The real tragedy is that this novel changes direction way too many times. At one point I think I’m reading a book version of the movie, Red Dawn (1984), then I think, wait a minute, I’m reading Monty Python's Flying Circus . And it ends with an incident from Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court , and I thought China Mieville was confusing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the novel was bad, just disorganized. The back cover says alternative history. Really? How about satire, fantasy, tall tale, and political satire as a new combined genre. I think Mr. Cerqueira gave the literary world a new look, but this novel is not ready for prime time. Does Joao Cerqueira have talent? Absolutely! But it must be harnessed in one direction, it can’t alternate literary genres from chapter to chapter. Look, I don’t know how prestigious the USA Best Book Awards are in the literary world. I am aware that this novel won for Fiction: Multicultural, but it’s not like this story won a Hugo Award. I don’t think I’m being too critical, because I generally liked the novel. I just simply think that the novel could have been written more reader friendly. In other words, give me a better understanding of what is going on. For instance, isn’t Fatima really the Blessed Virgin Mary ? In the novel, Christ seems to view her as an old acquaintance (isn’t she his mother?) Oh well, this is why this novel is so bewildering.
In the novel’s preface, Mr. Cerqueira denies that any of his characters are real, or even similar to anybody, with the possible exception of Fidel Castro. Throughout the entire novel, the reader doesn’t know what countries are involved or what year it is, because the author states,”This book takes place in an imaginary time and space.” The reader assumes it really is the USA and Cuba because of Fidel and JFK. It’s almost like he wants to wash his hands of everything written in this novel. If God isn’t God, and Christ isn’t Christ, and Fatima isn’t Fatima, who are they? The story itself is unique, although I don’t think it falls into the ergodic literature category. The Fidel character is most interesting. He declares Cuba open to international tourism. The people seem to turn on him, because isn’t that why Fidel deposed the previous leader? Fidel is now convinced that he is going to be overthrown. Meanwhile, he decides to invade the USA (the book doesn’t tell us where he will step ashore). In the USA, JFK prepares for the invasion by having deep pits dug filled with sharp stakes. JFK releases a captured spy, Varadero, against the advice of the counselor (we never find out who he is), but J.E. Hoover is trying to dig up some dirt on him. At least the Hoover part in the novel seems true to form. In Cuba, Fidel gets his spy back. On page 91, Fidel says to Varadero, “You are under arrest because I need to take every measure necessary to stop from being overthrown.” When Varadero challenges Fidel’s idea that he is irreplaceable, Fidel says,”When I am dead, the country will be reconquered by my enemies and by drug traffickers.” Some of this stuff is very funny.
The real fun starts when Fidel lands ashore. The beach has been secured by his trusted Commandant Marcos. After an argument with the spy, Fidel goes for a long walk in the woods alone. He eats a flower, falls asleep, and wakes up not knowing where he is, or what he is doing there. He stumbles upon a Monastery staffed by an aggressive abbot and war-like monks. This is where I stop my synopsis, because the rest of the book is very amusing and should be discovered by you, the next reader. I know that I found a lot of things in the novel that I didn’t like, but I also see a very talented writer as well. Even though I am going to give a neutral rating to this book, I do give it my recommendation because of it’s eccentricity.
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
Comment: One of the best books written about the USA / Cuba conflict is, The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasion of Cuba's Bay of Pigs . amazon.com says, “The U.S.-backed military invasion of Cuba in 1961 remains one of the most ill-fated blunders in American history, with echoes of the event reverberating even today. Despite the Kennedy administration’s initial public insistence that the United States had nothing to do with the invasion, it soon became clear that the complex operation had been planned and approved by the best and brightest minds at the highest reaches of Washington, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President John F. Kennedy himself.”
According to a 3/18/2012 article on nydailynews.com, “A new book by an ex-CIA spook claims that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro knew about Lee Harvey's plot to assassinate President John F. Kennedy and did nothing to stop it.
Author Brian Latell was the agency's former national intelligence officer for Latin America and is now a senior research associate in Cuban American studies at the University of Miami.
In the upcoming volume, "Castro's Secrets: Cuban Intelligence, the CIA, and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy ," Latell writes that on Nov. 22 1963, Castro ordered his intelligence officers in Havana to drop their normal responsibilities and pay close attention to communications coming out of Texas — "any little detail small detail from Texas," The Miami Herald reported.
Javier Galeano/AP
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