Showing posts with label Leonardo Padura. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leonardo Padura. Show all posts

Friday, April 8, 2011

Friday to Friday: Historical Fiction and Leonardo Padura Fuentes

So how was your week? Mine is finally done! It's still rainy and cold in Jersey, but at least I'm home cozy and warm at the moment. I had a long working-week, but it turned out to be good with one book-related event this last week and some really nice reads.

Last Friday night, as a last minute outing, my brothers invited me to go along with them to meet Leonardo Padura Fuentes, a favorite author, in an evening at the Instituto Cervantes New York at Amster Yard in New York City. Mr. Padura was hosting a chat where he was discussing history and fiction in his latest release, the literary historical fiction novel El Hombre Que Amaba a Los Perros -- you might have seen that book mentioned here before. I've also mentioned my favorite works by him to date, the Inspector Mario Conde series.

It was an informal chat where basically he explained the process used while researching the novel, although he did address the fictional part of the book briefly. However, most of the evening was taken up with questions and answers about Trotsky's fascinating character, as well as that of his assassin, Rafael Mercader.

The key points for me came when he focused on how to pull together all that historical research he gathered throughout five long years and put together a fictional novel.  His points:

  • Respect historical moments when writing the fictional aspect of the story. 
  • Construct fiction as logically as possible while combining it with history. 
  • Characterization is key, especially that of the fictional characters in the book. In El Hombre Que Amaba a Los Perros that would be Ivan, a seemingly insignificant secondary character, but the very important narrator of the story.
  • Take into consideration that in a historical fiction novel there is no mystery as the end is usually well known. 
  • The narrative, making it fast paced and constructing the plot into a novel instead of a historical piece, is key.

Mr. Padura was quite gracious and the question and answer session, where not only this book but his other works were discussed, lasted quite a long time, and he and his beautiful wife gave of their time afterward as well. I took the opportunity to speak to him personally and he signed my book. Meeting him was an unexpected pleasure. 

About the Author: Leonardo Padura was born in 1955 in Havana and lives in Cuba. He is a journalist and writer of novels and essays, as well as screenplays. His literary works include a number of short-story collections, literary essays and nine novels translated into over 15 different languages but international fame came with the Havana Quartet, all featuring Inspector Mario Conde.

The Inspector Mario Conde Series:
  • Pasado perfecto (1991). Havana Blue (2007)
  • Vientos de cuaresma (1994). Havana Gold (2008)
  • Mascaras (1997). Havana Red (2005)
  • Paisaje de otoño (1998). Havana Black (2006)
  • La Neblina de Ayer. Havana Fever (2009)
  • Adiós Hemingway (2005, novella); published with same title in English in 2006 - the first of his books to be translated into English.

Monday, March 1, 2010

February 2010 Reads & Minis: Under Her Skin by Susan Mallery, Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips & Pasado Perfecto by Leonardo Padura

Wow! February was a short/long month for me. Short on days and reads, but long on posts!

It was a month-long love fest between the Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction anthology and me. I had a wonderful time choosing quotes from each story, and in the process re-read the whole book slowly. It was a personal treat, and I hope you enjoyed reading these little quotes as much as I did choosing them. :)

I'd like to give a shout out to my friend Indigene (Cowboy Junkie). The lady who not only recommended this wonderful anthology, but who also sent it to me as a gift. You can check out Indigene's awesome GLTB reviews at Rainbow Reviews any day. But, to check out her Fool for Love review you'll need to go to The Three Dollar Bill Reviews -- a new GLTB review site. Thanks Indi!

When it comes to reading? Well, I was craving contemporary romance and that made up the bulk of my reading, although I did manage to sneak in other genres in there. The Winter Olympics took up a lot of time away from my reading, but I enjoyed them thoroughly so no complaints. Weren't they great?! Now, I'll have to detox. :)

Okay, on to my February reads:

1) The Outback Stars by Sandra McDonald - B- (review here)

2) Ecstasy Unveiled by Larissa Ione - B+ (review here)

3) Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin - Solid B (review here)

4) Under Her Skin (Titan Series, Book 1) by Susan Mallery - B-

This is the first in her Titan Sisters series (4 books).

