lentas un poco aburridas. Sin embargo rescató que el autor respeta la historia contada y no le vuelve “interesante” para hacer más entretenido el libro.
Algunas historias son un poco lentas un poco aburridas. Sin embargo rescató que el autor respeta la historia contada y no le vuelve “interesante” para hacer más entretenido el libro.
April 16, 2019
Un libro muy crudo y duro pero necesario. Muy recomendado.
March 17, 2025
Several years ago, when i noticed the upsurge in Cubans among the asylum applicants I helped in the local immigration detention center, I embarked on a reading program to see what was sending so many people from that nation here. Part of the increase in asylum applicants was, no doubt, the end to the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, but I could see something else was driving this increase. I have translated several applications into English--(yes, Mr. President, asylum applications must be submitted in the official language of the United States, regardless of whether the applicants have any familiarity with it at all).
Anthony DePalma's "The Cubans" was remarkably helpful, especially in ratifying the bureaucratic racism that showed up in the Cuban government. (It did not have anything like the accounts of torture that I translated in the applications). That book, and Alma Guillermoprieto's "Dancing with Cuba" show just how carelessly inept the management of the economy was, what a bungler Fidel was, demanding attention from the people forced to listen to him for hours and ignoring their suffering, the narcissist satisfying his own needs and denying those of anyone else.
But Carlos Manuel Alvarez' "The Tribe" is a series of portraits of very different Cubans. He has a piece on Cubans who have fled, have braved the dangers of the Darien gap, and are caught in motels in Panama--this is before the current wave of deportations. A mother tries to repatriate the body of her gay daughter, murdered in Ecuador. An aging poet of great talent purposefully goes unpublished, his devotion to revolution unchanged but acerbic about the Castro cult. A butcher turns his back on the government because exiles are executed but the murderers of his son are not for political reasons. And, most devastating, the government neglects the infrastructure that falls, killing three black schoolgirls, and then tries to blame the man who tried to save them.
It doesn't hurt that Alvarez' pen is adroit. He notes that the Cuban Revolution has managed to build a city with a thriving economy--Miami. Discussing the persistence of and toleration for petty theft in the threadbare economy he writes, "The vessel of public administration is nothing more than a rusty piece of scrap that has run aground in the swamp of personal survival."
And who is responsible? The government blames the Americans and the emigres, but that is only part of the problem. This is the poet: "Cuba needed a revolution. The problem is that the Revolution quickly stopped being a revolution and became something else. Fidel started doing whatever he pleased."
The real problem with a revolution, is when it ceases to be a cause and becomes a means of survival for its leaders, largely through blood-stained performance.
Anthony DePalma's "The Cubans" was remarkably helpful, especially in ratifying the bureaucratic racism that showed up in the Cuban government. (It did not have anything like the accounts of torture that I translated in the applications). That book, and Alma Guillermoprieto's "Dancing with Cuba" show just how carelessly inept the management of the economy was, what a bungler Fidel was, demanding attention from the people forced to listen to him for hours and ignoring their suffering, the narcissist satisfying his own needs and denying those of anyone else.
But Carlos Manuel Alvarez' "The Tribe" is a series of portraits of very different Cubans. He has a piece on Cubans who have fled, have braved the dangers of the Darien gap, and are caught in motels in Panama--this is before the current wave of deportations. A mother tries to repatriate the body of her gay daughter, murdered in Ecuador. An aging poet of great talent purposefully goes unpublished, his devotion to revolution unchanged but acerbic about the Castro cult. A butcher turns his back on the government because exiles are executed but the murderers of his son are not for political reasons. And, most devastating, the government neglects the infrastructure that falls, killing three black schoolgirls, and then tries to blame the man who tried to save them.
It doesn't hurt that Alvarez' pen is adroit. He notes that the Cuban Revolution has managed to build a city with a thriving economy--Miami. Discussing the persistence of and toleration for petty theft in the threadbare economy he writes, "The vessel of public administration is nothing more than a rusty piece of scrap that has run aground in the swamp of personal survival."
And who is responsible? The government blames the Americans and the emigres, but that is only part of the problem. This is the poet: "Cuba needed a revolution. The problem is that the Revolution quickly stopped being a revolution and became something else. Fidel started doing whatever he pleased."
