Translated by Frank Wynne
My second read for Spanishlit month was The Fallen a Cuban novel from the lovely Fitzcarraldo that I bought specifically for this reading challenge. What I know of Cuba comes mainly from TV and from people I know who have been on holiday there, their experiences entirely different from those who actually live in the country of course.
Carlos Manuel Álverez’s debut novel The Fallen tells the story of an ordinary family living together in Cuba. It’s a short novel, tender and at times painful. The novel is narrated by each member of the family in turn – the son, the mother, the father, the daughter, they are Diego, Mariana, Armando and Maria. This is a family living in quiet crisis – they are struggling to adequately take care of each other, so many things are going unspoken between them.
Diego the son is disillusioned – at eighteen he is forced to endure the obligatory military service; he leaves home bitter and angry. Every minute of his service – the boredom of long hours of guard duty – he longs to have his service over with. He is a young man frustrated by the limited freedoms that his country allows him and others. He wonders how his mother is, phones and asks her how she is, has she fallen today? He wishes that he had a father who would have bribed the admissions board to get him out of the military service he so detests.
“At 10.30 pm. Insects are fluttering around the bare yellow bulb on the quad, a background hum that grows louder as the night wears on. Anything that breaks the silence clearly benefits the soldier and his mental health.”
(the Son)
His mother Mariana is unwell, her life has changed, and she is having to relinquish some of the duties of the family home to her daughter. Once she was a teacher, now she stays in the family apartment all day.
“What exactly am I, if I already know I am not this flesh? Where is my house, my home? What part of me can they kill that does not ache? What part would hurt like a distant relative? What part would hurt like a family member and what part would hurt as though it were me? I am not a corpuscle moving through my own body from crown to toe. I lie quite still, curled up behind some specific zone, trying to make sure that death does not find me. I look at my hand, move it, and it seems independent of me. I understand that I am not this hand, that I am located somewhere outside it.”
(the mother)
She has been receiving unpleasant, anonymous phone calls – on the phone shared by them and other families in their block that no one else uses. She thinks she knows who might be responsible. And recalls a long held resentment between her and a neighbour and former colleague.
Armando is a committed revolutionary, but he is frequently dismayed by the corruption he encounters on an almost daily basis. He works as a manager in a state owned tourist hotel, he was transferred there from his previous role elsewhere.
“… I am an honest and irreproachable boss, like Che Guevara, who once visited a bicycle factory where the lickspittle manager tried to give him a bicycle for his daughter and Che put him in his place, saying that these bicycles weren’t his, meaning the manager’s, that they belonged to the state and he had no right to give them away.”
(The father)
Armando tells the Che Guevara bicycle story frequently to anyone he suspects may be acting for their own interests. It’s a story that his family are very familiar with. He is proud of the ’95 Nissan that he drives, but it is constantly running out of petrol – and he can’t work out why.
Maria has now left school and has been working in one of the state run tourist hotels. After she has been working in the hotel for a while her father is appointed as manager. She worries about her mother, devastated by her mother’s illness, she finds her own way to help. She has a boyfriend called René a chauffeur from the hotel who has become her father’s driver. Marie has started stealing from the hotel and René helps.
This exploration of family is superb – through the eyes of these four individuals we gradually begin to unravel some of the truths of this family. Álverez’s portrait of modern Cuba is a poignant one – a reminder of how simple freedoms some of us can take for granted are denied to others. Álverez shows us the clear divisions that exist between one generation and the next – the clash of idealism and cynical realism.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Fallen – what a truly excellent debut it is. Also, these Fitzcarraldo editions are just so beautiful, classy and stylish – and judging by this, my third read from their stable – the contents are rather classy too.
I don’t think I’ve read a Cuban novel novel apart from Cristina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban which, as I remember, was about a family split by emigration. This sounds a good place to start.
I think this must have been my first Cuban novel. I really enjoy these kinds of family stories. The dynamic between generations is always fascinating.
I don’t think I’d heard of this book until you mentioned it a few weeks ago. It sounds very accomplished, a compelling combination of the personal and subtly political. We need independent publishers like Fitzcarraldo more than ever right now, especially in the current economic climate…
To be honest, I only came across it by accident when I was looking at the Fitzcarraldo website. I certainly agree with you about the importance of these independent publishers.
It sounds marvellous, Ali, and although I love Fitzcarraldos I hadn’t come across this one. Cuba fascinates me, and that conflict between generations with regard to revolutionary convictions is so interesting. I may have to investigate when I get the TBR down a bit… ;D
Cuba is fascinating, probably because of its tumultuous history. If it helps my tbr has sort of exploded – again. 😁
This does sound absolutely fascinating and a real insight into the country. I’ve just bought a book for very small children in Spanish to be my contribution to Spanish lit month!
It definitely gives some insight into the realities of the country, which I enjoyed. Enjoy your Spanish book.
I don’t know about you, but just the small glimpse that I had of Cuba in recent months (inspired by my desk calendar project and a mystery novel) made me keenly interested in the country. Its history seems so fascinating!
Oh yes, Cuba and its history is fascinating.