Under Her Skin was a good read, not great. I thought it had a predictable plot with a couple that had good chemistry, some great interaction between the sisters and one girlfriend, and good writing that kept me reading.

The plot is based on an engagement of convenience between Lexi and Cruz. They obviously have feelings for each other but lots of baggage. Cruz is a good man with flaws -- mainly due to the childhood baggage that he can't seem to let go, and Lexi's the same. She has a lot of "daddy" issues -- all the sisters do. The father is rich, powerful and basically unfeeling and he uses his fortune to set up the sisters against each other -- it doesn't quite work that way though, they get along although it does affect their relationship and their decisions.

I have the next book on my TBR pile and will read it.

5) Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips - B-

Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, is another contemporary romance from her backlist and from my TBR pile, I wanted to read. I liked the setting for this book, it was set in a circus and it made for a different atmosphere. Daisy and Alex were both interesting as a couple. She was supposed to be this flighty, weak-minded person who didn't have any confidence in herself and who grew as a person as the story unfolded. He was supposed to be this strong-minded man who had lots of pride but whose past marked him badly -- an interesting play on strengths and weaknesses.

Although I enjoyed Susan Elizabeth Phillips' writing and the character growth that is usually found in her contemporaries, this book is not a favorite. I didn't find the plot itself, a woman who is forced into marriage by her father to a man who owes him a favor, appealing. The secondary characters were not appealing either, although I did enjoy the parallels Phillips drew between the couple and the animals.

6) Pasado Perfecto by Leonardo Padura (Mario Conde Series, Book 1) (Re-read) - B (thoughts here)

This is the first book in a 4 book series in Spanish. It's a police crime series set in modern Havana, Cuba. The author is a Cuban author who still lives there, not in exile.

In this book he introduces Mario Conde, a Lieutenant in the police department who is investigating the disappearance of a man he knew in High School. A powerful man who happened to marry el Conde's High School crush... well, more like the woman he has lusted after for years, Tamara.

Padura uses Pasado Perfecto (a perfect past), and this investigation to introduce Conde and a set of characters that will reappear in the next three books of the series. I love the way he captures the people, culture and the flavor of the city in these books. He uses the language beautifully -- a combination of Cuban Spanish -- to give the books authenticity and tops it with some darn good writing. Although I would say this is not the best book in the series, it's a great introduction.

There are English translations to this series. Pasado Perfecto's title in English is: Havana Blue.

7) Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas (Re-read) - A- (review here)

8) Glory in Death (In-Death Series, Book 2) - B (review here)

9) Double Play by Jill Shalvis - B Upcoming Review

10) Pleasure of a Dark Prince by Kresley Cole - B+ Upcoming Review

I didn't realize it, but I had mostly B reads this month and I only read two new releases. My TBR pile is diminishing though, so I'm not doing too badly there. How about you? How was your February?

Sunday, February 21, 2010

A thought on nostalgia vs. reality... and Pasado Perfecto by Leonardo Padura

As I began reading Pasado Perfecto by Leonardo Padura, almost immediately I came across a passage that caught my attention:

Se puso los espejuelos oscuros y caminó hacia la parada de la guagua pensando que el aspecto del barrio debía de ser como el suyo: una especie de paisaje después de una batalla casi devastadora, y sintió que algo se resentía en su memoria más afectiva. La realidad visible de la Calzada contrastaba con la imagen almibarada del recuerdo de aquella misma calle, una imagen que había llegado a preguntarse si en verdad era real, si la heredaba de la nostalgia histórica de los cuentos de su abuelo o simplemente la habia inventado para tranquilizar al pasado.


Translation: (done by me: any errors found are mine)
He put on his sunglasses and walked to the bus stop, thinking that the neighborhood looked a lot like him: like a landscape after a devastating battle, and something became offended in his most affective memory. The visible reality of the Calzada contrasted with the sweet, syrupy images he remembered of that same street, and he asked himself if that image was a real one, if he had inherited it from his grandfather's historical and nostalgic tales, or if he had simply invented them to calm the past.

Yes, I thought when I read el Conde's reflection about his neighborhood and the street where he grew up, that's exactly right. How often do we change the past to suit our needs? How often do our memories deceive us when nostalgia takes over to make places, things, or events, beautiful, right, or acceptable when in reality they were not?