The real problem with a revolution, is when it ceases to be a cause and becomes a means of survival for its leaders, largely through blood-stained performance.
May 30, 2023
I could already tell this book was going to be one of my favorites halfway through. Each essay is just as stunning as the one before it. From profiling a mother trying to recover her daughter's body in Ecuador to Cuban migrants in South and Central America to internationally renowned writers and artists, this book provides such a full and detailed picture of life in Cuba. As a Miami-born Cuban, it pains me to see the opinions of those far removed from the island elevated front and center over the voices of Cubans actually living on the island today – or even worse, see how people use their stories to advance their own political goals. I can't wait to recommend this book to anyone who asks what I think about Cuba, because my answer always is that the voice of the people should be heard and that's exactly what this book does.
May 1, 2025
A collection of grim tales, many of which seemed pointless to me. I enjoyed the story of Álvarez’ stroll down the Malecón at night, the panoply of people and situations he encountered as he walked along and the hour got later. His profile of singer-songwriter Ray Fernández inspired me to learn more about Ray's music. Similarly, his description of the life and death of Juan Formell, leader of Los Van Van, led me to re-explore their music. Other stories had more unpleasant or frightening overtones.
I’m probably not of the demographic that Álvarez is targeting as audience. It’s more for young people frustrated by how life in Cuba has deteriorated relentlessly since the new millennium and before, shortages of everything, and how young people will continue to pay the price of their elders’ regime.
I’m probably not of the demographic that Álvarez is targeting as audience. It’s more for young people frustrated by how life in Cuba has deteriorated relentlessly since the new millennium and before, shortages of everything, and how young people will continue to pay the price of their elders’ regime.
November 7, 2023
Carlos Manuel Alvarez is a young Cuban writer who in these 19 portraits of life in present-day Cuba made me understand this place in a new way. In many ways, I thought of a place where life was lived in a very socialistic way, but the impression in these portraits is of people living at the very bottom of a capitalistic society. Alvarez writes of the changes that have occurred with the different generations who grew up during the Fidel Castro years. The book is fascinating, but very sad, as each of these people are able to share their story, one that the author feels has only grown worse with time.
February 13, 2025
Álvarez forstår mennesker, han har sans for detaljer, og så kan han virkelig skrive, her i Frank Wynne og Rahul Berry’s oversættelse til engelsk. Artiklerne i The Tribe er ikke bare en samling avisskriverier. De fleste af dem har en kvalitet, som kunne gøre dem egnede til udgivelse som litterære noveller, og mange af dem læses også som sådan.
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February 25, 2023
Some of these chapters are better than others. Overall, we get a very interesting look at the lives of many ordinary and not so ordinary Cubans who are trying to navigate the unique complexities of Cuban society. Álvarez offers an authentic Cuban perspective free from the idealism associated with many writers when it comes to Cuba.
April 2, 2018
Buena narrativa.
October 27, 2023
Fitzcarraldo editions is echt een van de beste uitgevers, in mijn bescheiden mening hé.
-Dit boek 1 van de beste boeken dit ik dit jaar las!
-Dit boek 1 van de beste boeken dit ik dit jaar las!
November 28, 2023
bueno bueno bueno qué tipo el carlos manuel
January 3, 2024
3.5 stars rounded to 4
Hard hitting stories of real people living their lives in Cuba.
Hard hitting stories of real people living their lives in Cuba.
April 24, 2024
an intriguing learning experience. enjoyed reading.
Want to read
May 26, 2022Found here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...
September 17, 2022
Yeah I loved this. It's a great combination of journalistic, personal and literary. Manuel Álvarez stitches together different portraits of people and situations in Cuba (largely from the mid-2010s) to paint a portrait of the Cuban psyche during the late Castro era. Not that I can evaluate its accuracy. But it felt very authentic. Manuel Álvarez is definitely contracastro but rather than writing a polemic he explores how Castroism has influenced the people. I agree with him of course, but I'm especially glad he chose this tact for the book. Overall, this book is a series of snippets of everyday resistance. Beautiful people. Ugly people. But then life is ugly.
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