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Telex from Cuba A Novel Rachel Kushner 9781416561033 Books

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Telex from Cuba A Novel Rachel Kushner 9781416561033 Books

I’ve read Rachel Kushner’s three novel out of sequence, starting with Flamethrower and finishing with Telex From Cuba. Till I read this one I thought I was watching a major talent maturing but in fact she burst onto the literary scene fully developed, in command of her talents, which are prodigious.
Telex from Cuba takes as a framework the events surrounding Castro’s overthrow of Batista , the oppression of the Cuban people by American corporate interests, and interweaves fictional narratives that bring the story more immediately to life, all the racism and cluelessness of the occupiers, all the skullduggery of rebel forces.
“As if posing for photographs or focusing on what to save and call a souvenir, made the present instantly the past.” Ms. Kushner has a talent for observation that made this book a delight to read on many levels.


Tags : Telex from Cuba: A Novel [Rachel Kushner] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Rachel Kushner has written an astonishingly wise, ambitious, and riveting novel set in the American community in Cuba during the years leading up to Castro's revolution -- a place that was a paradise for a time and for a few. The first novel to tell the story of the Americans who were driven out in 1958,Rachel Kushner,Telex from Cuba: A Novel,Scribner,141656103X,Historical - General,Americans;Cuba;Fiction.,Cuba;History;1933-1959;Fiction.,Cuba;History;Fiction.,1933-1959,American First Novelists,American Historical Fiction,Americans,Cuba,FICTION Coming of Age,FICTION Historical General,FICTION Literary,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Historical,History,Literary,national book award; best of 2008; the flamethrowers; oscar hijuelos; lynne tillman; lisa fugard; heidi julavits; junot diaz; fidel castro; batista; cuban revolution; united fruit; chiquita; sugar plantation; red brigades; futurism; new York art scene; soho galleries; 1970s new york; Cuban American; U.S.-Cuba reconciliation; full relations with Cuba; embargo; the mars room;

Telex from Cuba A Novel Rachel Kushner 9781416561033 Books Reviews

The author captured the times and the setting very well. I enjoyed reading many of the scenes, however, for me, it failed to really capture me. If I hadn't been reading it for book club, I probably wouldn't finish. Still, its hard to put my finger on why. I was traveling and found it difficult to get my head back into each time I picked it up. I didn't really relate to or care about any specific character, and in some ways, the revolution seemed trivial. Diverted by the sexual practices of various characters, I just found it difficult to care.
Still, the author writes well and I found many individual scenes fascinating.
This book describes events that occurred before and during the transition of Cuba from Batista to Castro. The story has several different narrators from children of wealthy American families living and working there to prostitutes and a soldier of fortune. The story seems authentic but is fictional. It describes how some of the Americans lived lavish lives and had a prestige in Cuba which they would not have had in their own country.My favorite scene in the book depicts the never do well Carrington returning home after being kidnapped by the rebels. it is dark and all the lights are on in his house, his wife is looking out the window but she can only see her own reflection. Carrington always the opportunist makes a life changing decision as suggested by the circumstances . There are no heroes in the story only people who revert to type when their fiefdom ends.
First, this novel is full of fascinating details about Cuba and the Americans working for United Fruit Co. and nickel mining in the last days before the revolution overthrowing Batista, ending American economic exploitation and the ascendence of Castro to power. Presumably, it's factual and well researched. Very timely considering the current changing US foreign policy regarding Cuba. Second, the writing is that of a poet - beautiful and evocative.
I give only 4 stars because I found the story telling method to be distracting, some what confusing and slow. I kept wanting the story to move forward with more energy or direction, or tighten up. I kept reading because I liked the characters and I'm very interested in the subject; but I was never confident things would come together or actually lead to an ending. It's worth reading. I could see it transformed into the next prime time TV series ala Mad Men.
First, for disclosure, I grew up near & worked for years in Union City, NJ..a community long preferred by Cuban expats & exiles since Marin & the days of The Spanish American War. I am not Cuban but speak Spanish near fluently, I love Piccadillo & Ropa Vieja, enjoy a Partagas, & have Ibrahim Ferrer & Celia Cruz on my playlists. I am the childhood friend of the children of the characters here, so to speak. Cuba for me is a mystical place. Softened by the patina of age & somehow frozen in time, the place of romanticized rumblings of my friends parents. So when I saw this book advertised on my I jumped at it. I'm so glad I did.

Between the Caribbean's pirates of fame & the Buffet's or Bahama's of today there was an age of Americans who lived the lifestyle those groups would create if combined. Industrial privateers who moved to the islands to take what they could provide, creating a lifestyle & image of myth. The white jacketed tropical gentleman who brought to American culture the words Bacardi, daiquiri, Cohiba & rumba. Men who were also modern pirates. Leaving questionable lives behind in the states to create a new persona in the welcome & fertile climes of the tropics...while generating massive profit. As gentle as this image seems, it still bred deceit, espionage, and revolution. This book takes you to this simultaneously gentler & more violent age.

My suggestion for reading this book is to do so in the style of its characters. Cuban music, fire up a Partagas, Monte Cristo, or Cohiba, sit in the sun & sip a mango daiquiri and let it transport you in place and time.
I enjoyed reading Telex from Cuba. I have been reading about Cuba in preparation for an upcoming trip to the island nation. I was looking for a contemporary novel set in Cuba to help me get a mental geographical setting for the place. I liked the writing of the characters from two or three perspectives' points of view. The United Fruit Company town reminded me of the setting of the Panama Canal Zone while it was under the US government. Natives of the respective countries were not allowed into stores, clubs, and other amenities in the United Fruit Co. town (village) or the Canal Zone. The book was not a page turner for me, but worth the reading. I started reading Waiting for Snow in Havana, by Carlos Eire, soon after finishing Telex. It feels like Eire's book picks up where Telex ended. If you are interested in reading about Cuba in the years shortly before the Revolution, I recommend Telex from Cuba.
I’ve read Rachel Kushner’s three novel out of sequence, starting with Flamethrower and finishing with Telex From Cuba. Till I read this one I thought I was watching a major talent maturing but in fact she burst onto the literary scene fully developed, in command of her talents, which are prodigious.
Telex from Cuba takes as a framework the events surrounding Castro’s overthrow of Batista , the oppression of the Cuban people by American corporate interests, and interweaves fictional narratives that bring the story more immediately to life, all the racism and cluelessness of the occupiers, all the skullduggery of rebel forces.
“As if posing for photographs or focusing on what to save and call a souvenir, made the present instantly the past.” Ms. Kushner has a talent for observation that made this book a delight to read on many levels.