Havana Noir

By Akashic Books

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Akashic Books
• Release date: Oct 1, 2007
• ISBN: 9781936070237

Reviews for Havana Noir

[clfisha · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not the standard take on Noir, it’s not criminal mysteries but at look at life’s darkness and it’s an interesting blend that has resulted. The authors are a good mix of male/female, old and new and of those that stayed and those that fled. All translated with care and I think it’s worth seeking out for anyone interested in stories set outside the usual cultures. This wholesale capturing of different styles and stories means that it will be uneven just because of the readers taste. Sure there are one or two clumsily written ones but on the whole all are well written (and translated). Oddly though the theme of bleakness means the trouble of old communist Cuba is an oft reoccurring theme and I don’t recommend you read it one go because I found myself yearning for a story on new Cuba, a more positive one at that. It is, after all, a very dark book, with some tales that were too bleak even for me, not gratuitous but horrid. I do recommend it, if you like to dip into the dark side of another culture