A Simple Habana Melody
Stifled by the oppressive Machado dictatorship, Cuban composer Israel Levis leaves Havana for Paris. But after a few years in the city of love, Levis again suffers oppression, this time beneath the occupying Nazis. Mistaken for a Jew because of his name and his Jewish lover, he is sent to Buchenwald. He survives, but returns to Cuba a disillusioned man. There he reminisces about his early life: his dutiful care of his mother, his escapades in brothels and nightclubs, his relationship with famous entertainer Rita Valladares, and his composition of Rosas Puras, “a simple Habana melody” that became known the world over.
Despite an imposing outward presence, Levis is a timid man. Through Levis’s experiences, the author shows how fear of breaking with convention, of taking chances, can affect the course of an individual’s life. How questions of destiny, religion, and love shape thoughts and actions. He provides an intimate picture of early 20th century Cuba, at times drawing subtle parallels with the Cuba of today. Haunting, thought-provoking, earthy, and entertaining, Oscar Hijuelos’s latest novel is well worth the read.
