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lesliebeach's review against another edition
Of the many perspectives in this book, the one that felt like a resting place from utter despair was that of a thirteen year old girl who had already committed suicide and was commenting from beyond the grave. That is to say, this book is sad. Very sad. This is not surprising, as it's semi-autobiographical, and Reinaldo Arenas is the writer made recognizable to contemporary US readers by the movie Before Night Falls. I picked it up expecting something different, put it down, picked it up again, and allowed it to move me, maybe a little too much, as I felt fairly despairing myself as I was reading it. It takes a while to settle into Arenas' free-flowing language. When you do, it's lovely, easily spliced into your own thoughts-- if you are willing to allow your own thoughts to be, yes, rather sad.
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