Book Review The Black Cathedral by Marcial Gala

 

  This... book -  it was an adventure!  I have a lot of mixed feelings about this one! 

I have been reading

Ada Ferrer's  Amazing history of Cuba, and I wanted to pair it with some Cuban writers, and I really only knew Jose Marti and Leonardo Padura.  A search through Libby for some Cuban authors brought this one up. It advertised that it was a portrait of a broken utopia, so I thought, let's try this one out.  

Keeping in mind that this novel was read in translation, I fear I may have missed the twisted satire a bit, thought I caught some of it. 

     In summary-- with no spoilers, this novel follows a family as they move to a neighborhood on the edge of being a bad one- in a southern city in Cuba. Mr. Stuart is a minister and begins to raise funds to build a spectacular house of worship.  The story  unfold with very little "plot" and is more of a slice of life told by multiple narrators - gossips, neighbors both young and old, serial killers and a few ghosts. 

 The writing was excellent and evocative and thought provoking. Readers get a glimpse of Cuba as the narrators grow and change with Cuba as a nation growing and changing. I did enjoy the changes seen in several main characters, and was equally thrilled and horrified by the resident serial killer indeed. 

I did feel like the entire novel really embraces a  "Slice of life" style which over all is not my favorite. We have a distinct beginning with the arrival of Mr. Stuart and his unusual family, but the novel itself then sort of fans out to provide almost cameos of each interesting member of the neighborhood, rather than a novel focused on the arrival, settling in and moving away  of the Stuart family.  

So for me this is not going to be one of my favorite reads of the year.  I feel that reading it in the original language may have helped me, but alas, I am not fluent to read.  I feel that the perceived flaw - with a less solid plot- may have been intentional, so I can't say it's poorly executed, I can just say that the more nebulous plot is just kind of "not my favorite" style of novel. 

So- I do recommend this for people interested in Cuban literature,  weird literature, and books in translation. If you are looking for a story with a defined Beginning-Middle-End, this one may not satisfy you in that way. 

     STATS

First Published : January 2021

Pages: 224

Available as an Audio Book : YES

Trigger Warnings: violence, blood, death, grief, racism, Cannibalism, murder, As always not a complete list, please read responsibly.