|
I normally don't care to quote passages from the books that I review for Bookreporter.com. I'm always afraid of giving something away, or having it make little sense out of context, or (the most likely occurrence) making a mistake in the transcription. There is a passage in HAVANA, Stephen Hunter's new novel, that blew away all such reservations and resistance, and that illustrates perfectly why, when this man publishes a new novel, all other activity at casa de Hartlaub ceases until the tale is read from cover to cover. This particular paragraph is found near the end of the book, an unforgettable collection of sentences in a novel full of them:
"It is 4 a.m. on Zanja Street, the hour of Odudua, the dark mistress of the underworld according to the cosmology that is Santeria. Odudua is married to Obatala, whose job is to finish creation; hers is to destroy it. As you might imagine, it is not a happy marriage. So she wanders alone at night, deciding who to take."
In these sentences, Hunter sets up the carnage that is to follow and at the same time presents a cosmic rationale for what has gone before, providing the reader with some inside knowledge in the bargain and getting the job done with some unforgettable prose. Hunter writes prosaically of death; his protagonist, Earl Lee Swagger, is a walking contradiction, a man capable of great and terrible violence yet who is not a violent man by nature. He simply does that which must be done, and frequently is called upon to do it.
HAVANA is set in 1953, when the island of Cuba is the subject of business interests, legitimate and otherwise. A young would-be revolutionary named Fidel Castro has attracted the interest of the right and wrong people, and it is decided by some that he should be done away with as an example. Others, however, feel he should come under their protection. Swagger is recruited as the bodyguard for an Arkansas congressman who is traveling to Cuba, ostensibly on a fact-finding mission. This duty results in Swagger being dropped as unwitting chum into a choppy diplomatic ocean, aware of his duties on the surface but unaware of his real purpose in Cuba. In actuality, Swagger has been brought to Cuba to assassinate Fidel Castro before the young firebrand attracts too much of a following. When events take an unexpected turn, however, Swagger finds himself stranded in a land he doesn't know, with nothing but his wits --- and the unexpected honor of a worthy adversary --- to see him through.
Hunter continues his practice of placing Swagger within a historical setting and letting each play off of the other. Swagger's meeting with Ernest Hemingway, which takes little more than a page to relate, is worth the price of admission alone. Hunter's attention to detail makes the Havana of the 1950s come alive. His style is interesting; he can be extremely funny at times, but when describing Swagger his tone is unrelentingly grim, and appropriately so. The contrasts, the change-ups, help move the story along (not that it needs such assistance).
Hunter continues to expand the Swagger mythos with HAVANA, further developing his character while keeping him true to what has (recently) gone before. I cannot wait for what is to come.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
• Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
© Copyright 1996-2010, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
Back to top.
|
