THE MORNING AFTER

by Victor Franco ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

is rumored Jean Paul Sartre's sad second thoughts of Cuba characterized he revolution and its leaders as having ""all the elements of a bad tragedy"". Whether the rumor be true or not, the remark seems to sum up the impressions of another French writer. He went to the island trouble spot without any blinkers, Left or Right; he travelled from Havana to the Sierras, interviewed Castro and Guevara, and even their rch-foes, the MRP underground forces. Quite early, however, he lost any impartiality be might have had, and his report is largely a thumbs-down account of the dog days, of atinized Marxism-Leninism, of a police state ""of the people"" with bloodshedding soldiers in the arena, bloodthirsty crowds in the stands and blackguards calling the hots. It is as the French say, a little exagere, somewhat overdone and one-sided, even though its prose style is cool, casual, almost careless. For the record, there are shortages of milk, meat, cheese, salt; everybody suspects everybody else; brain-ashed youths, both girls and boys, romp through the streets shouting slogans; the uch-vaunted literacy campaign is merely a euphemism for mass indoctrination; ""priest"" s synonomous with ""plague""; the peasants are about the only ones satisfied; the others, the urban workers, grumble but guardedly, of course. There are many anecdotes, a few adventures, some ""scoops"". A not particularly penetrating tour.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Praeger

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1963

Categories: NONFICTION