Synopses & Reviews
Many critics consider
The Initials of the Earth to be the quintessential novel of the Cuban Revolution and the finest work by the Cuban writer and filmmaker Jesanduacute;s Dandiacute;az. Born in Havana in 1941, Dandiacute;az was a witness to the Revolution and ardent supporter of it until the last decade of his life. In 1992 he took up residence as an exile in Berlin and later in Madrid, where he died in 2002. This is the first of his books to be translated into English.
Originally written in the 1970s, then rewritten and published simultaneously in Havana and Madrid in 1987, The Initials of the Earth spans the tumultuous years from the 1950s until the 1970s, encompassing the Revolution and its immediate aftermath. The novel opens as the protagonist, Carlos Pandeacute;rez Cifredo, sits down to fill out a questionnaire for readmission to the Cuban Communist Party. It closes with Carlos standing before a panel of Party members charged with assessing his merit as an andldquo;exemplary worker.andrdquo; The chapters between relate Carlosandrsquo;s experiences of the pre- and postrevolutionary era. His family is torn apart as some members reject the Revolution and flee the country while others, including Carlos, choose to stay. He witnesses key events including the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban missile crisis, and the economically disastrous sugar harvest of 1970. Throughout the novel, Dandiacute;az vividly renders Cuban culture through humor, slogans, and slang; Afro-Cuban religion; and references to popular music, movies, and comics.
This edition of The Initials of the Earth includes a bibliography and filmography of Diazandrsquo;s works and a timeline of the major events of the Cuban revolutionary period. In his epilogue, the Cuban writer Ambrosio Fornet reflects on Dandiacute;azandrsquo;s surprising 1992 renunciation of the Revolution, their decades-long friendship, and the novelandrsquo;s reception, structure, and place within Cuban literary history.
Review
andldquo;The Initials of the Earth is an emblematic novel of the Cuban Revolution, and the most significant of those set in the Cuba of the 1960s. . . . [It] is the novel that gives voice to the ways in which Cubansandmdash;and particularly young revolutionariesandmdash;experienced [those] years of epic change and crisis.andrdquo;andmdash;Ambrosio Fornet, from the epilogue
Review
andldquo;This translation of Las Iniciales de la tierra is an exceptional event, and a rare chance to experience Cuban revolutionary literature first-hand.andrdquo;andmdash;Fredric Jameson, from the foreword
Review
andldquo;The chronology, the notes, the bibliography and the map help us understand where Jesanduacute;s Dandiacute;az was coming from in 1987 and where he ended up. . . . And the translation, by Kathleen Ross, is splendid: inventive, idiomatic and precise without being pedantic.andrdquo;
Synopsis
""The Initials of the Earth" is an emblematic novel of the Cuban Revolution, and the most significant of those set in the Cuba of the 1960s. . . . [It] is the novel that gives voice to the ways in which Cubans--and particularly young revolutionaries--experienced [those] years of epic change and crisis."--Ambrosio Fornet, from the epilogue
Synopsis
A translation from the Spanish of Jesús Díaz’ masterful novel of the Cuban revolution.
Synopsis
Considered by many the quintessential novel of the Cuban Revolution, this is the first book by the Cuban writer and filmmaker Jesand#250s Dand#237;az (1941and#8211;2002) to appear in English.
About the Author
Jesanduacute;s Dandiacute;az (1941andndash;2002) was a prominent Cuban writer, filmmaker, and intellectual. His novels include Las cuatro fugas de Manuel, Dime algo sobre Cuba, and Las palabras perdidas. He wrote screenplays and directed movies, including Lejanandiacute;a and Polvo rojo. Dandiacute;az was the founder of the influential cultural magazine Encuentro, which publishes the work of Cuban writers on the island and in exile.
Table of Contents
The Initials of the Earth by Jesus Diaz 3
Epilogue / Ambrosio Fornet 371
Afterword / Kathleen Ross 395
Notes 401
Glossary 425
Bibliography 429
Foreword / Fredric Jameson xi
Translatorandrsquo;s Preface / Kathleen Ross xvii
Brief Chronology of Events in Cuba, 1942andndash;75 xxi