"My friend, the thing is that those kids don't believe in anything because they're not finding anything to believe in." Leonardo Padura, Heretics
Gran emoción en La Habana! Fans of Mario Conde are in for a treat. Heretics features the ex-cop’s rum-fueled saga dealing with a fist full of mysteries both in twenty-first century Havana and stretching back to seventeenth century Amsterdam.
As perhaps to be expected, Conde has all sorts of emotional support from Tamara, the women he loves, from his faithful dog, Garbage 11, and most especially from his drinking cronies - Skinny, Carlos, Rabbit and Candito the Red. Conde occasionally even has support from his former colleagues on the Havana police force. The wide window into Cuban culture and society via this raucous bunch is nothing short of espectacular.
Leonardo Padura, Cuba's greatest living author, weaves four major threads in his wide-ranging epic fictional tapestry: 1) the story revolving around the ocean liner St. Louis leaving Nazi Germany and refused entry into Havana in 1939; 2) New York artist Elias Kaminsky flying to Havana in 2008 to convey his story to Conde, a story about his connection to Jewish ancestors on shore waiting for passengers to deboard the St. Louis and other ancestors stuck on the ship itself; 3) Jewish artist Elias Ambrosius and his apprenticeship under Amsterdam’s most famous painter - Rembrandt. Also, Elias coming into possession of a particular portrait painted by the Dutch maestro; 4) Conde called into action to locate a missing Havana high schooler which brings the ex-cop (don’t call me detective) into contact with one of the city’s young radical fringe groups.
A number of high points that make this spicy saga memorable:
Colorful Conde: Crisscrossing plots moving apace from beginning to end but our offbeat, intriguing, forever lively and inquisitive detective (don’t call me a detective, Glenn!) is the glue, or, if you like, salsa sauce that holds this monumental, delicious novel together. One thing a reader can always look forward to: when speaking with someone in his quest to crack a case, Conde relies on his intuition as he risks it all by asking a stunning, emotionally-charged, shocking question.
Big, Burly Painter: Elias Kaminsky pulls on his pony tail when his emotions get the better of him - at different stages along the way in uncovering the truth he seeks about his father and a famous Rembrandt painting, the big man frequently tugs on his hair and sheds tears. And, yes, Elias has a new close friend, a man he both loves and respects in the person of a rum drinking Cuban ex-cop.
Heretic of the Modern World: One of the most moving parts of Heretics is the story of young Daniel Kaminsky (father of Elias) and his loving Uncle Joseph aka Pepe the Purseman. As we learn, Joseph is forced to live with two faces, one Jewish, one Cuban. In order to wed the love of his life, a Cuban beauty, Joseph converts to Catholicism. Ah, a heretic! But, wait, let’s not be too hasty in our judgement as the story doesn’t end there.
Heretic of the 1600s: The entire second section of the novel explores how Elias Ambrosius, a Jew, turns himself over to the practice of the forbidden art of portrait painting. Ah, another heretic! Again, let us not be too hasty - Elias turns himself over to other pursuits that might have him travel far and wide, even coming in contact with one Jew by the name of Sabbatai Zevi.
Havana and Amsterdam: Both cities are described with such vivid flair, it's as if the houses and streets, building and bars are living, breathing presences. Having myself visited Amsterdam this past fall, I was thrilled with all the references to Dam Square, the Flower Market, Spui Square, De Waag Esplanade along with the diverse rooms in Rembrandt’s house.
Extreme Heretics: The more Mario Conde learns about the youthful Emos, the more he is blown away. Are these teenagers serious about cutting themselves off from the world around them and cutting their own skin? Are hardcore Emos serious about seeking out ways to become depressed? Not knowing a thing about Emos myself, I was likewise blown away.
Language: Leonardo Padura’s vocabulary and sentences are as rich as the scrumptious Cuban cappuccino desert known as Capuchinos Cubanos. But his words are also very readable and flow along smoothly. Special call-out to translator Anna Kushner here. Sample: “Spring was delivering itself like a gift from the Creator to the city of Amsterdam. Everything was alive again, shaking off the lethargy of ice and the aggressive winter winds that, for months, had beaten the city and oppressed its inhabitants, its animals, its flowers.”
Heretics: In a religious framework, someone whose actions and beliefs go contrary to those established by a certain religion. In a wider context, an individual who strikes out against standardized norms and conventions. From Amsterdam to Havana, from ancient Jewish Laws to modern notions of acceptable behavior and dress, permit me to reinforce how Leonardo Padura’s novel repeatedly hits squarely on the theme of what it means to be counted among the heretics, those bold individuals who dare express and exercise freedom of choice as their undeniable birthright of having been born human. Read all about it. Heretics is a modern classic.
Cuban author Leonardo Padura, born 1953, still lives in the same Havana home he grew up in. Many of his novels are available in English, including Adiós Hemingway, The Man Who Loved Dogs, Havana Fever and the four detective novels comprising the Havana Quartet.
"Note that, from the times of the Gnostics - as Nietzsche would take up again, and now the post-evolutionists - the body is considered a poor container for the soul. Because of that, an important basis for the development of those philosophies, processed by those young people, is that man will not be completely free until any concern regarding the body has disappeared from him. And to begin to distance themselves from the body, they accentuate its ugliness, its darkness. They harm it, they mark it, dirty it, although many times they also drug it to get rid of it without getting rid of it." - Leonardo Padura, Heretics
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