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Waiting for Snow in Havana | 
 enlarge | Manufacturer: The Free Press
Category: EBooks
List Price: $11.99
Buy New: $9.59
You Save: $2.40 (20%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  72 reviews
Sales Rank: 5505
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Dewey Decimal Number: 972.9123063092
ASIN: B000FC0WFQ
Publication Date: January 7, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
In 1962, at the age of eleven, Carlos Eire was one of 14,000 children airlifted out of Cuba, his parents left behind. His life until then is the subject of Waiting for Snow in Havana, a wry, heartbreaking, intoxicatingly beautiful memoir of growing up in a privileged Havana household -- and of being exiled from his own childhood by the Cuban revolution. That childhood, until his world changes, is as joyous and troubled as any other -- but with exotic differences. Lizards roam the house and grounds. Fights aren't waged with snowballs but with breadfruit. The rich are outlandishly rich, like the eight-year-old son of a sugar baron who has a real miniature race car, or the neighbor with a private animal garden, complete with tiger. All this is bathed in sunlight and shades of turquoise and tangerine: the island of Cuba, says one of the stern monks at Carlos's school, might have been the original Paradise -- and it is tempting to believe. His father is a municipal judge and an obsessive collector of art and antiques, convinced that in a past life he was Louis XVI and that his wife was Marie Antoinette. His mother looks to the future; conceived on a transatlantic liner bound for Cuba from Spain, she wants her children to be modern, which means embracing all things American. His older brother electrocutes lizards. Surrounded by eccentrics, in a home crammed with portraits of Jesus that speak to him in dreams and nightmares, Carlos searches for secret proofs of the existence of God. Then, in January 1959, President Batista is suddenly gone, a cigar-smoking guerrilla named Castro has taken his place, and Christmas is canceled. The echo of firing squads is everywhere. At the Aquarium of the Revolution, sharks multiply in a swimming pool. And one by one, the author's schoolmates begin to disappear -- spirited away to the United States. Carlos will end up there himself, alone, never to see his father again. Narrated with the urgency of a confession, Waiting for Snow in Havana is an both an exorcism and an ode to a paradise lost. More than that, it captures the terrible beauty of those times in our lives when we are certain we have died -- and then are somehow, miraculously, reborn.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 67 more reviews...
 One of the Best Books I've Ever Read December 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved this childhood memoir and I felt it is not only one of the best non-fiction books I've read, but it competes with my favarite: fiction. It has the feel of fiction as the people in the author's life and the author himself all had very vivid imaginations. So at times, the story felt totally fictionally. For instance, the father believed they were descendents of Marie Antoinette so decisions were made based on that belief.
I never knew one could have Magic Realism in non-fiction, but now I understand when my Latino friend says that life in Latin America IS Magically real. It really is.
BUY THIS BOOK OR BORROW IT, BUT DEFINITELY READ IT!
Memorble and Endearing September 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am married to a pedro pan kid/man Ovidio Fernandez now 58, and have read many books on the pedro pan saga. This one is the most memorable and touching of them all. I lost my copy in the katrina flood and have violated my promise,not to replace lost books, by purchasing this one beloved book.
 Escaping Cuba September 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Very good, ethereal account of Eire's time in Cuba before being sent to the US on his own at age 12 to escape Communist Cuba. Sad, funny, disturbing.
Ultimately, I think its mostly joyful, though. If you look at the photo of Carlos as a small boy, and as a 50-something Yale U. professor of History and Religion, the same tight-lipped smile and smiling eyes come through. The boy became the man, despite the worst, and some of these experiences do count as worst.
 Not all its cracked up to be July 9, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I forced myself to finish this book. I say that because I have no idea what all these people are talking about. I LOVE to read- honestly, i probably read 10 books a month. Finding good books that you can't put down is my hobby. Not to say this book isn't good, because it is, but the good parts are so intermixed with the author's worthless drivel thoughts about NOTHING that you can't focus on the good stuff. I found myself skimming through entire chapters and i NEVER do that!
It IS a moving memoir about the Cuban Revolution and I like that part, but aside from that, I did not enjoy it. After reading the book, I know a TINY bit more about the Cuban revolution and ALOT more about this guy's hatred of lizards and his fear of his grandmother's house.
Some people may like it, just like some people like Picasso. That is what I would equate it to- a newer style of writing where the author thinks that the average reader WANTS to know every single worthless thought that runs through his head- and some of that may be interesting. But after the book, you definitely wonder if someone would buy your own book if you wrote down everything you were thinking about and disguised it under an interesting time in history. Just like Picasso, you think "I could probably do this on my own if I wanted."
Skip it. Buy something you can't put down because this is definitely not one of those!
Vivid portrayal of pre-Revolutionary Cuba May 9, 2008
Eire is a master of practical prose and humourous metaphors. And this, his memoir of his once carefree days of childhood in Cuba before the Revolution, abounds in both. It was very enjoyable to read as the author vividly dipicted everyday life in Havana, from his quirky family life to his reckless escapades with his buddies. He really does make you feel, hear, see, smell, and taste what he did growing up. It's easy to be swiftly swept away by the author's personal and disarming style as he recounts the time he and his friends blew up one of those hateful lizards with a firecracker. Or the time his Catholic teacher warned him of immorality. Or how his elementary crush was horrifyingly brought out in public.
Despite these comical stories, Eire does carry a great deal of gravity, especially when referring to Castro in bitterness. His inside view of the horrors and bloodiness that accompanied the Revolution makes it painfully real to the reader. He creates an indignance against the ruthless dictator and sympathy towards the suffering Cubans. Thank you, Mr. Eire, for bringing these injustices with all their force to reality for us.
My only issue with this book is the careless and flippant way the author(a professor of religious studies at Yale) seems to treat God. He repeatedly uses Jesus' name and all the images in his childhood home as a subject of jest. And he tries (inadequately in my opinion) to explain faith with reason, something that simply cannot be done.
So go ahead and read or even buy this book, it will be well worth it and you'll enjoy it. Only keep your head on when you come to the religious parts.
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