Such a shocking thing, to deal with stark reality and see that street for what it really is... for what it probably always was -- except maybe in fantasy-filled memories or those glorious moments of self-deception that often come with nostalgia.  Pasado Perfecto... "a perfect past."


Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas and Book Shopping!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, or Holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas. I had a few days off and really enjoyed them with family and friends. We enjoyed lots of tasty food, wine and best of all some wonderful times spent with family and new memories to treasure.

I did quite well... received books as gifts and bookstore gift certificates this Christmas -- of course I already added a couple of books to the TBR pile -- some I already read! But then I had a few minutes here and there to myself these past few days in between the cooking, baking, get-togethers and shopping. There's always time for reading, right?

One of my brothers gave me a book as a present from a favorite author, it's Leonardo Padura's latest release, "El Hombre que Amaba a Los Perros." Padura is a Cuban author who has received quite a few literary awards and is known for his "Mario Conde" police detective mysteries -- a series I love and one I'll be re-reading and hope to review this coming year. His latest release came out in September 2009 and as far as I know there's no translation available yet, so I'm not sure what the title in English will be, but the literal translation is "The Man who Loved Dogs." It's a historical fiction piece involving Trotsky, his assassin, the Spanish Civil War, their connection to Cuba and of course a modern time mystery. It looks fascinating and pretty ambitious! I'm really looking forward to reading this book. :)


The day after Christmas my husband and I visited our local book store. I've been thinking of getting that tiny, little book by Mary Balogh, "A Matter of Class." It's a hardcover and I finally decided to maybe get it later due to size vs. price, even though I really wanted to read it. Well, my husband surprised me and gave it to me. Wasn't that sweet? He was paying attention! It's a beautiful little book with a great looking jacket, much better looking in person. I read this book already, of course, couldn't help myself. I'll let you know all about it later. *g*

Going back to Leonardo Padura, while at the book store I decided to use one of my Gift Certificates to buy a few books. I began by buying the first book in the "Mario Conde mysteries series "Pasado Perfecto." I bought it in Spanish because it's my preference, however this book has been translated in different languages, English and French included and it's available. Havana Blue (Mario Conde Book 3) is the title in English. A few things don't make sense -- the title for one, the translation escapes me (literal translation "A Perfect Past"), and why this is being called Book 3 when in reality it's Book 1 of the series, it's beyond me. I read these mysteries back in 1999? 2000? I can't remember the exact year, but my brother passed the copies around to me and to our friends and we all loved them. I want my own copies and will be re-reading all of them.

Next, I chose to buy "Naked in Death" by J.D. Robb, the first in the In-Death series. I joined Christine's 2010 In-Death Challenge and although I lucked out and my book sharing buddy sent me books 2 through 5, I was missing the first one. So, now I'm ready to begin reading J.D. Robb, finally!


I also lucked out and saw Sarah Mayberry's January release "Her Secret Fling" and immediately scooped it up! Now, you KNOW that although I have other books by her in my TBR pile, this is one of the books that was read this weekend. It was perfect for the holidays -- short because I didn't have that much time to read and well... it was romance. I'll let you know all about this one later too. :)

And last but not least, I decided to buy Nora Roberts' "Vision in White" in print. I had it in ebook format, but I have "Bed of Roses" in print and these are such beautiful books with gorgeous covers, I knew sooner or later I was going to get that book in print, lol! I know, I know... why buy a book I already read and I already own? Well... that's just me. I collect her books in print -- I should have known better than to buy it in ebook format in the first place. It won't happen again, believe me!


But, hey that's not all! When I arrived home from shopping I had a little package waiting for me from Santa-baby all the way from the North Pole, via Canada! Santa sent me a book I've heard much about and I've been wanting to read, the New Gay Fiction Anthology, "Fool for Love" edited by Timothy J. Lambert and R.D. Cochrane. A gorgeous looking print book I can't wait to read because it's all about the "romance." One of the sweetest surprises I received this Christmas weekend. Thank you for thinking of me, Santa-baby!

Well those were my purchases and gifts, I was looking for other books and was not lucky to find them. The Sci-Fi / Fantasy section and even the Romance section seemed lacking, or maybe they just didn't have the books I was looking for. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go check out another book store. *g*