Reviews

Dirty Havana Trilogy: A Novel in Stories by Pedro Juan Gutierrez

cesarsierra's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

leonidasm's review against another edition

4.0

Η βόλτα στην Κούβα του Gutierrez δεν είναι πολύ ευχάριστη. Ας ξεκινήσουμε απ'αυτό. Εδώ την Κούβα τη γνωρίζεις μέσα από τους ανθρώπους της. Και οι άνθρωποι που σου πασάρει ο συγγραφέας είναι εξαθλιωμένοι. Όλοι. Ακόμα και όσοι έχουν λεφτά είναι ηθικά εξαθλιωμένοι.
Η φτώχεια πιέζει για επιβίωση. Η ανάγκη για επιβίωση δεν αφήνει περιθώρια για ανθρωπιά.
Όλα έχουν να κάνουν με αναζήτηση πέσος για να βγάλουμε τη μέρα.
Μέχρι το τέλος.
Μέσα σε αυτή τη συνθήκη ο Gutierrez χωράει άφθονο σεξ. Παντού. Συνέχεια. Αλλά όχι αισθητικά κοινα αποδεκτό. Βρώμικο. Κυριολεκτικά.
Δυσωδία από αποχετεύσεις, ιδρώτα, σκατα, όλες οι σελίδες λερωμένες.
Αν αντέχεις πορευεσαι. Και σε κάποια σημεία θα γελάσεις. Ακόμα αναρωτιέμαι για την τόση διάθεση για σεξ. Οι άνθρωποι περιγράφονται πολλές φορές σαν ζώα που απλά υπάρχουν επιβιώνουν και πηδιουνται.
Σε κάθε περίπτωση καταφέρνει να σε βυθίζει μαζί του σε ο,τι αυτός περιγράφει ως καθημερινότητα στην Κούβα. Παρέα με ένα κακής ποιότητας, μπουκάλι ρούμι.

lsparrow's review

4.0

Such a raw gritty and sensual book. I love the style of writing- different from what I usually read - a collection of stories of the authors life and the lives of those around him. It is a book about life in the most immediate and basic sense.

jkjaen's review against another edition

1.0

No me gustó nada, capítulos repetitivos, siempre la misma historia autoconcluyente que se vuelve tediosa y previsible.

rachelevolve's review

2.0

It's hard for me to believe that this man, being so broke and hard-up had sex with so many women. If it were gay sex, then I'd believe it, but I will never believe that life in Cuba is so excruciatingly difficult that women are fucking random commoners just because they've become disillusioned and have nothing better to do with their impoverished lives. Women just don't do that, no matter how broke they are. Especially when they're broke, they're not going to give their shit away for free when they're starving. It's like "I'm starving, my kids are too, there's no food on the table, as you can see, and you want to fuck?"
It's too unbelievable, and the entire book centered around all of his casual sexual affairs. It's quite typical of Hispanic men to lie about how many women they've had, or how many women they think want them. They are so diluted like that it makes me laugh my ass off.

transguyrudy's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Misogyny

sadiereadsagain's review against another edition

2.0

I'm not sure if I really enjoyed this, to be honest. Its three stories, but I can't really see any reason for them being separated into a trilogy rather than a bunch of short stories. There is no storyline in any of the three parts, every chapter is just a different account of supposed daily life of those struck by the crippling poverty & awful quality of life in 90's Havana. That element itself is what I enjoyed about the book, as it was a culture & place I knew nothing of before reading this book. What killed the book for me was the horrific use of macho & sexual bravado, which to me just came across as desperate & boring. According to this book every woman in Havana is a whore, people fuck on every street corner, its acceptable for a man to jerk off in the street, no one seems to get STDs, & women are struck dumb by the beauty of a hard cock. It just sounds like this guy has never had sex in his life, & the sexual overkill was such a turn off. Its a shame, as the writing would have been so much more effective had he chosen the sexual episodes more carefully & used them more sparingly.

diggitalot's review

2.0

Genialiskt bra eller bara snuskig. Det är inte helt lätt att bestämma vad den här boken är eller vill vara, kanske måste jag bestämma mig för att den är både och.
Pedro Juan är både författaren och huvudpersonen som tar oss med genom ett Havanna som är ruttet, fattigt och våldsamt men där finns också hopp och något enstaka skratt. Något som det inte är ont om är sex, rom och droger som gör att människorna orkar en dag till av fattigdom och elände. För att minska risken att bli klassad som snuskgubbe kan jag inte annat än sätta ett lågt betyg på den här boken men gränsen mellan geni och skit är hårfin.

presoblu's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

alfred0hdz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

(4.5)

Sorpresivamente me gustó mucho