Oscar Hijuelos (1951–2013)

Oscar Hijuelos was four years old when he contracted nephritis during a visit with family in Cuba. The resulting hospital stay would alter his life forever. He went into the hospital as a Spanish-speaking first-generation Cuban-American. After a year of being insulted and treated badly by English-speaking nurses solely because he did not understand what they said to him, he came out of the hospital as an English-speaking "former" Cuban. I was appalled at the way the nurses treated a small child because of his language and heritage. Apparently, this experience scarred him to the extent that even after returning to his Spanish-speaking home, he refused to speak even one word of Spanish, or even acknowledge that he understood it when he heard it spoken. I find it ironic that he was chastised in the hospital for not knowing English, then spent years at odds with his family for not speaking Spanish.

Due to his hospital stay, Hijuelos started school late, and unable to read either English or Spanish. He struggled with English, feeling that it was somehow forbidden to him. Despite that, he is now very articulate and even eloquent at times. I find it interesting that he didn't even like to read growing up, preferring comic books because he could see what was happening without being hampered by words. He seems to have grown out of that. He is the first Latino to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

I liked that there were gaps in his memory and that he doesn't claim to remember or know every single thing that has ever happened. I find that this makes memoirs more believable. There was quite a lot of name-dropping, but Hijuelos did have the benefit of being involved in the NYC literary/arts community. Attending several NYC colleges and universities over the years, he also had a broader pool of students and professors than most people would have. I did get the feeling that the author became successful in spite of himself. He turns down or just plain misses opportunities that many aspiring authors would trade anything for.

This is not a dull, dry recitation of the author's life. There is some rambling from time to time, and I had to look up some of the writers mentioned as well as some of the Spanish slang. (I understood the "regular" Spanish.) Small stories of incidents woven through the book keep it interesting and often humorous. Such as when we read about how smoking an iguana out of a butchered pig ended with the entire family chasing and killing tarantulas. Or how Hijuelos sent a frustrated mugger to steal from Columbia students because City College students were too poor.

This isn't the best memoir I've ever read, but it is worth reading.

I won this book in a Goodreads First-reads giveaway.

This review is part of my Hurricane Relief Review-a-thon. http://www.livinglearninglovinglife.com/2012/11/pre-review-a-thon-post.html… (more)

In 1949, brothers Cesar and Nestor Castillo leave Havana, Cuba and make their home in New York. They are musicians who experience a brief brush with fame with a song written by Nestor to an idealized love interest. They catch the attention of fellow Cuban Desi Arnaz and make a cameo appearance on the I Love Lucy show. It covers the brothers’ childhood in Cuba and Cesar’s life into his sixties.

The first half of the book tells a story of contrasting personalities – Cesar is the flamboyant lead singer who enjoys the limelight and Nestor is more comfortable in a supporting role. Cesar chases women relentlessly while Nestor is fixated on one early relationship to the detriment of his wife and children. The second half focuses on Cesar, sitting in a run-down hotel room in 1980, drinking whiskey, listening to his group’s old recordings, and reflecting back on his life. The introduction and conclusion are written from the viewpoint of Nestor’s son, Eugenio, providing the next generation’s perspective.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the positive side, the writing is expressive and convincingly evokes the period of the 1940s and 1950s. The musical references provide a wealth of material to investigate further, which I always appreciate. On the negative side, the plot is almost exclusively focused on drinking and sex. The main character is drinking himself to death, and the many sex scenes are extremely graphic. There is little character development. It does not leave much room for anything beyond commenting on a shallow life. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1990.… (more)

looking at reviews of this book now, i'm surprised by how many people are saying that it's "too slow for today's teens" or "not developed enough for today's teens" or "not exciting enough for today's teens." but are these people teens? no. they are not.

let the teens decide.

of course, i had my own problems with this book, namely that it was supposed to be set in the 60's or 70's and it really really didn't feel like it. the language and some of the plot screamed "present day." add that to the fact that characters seem to go against what you think they would do if they were real people, with startling regularity, and it just wasn't doing it for me.… (more)