vtxedgar

Before Night Falls is provocative, engaging, and eloquently written. The beginning is a harsh introducion with Arenas near his death bed, then starts from his earliest childhood memories in Cuba and moves forward forty years to his life in New York. Style-wise, I love the way this book is composed in fragments. Some of them resemble traditional chapters, but other take on a single subject, such as "the earth" or "witches," and briefly examine his relationship to that subject. Different lights are shed on his identity throughout the book: his sexuality, his politics, and his art. Of the these three factors, politics seemed to be more of a backdrop; an ever-looming presence that was out to combat his free spirit. Arenas's life was one that lacked routine, which is likely one reason this is a captivating autobiography. Aside from his work at the National Library, there wasn't a daily agenda of hopping from one institution to the next, as seen in American life. He followed the heat; he chased his passions. Those two main passions were his writing and his sexuality. The book takes us into the reality of Castro's revolution, where Arenas must smuggle his books out of Cuba in order to publish them--since his writing, even fiction, is considered counterrevolutionary, his works are often destroyed. One novel, Farewell to the Sea, he had to rewrite twice. His attitute towards sex is very matter-of-fact; broader than his homoesexuality, he was more of an all-encompassing sexual being. That's why this book is only intended for mature and open-minded readers, as the sexual encounters are often raw and completely honest. Don't make the mistake, though, of assuming he's a sexual animal--he refused to make love with any prisoner, saying that it would have been an act of degradation rather than one of beauty. Director Julian Schnabel did not take shock value to the film, which is why I recommend reading the book and then watching Before Night Falls. Since the film leaves out a lot (understandably so, all adaptions have to) you'll have a much better understanding of what's going on in Arenas's head if you decide to watch it.

2022-11-14 13:48