List About Books The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Mambo Kings #1)
| Title | : | The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Mambo Kings #1) |
| Author | : | Oscar Hijuelos |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 407 pages |
| Published | : | 1990 by Penguin Group (first published 1989) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Music |
Oscar Hijuelos
Paperback | Pages: 407 pages Rating: 3.69 | 11410 Users | 493 Reviews
Commentary In Pursuance Of Books The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Mambo Kings #1)
As the weather heats up it is easy to envision oneself on a beach with a rum and Coke in hand. The preferred beverage in Cuba before Castro's take over, rum invokes images of Havana as a city teeming with night life and rivaling Miami as the gateway to Latin America. It is with this sensuous imagery at hand that I selected Oscar Hijuelos' Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love as the next book in my ongoing Pulitzer challenge. The first Hispanic to win the award, Hijuelos' steamy book transports its readers back to a classy time when Mambo and its musicians were indeed Kings. Brothers Cesar and Nestor Castillo hailed from the Oriente province of Cuba. From the simple peasant class, neither had much of a future, especially with a demanding father who expected them to stay on the farm. One day Cesar heard a local band leader practicing, demanded lessons, and the rest is history. Soon, Cesar played his way out of Oriente to Santiago, Havana, and eventually New York. Regarded as a top band leader alongside Nestor, a gifted trumpet player, the brothers founded the Mambo Kings band and catapulted to the top of the Latin music circuit in New York during the late 1940s. Leaving Cuba even before the revolution was not without its share of anguish. Cesar epitomized Hispanic machismo culture and bedded one woman after another. He tried his hand at marriage but grew restless, and his wife divorced him, forcing him to leave his daughter Mariela behind on the island. Nestor did not share his brother's cockiness. A introvert and brooding man, he fell for a pretty girl named Maria and engaged in a long affair with her, only to see her marry another man. Nestor never got over this heartbreak, even after marrying his wife Dolores in New York and having two children, Eugenio and Leticia. This torment the brothers felt lead them to write their one hit song-- Dulce Maria de mi Alma [Beautiful Maria of my Soul] that nearly lead them to stardom. A chance meeting with Cuban star Desi Arnaz lead the brothers to perform Dulce Maria de mi Alma on the I Love Lucy Show. At the time, especially as Castro continued to gain power in Cuba, all Cubans living in the United States stuck close together, even Arnaz who had made it big as a Hollywood star. After this performance, Cesar dwelt on this episode for the rest of his life, reminiscing on his one shining moment and reminding all of his friends and acquaintances that he is the famous Mambo Kings who once performed with Desi Arnaz. Nestor tragically passed away a few years later leaving behind a young family, but Cesar continued to look fondly at this experience on television for better or worse. Hijuelos writes this poignant tale as a two sided record complete with coda. He tells Cesar's story in flashback as both Cesar and his nephew Eugenio look back at a time when Cesar was the Mambo King of New York. In addition to leading a band, Cesar worked a full time day job to support himself and his sister-in-law and her family as well as his friends and musicians and a myriad of Cubans just off the boat. Cesar also oozed machismo until his dying day, bedding one woman after another in true Latin lover form. The prose dripped of sensuous love mixed with pain, of both love lost and the schism of Cubans in the United States and the island following the revolution. As I read this tale of lust and heartbreak, I kept singing Cuban hits such as Guantamera in my mind, setting Cesar Castillo's conflicted life to music. The Mambo King will be long remembered by me as I felt a twinge of sympathy for this man who could not relate to women except in bed while leading a conflicted life. With luscious writing that is could also be construed as an homage to his native Cuba, Hijuelos has merited the Pulitzer for his poignant tale. A story of immigrants who brushed with fame, were scorned by love, and maintained their machismo Cuban culture throughout their lives, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a scintillating tale. I had previously read Hijuelos' The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien and as before was enamored by his writing. A worthy torch bearer as being the first Hispanic authored book to earn the Pulitzer, Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a jewel of a book for me at 4.5 sparkling stars.Itemize Books To The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Mambo Kings #1)
| Original Title: | The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love |
| ISBN: | 0140143912 (ISBN13: 9780140143911) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Mambo Kings #1 |
| Setting: | New York City, New York(United States) Manhattan, New York City, New York(United States) |
| Literary Awards: | Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1990), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for Fiction (1989), National Book Award Finalist for Fiction (1989) |
Rating About Books The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Mambo Kings #1)
Ratings: 3.69 From 11410 Users | 493 ReviewsCriticize About Books The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Mambo Kings #1)
Yeah, it's about excess, but it's a bit...excessive.I really wanted to like this book, but I just could never summon sympathy or interest in the main character, Cesar. This is a rich and sorrowful book, filled with longing, regret, heartache, and loss. The depiction of Latino life and culture could have been exceptional, but was ruined by the never-ending stream of machismo and male sexuality. And the repetitive telling of the 'I Love Lucy' scene made it seem that I was reading the same story over and over. I get that it was a significant event
This book is nostalgic, exotic, erotic and narcotic. It is a beautiful book and I have returned to it several times and each time I am completely swept up emotionally by it. With mere words on a page, the author creates the melodies of the Mambo era, the smells of rural Cuban cane fields, the sweat of a dance hall, the swelter of a New York City summer. The two main characters, Cesar and Nestor love in completely different, but totally compelling, ways. For Nestor, love is an ideal, out of reach
Yeah, it's about excess, but it's a bit...excessive.
Oscar Hijuelos is a truly gifted writer who makes a uniquely American experience and era of music come alive with a passionate honesty for which he is worthy of great credit. One deeply feels the alienation of the brothers in New York where they search for their Cuban heritage and can never get beyond their longing for their lost country. There is an emptiness, a painful longing that can never be filled except by alcohol, music and love. They are trapped within the machismo prevalent in their
As the weather heats up it is easy to envision oneself on a beach with a rum and Coke in hand. The preferred beverage in Cuba before Castro's take over, rum invokes images of Havana as a city teeming with night life and rivaling Miami as the gateway to Latin America. It is with this sensuous imagery at hand that I selected Oscar Hijuelos' Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love as the next book in my ongoing Pulitzer challenge. The first Hispanic to win the award, Hijuelos' steamy book transports its
Being Cuban-American myself, I was eager to read this book. I struggled with it. I think it was because Mr. Hijuelos writing style is not for me. Maybe fictional memoirs are not for me. There were a few interesting parts, but for the most part it was very slow and dragged on. How many pages does it take for me to understand that Nestor was lovesick over Maria? Also, I would have to say that not all Cubans have sex on their minds 24/7. I think that Cubans are very passionate people and like to
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