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toniclark's review against another edition
5.0
Havana Fever
What an unusual (at least to me) and fascinating book. It’s a mystery, but is much, much more. Set in present-day Havana, the book also evokes the romance, as well as the political unrest, poverty, and revolution of the 1950s. And it’s filled with interesting characters — most notably ex-cop Mario Conde. (Unfortunately, no matter how many times I read his name, I always thought of Marie Kondo, the queen of pathological tidiness). Conde’s an interesting and complex character, a good man with a somewhat troubled past, somewhat tortured, very philosophical, who is now a dealer of used and rare books. Mario stumbles upon a 40-year-old mystery and is overcome by the need to unravel it. I greatly enjoyed his ruminations when trying to assemble pieces of information to figure out why he has his particular hunches. Mario also has a bunch of good buddies and they are very entertaining. Their names alone are fun! Rabbit, Red Candito, Skinny Carlos (who is obese), and Yoyi Pigeon.
I’m not a lifelong reader of mysteries and, if I’m going to read one, I usually want it to be more “literary” than genre style. I mean, well-written prose and well-developed characters. Havana Fever has plenty of both, as well as a lot of action, great dialogue, and a hot, steamy, boozy atmosphere.
I don’t usually care whodunit. The mystery in this book did engage me, though, and I kept trying to figure out what had happened. And I kept thinking I had it, only to be proven wrong over and over. (I finally did get it before the end, but was never quite certain.) So the mystery is fairly intriguing, but it's Mario who makes the book.
Leonardo Padura is a good writer, but the text is slightly marred by mistakes in grammar or usage — e.g., connecting words omitted from sentences and instances of incorrect word usage, such as flaunt instead of flout. Normally this would really irritate me, but I chalked it up to this being a translation by someone who knows English less well than Spanish and didn’t let it interfere with my enjoyment of the book.
I heard about this book from David and Melissa on the “Strong Sense of Place” podcast, Episode 11, in which the hosts discuss books that transported them to this island nation. Well worth a listen!
What an unusual (at least to me) and fascinating book. It’s a mystery, but is much, much more. Set in present-day Havana, the book also evokes the romance, as well as the political unrest, poverty, and revolution of the 1950s. And it’s filled with interesting characters — most notably ex-cop Mario Conde. (Unfortunately, no matter how many times I read his name, I always thought of Marie Kondo, the queen of pathological tidiness). Conde’s an interesting and complex character, a good man with a somewhat troubled past, somewhat tortured, very philosophical, who is now a dealer of used and rare books. Mario stumbles upon a 40-year-old mystery and is overcome by the need to unravel it. I greatly enjoyed his ruminations when trying to assemble pieces of information to figure out why he has his particular hunches. Mario also has a bunch of good buddies and they are very entertaining. Their names alone are fun! Rabbit, Red Candito, Skinny Carlos (who is obese), and Yoyi Pigeon.
I’m not a lifelong reader of mysteries and, if I’m going to read one, I usually want it to be more “literary” than genre style. I mean, well-written prose and well-developed characters. Havana Fever has plenty of both, as well as a lot of action, great dialogue, and a hot, steamy, boozy atmosphere.
I don’t usually care whodunit. The mystery in this book did engage me, though, and I kept trying to figure out what had happened. And I kept thinking I had it, only to be proven wrong over and over. (I finally did get it before the end, but was never quite certain.) So the mystery is fairly intriguing, but it's Mario who makes the book.
Leonardo Padura is a good writer, but the text is slightly marred by mistakes in grammar or usage — e.g., connecting words omitted from sentences and instances of incorrect word usage, such as flaunt instead of flout. Normally this would really irritate me, but I chalked it up to this being a translation by someone who knows English less well than Spanish and didn’t let it interfere with my enjoyment of the book.
I heard about this book from David and Melissa on the “Strong Sense of Place” podcast, Episode 11, in which the hosts discuss books that transported them to this island nation. Well worth a listen!
stacksoftbr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
More of a literary novel than a crime mystery.
The Detective waxes on both philosophy as well as the pleasures of the flesh.
There's a look at Cuba in the 50s and 60s and in the present day with the impact of historical events on the high society, the aspirers as well as those lost to oblivion and violence in the tenements.
The Library was enthralling to read about and the books were mesmerizing. Wished it would actually exist.
Loved the count's friends and their discussions and the food described.
More than the mystery of the missing singer I was more keen to know what treasures he would unearth in the library.
The women felt objectified though.
The Detective waxes on both philosophy as well as the pleasures of the flesh.
There's a look at Cuba in the 50s and 60s and in the present day with the impact of historical events on the high society, the aspirers as well as those lost to oblivion and violence in the tenements.
The Library was enthralling to read about and the books were mesmerizing. Wished it would actually exist.
Loved the count's friends and their discussions and the food described.
More than the mystery of the missing singer I was more keen to know what treasures he would unearth in the library.
The women felt objectified though.
nickgrav's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
viscountess_black's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Este es uno de esos libros que pueden ser un tanto tediosos y largos, que parece que no llevan para ningún lado, pero que tienen un propósito claro y que, sobre todo, valen muchísimo la pena leer. Que te dejan un sentimiento agridulce en el pecho y una sonrisa en los labios.
dave37's review against another edition
4.0
More of a novel than a mystery here, and a fine one at that. I point this out simply because my library had it shelved under mysteries, with Padura's earlier books.
The prose is quite dense and things took quite a while to get going, but if one is willing to ride along the story is a good one. The main story arc involves rare Cuban books, so there was a lot of gratuitous name-dropping on that front. I simply used it to fill out my "to read" list on GoodReads.
If you're of the mindset that Cuba is a simple good/bad story of pre and post Revolution, Padura gives a nice treatment of the underlying complexities of the issue of the Revolution, and their impact on rich, poor and middle class Cubans.
Overall, a compelling, complex story of power, love, loss, shame and revenge.
The prose is quite dense and things took quite a while to get going, but if one is willing to ride along the story is a good one. The main story arc involves rare Cuban books, so there was a lot of gratuitous name-dropping on that front. I simply used it to fill out my "to read" list on GoodReads.
If you're of the mindset that Cuba is a simple good/bad story of pre and post Revolution, Padura gives a nice treatment of the underlying complexities of the issue of the Revolution, and their impact on rich, poor and middle class Cubans.
Overall, a compelling, complex story of power, love, loss, shame and revenge.
zuzi's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
bettinathenomad's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this very much. A crime novel involving a mysterious library set in Cuba, by an excellent author, what's not to love?
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