Una sencilla melodía habanera (A Simple Habana Melody)

Kirkus Reviews

Del autor galardonado con el Premio Pulitzer por Los Reyes del Mambo Tocan Canciones de Amore , nos viene "una obra maestra en historia, música, admiración y tristeza, que ciñe a cabalidad un siglo lleno de grandes dificultades. Fascinante."

Criticas

Hijuelos won the Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for the best-selling Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Los reyes del mambo tocan canciones de amor, HarperLibros, 1996). This is the translation of his well-received 2002 novel, loosely based on the life of Moises Simons, the famous Cuban composer who paved the way for the international rumba craze of the 1930s with "El Manisero" ("The Peanut Vendor"). Here, Simons becomes Israel Levis and his song, the romantic "Rosas puras" ("Pure Roses"). A devout Catholic mama's boy, Levis suffers from a Madonna-whore syndrome, frequently visiting bordellos and nurturing a secret passion for Rita Valladares, the singer who inspired his hit song. Like Simons, Levis flees the political terrors of 1930s Cuba for the luxuries of Paris, only to stumble into a far more horrific world. Because of his Sephardic Catalan name and his relationship with a Jewish ballet teacher, the Nazis send him to Buchenwald for two years. Upon his return to Cuba in 1947, the musician writes down the reminiscences that make up this book. Hijuelos's poetic language creates a loving postcard to old times-Levis meets many of the icons of his era, including George Gershwin and Charlie Chaplin-and to a dreamlike and musical Havana, which, much like Rita, he never got to know well enough. This musical evocation seems more successful here than in the acclaimed Mambo Kings. Cuban-native Badu maintains the novel's poetic images and its nostalgia for a time "when the world was good." His easy-flowing, high-quality translation will appeal to readers interested in old popular music (not only Cuban) and in WWII Europe. Recommended for bookstores, libraries, and book clubs.
—Dolores M. Koch, NewYork City Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.