La pasión de Carmela. (Carmela’s passion)
Alison Hicks, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder -- Críticas, 10/1/2008
Aguinis, Marcis.
Argentina/U.S.: Sudamericana: Random House, dist. by Random House Spanish. 2008. 312p. ISBN 978-950-07-2919-2. $16.95. pap. FICTION
Well-established Argentine author Aguinis has won several literary awards, including France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Spain’s Premio Planeta—the first Latin American to do so. Loosely based on the story of Hilda Molina, the Cuban neurosurgeon barred from visiting Argentina, and set against the backdrop of the Cuban revolution of the 1950s, this novel charts the love affair between two revolutionary idealists: Carmela, a Cuban medical student, and Ignacio, an Argentine economist. Over time, as revolutionary fervor gives way to the everyday realities of life in the Communist republic, the two are increasingly ostracized by the Cuban authorities, and their disenchantment with the regime leads to several escape attempts. This gripping novel offers fascinating insight into life during and after the Cuban Revolution, using an omniscient narrator to suggest the characters’ lack of control over their destiny. Ultimately, however, this narrative device makes it difficult to believe in Carmela’s passion. Her relationship with Ignacio does not quite ring true and, although we are told she is a fervent supporter of Communism, it is her growing disillusionment that seems more authentic. Even so, Aguinis has crafted an absorbing novel set in an intriguing era and filled with sympathetic characters; recommended for academic and public libraries.
View All Blogs
