A CANDLE IN THE WIND

by Juan Arcocha ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1967

This is the second novel to have been written under the cleats of Castro's boot (Desnoes' far more allusive Inconsolable Memories -- 1967 -- p. 577). With a somewhat toneless inflection, the revolution is witnessed through the eyes of Luis Enrique as it is converted from an idealistic abstraction (freedom, fraternity, et al) to a more divisive reality. Toward the beginning Luis is told that ""for the Reds...unity is the law of the funnel: sooner or later we all have to be funneled into their cesspool."" By the close when Enrique dies in the lines, still fervent, he has been submitted to many moments of doubt--vis a vis the woman he once loved who now expediently has an affair with him while her husband is imprisoned; his brother who remains uncommitted and finally leaves for the States; his putative ""friend"" Manolo, up from poverty, for whom the revolution is clearly a class retaliation. During the course of the ex-position, various doctrinal positions as well as individual situations do not alter the experience itself which is reduced to a simple and arbitrary schema. Convincing, while yielding little to Sympathies inside or outside Castro's Cuba.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lyle Stuart

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1967

Categories: FICTION