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bloodravenlib's review against another edition
4.0
I read this back in 2001. I barely got through it since I was between comps. and transferring to library school. It was my first foray into Hijuelos's works, and I enjoyed very much. My impression back then:
>>This is a novel heavy on nostalgia and memory where I could almost hear the music and feel the passion of the characters.<<
I am honestly not sure where some of the bad reviews here on GoodReads for this book come from, but as we say in libraries, "never apologize for your book tastes." I personally think they probably missed something, but again, each reader its book and each book its reader. If some of those who disliked this book decide to give Hijuelos a chance, they may want to try [b:Mr. Ives' Christmas|11670|Mr. Ives' Christmas|Oscar Hijuelos|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166485425s/11670.jpg|14082].
>>This is a novel heavy on nostalgia and memory where I could almost hear the music and feel the passion of the characters.<<
I am honestly not sure where some of the bad reviews here on GoodReads for this book come from, but as we say in libraries, "never apologize for your book tastes." I personally think they probably missed something, but again, each reader its book and each book its reader. If some of those who disliked this book decide to give Hijuelos a chance, they may want to try [b:Mr. Ives' Christmas|11670|Mr. Ives' Christmas|Oscar Hijuelos|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166485425s/11670.jpg|14082].
stuedb's review against another edition
3.0
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14548833
I finally finished this today, I was initially put off reading it by comments made by my wife and members of our book group so I must admit I found it a bit of a chore.
The Mambo King, Cesar, really annoyed me as a character, but I did feel sorry if his brother Nestor.
The story didn't really entertain me and I thought the gratuitous sex scenes where a bit much and not in any way warranted.
I must admit however it was well written and as a social commentary for Cubans moving to America it was interesting.
Glad I persisted​ to the end, my favourite part of the novel was the few paragraphs with Eugenio and Arnaz at the end.
However I won't be running out to buy any of Hijuelos's other works.
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14548833
I finally finished this today, I was initially put off reading it by comments made by my wife and members of our book group so I must admit I found it a bit of a chore.
The Mambo King, Cesar, really annoyed me as a character, but I did feel sorry if his brother Nestor.
The story didn't really entertain me and I thought the gratuitous sex scenes where a bit much and not in any way warranted.
I must admit however it was well written and as a social commentary for Cubans moving to America it was interesting.
Glad I persisted​ to the end, my favourite part of the novel was the few paragraphs with Eugenio and Arnaz at the end.
However I won't be running out to buy any of Hijuelos's other works.
siixteen's review against another edition
3.0
The content of the book itself didn't grab me as much as the setup of the book--a man at the end of his life looking back over it. There was a really great melancholic feel to it because of that, but it was also kind of heavy!
acton's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful Maria of My Soul. A song about love so far away it hurts; a song about lost pleasures, a song about youth, a song about love so elusive a man can never know where he stands; a song about wanting a woman so much death does not frighten you, a song about wanting that woman even when she has abandoned you."
Oscar Hijuelos's novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a beautifully written historical novel about Cesar Castillo, who comes to New York City from Cuba in 1949 with his younger brother Nestor with the dream of becoming successful musicians. For a short period of their tumultuous lives, this dream does come true.
At the end of his life in 1980, Cesar has deliberately ensconced himself in The Hotel Splendour, to die alone. This is his story, told in flashback. As the reader will surmise immediately, Cesar Castillo never became rich, never lived an easy life, and the excessiveness of his lifestyle--the constant drinking, the lack of sleep, the womanizing--are there to drown out Cesar's deep-seated emotional problems and unhappiness. Cesar is the brother who is always able to hide this melancholy from himself and others, yet when the withdrawn, taciturn Nestor dies, his defenses crumble. It is as if Nestor bequeathed his depression to his older brother, to carry along with the self-destructive habits that were already there.
Cesar Castillo is a richly drawn character who has his good-natured, generous A side, along with his dastardly B side. He is crippled by the need to be macho, but there is a love-starved, abused boy that is still crying out for help. And so, at the end of his life, there are people he has hurt as well as people who will remember him fondly and gratefully forever.
Oscar Hijuelos made every character's pain throb on the page. He made Cesar's alcoholism painful and his sexual urges unbearable. And yet, this is not a hard book to read.
The author also brings a time period and culture back to life in this story. I enjoyed the book very much!
Mambo Kings Sing Songs of Love won the Pulitizer Prize in 1990.
Oscar Hijuelos's novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a beautifully written historical novel about Cesar Castillo, who comes to New York City from Cuba in 1949 with his younger brother Nestor with the dream of becoming successful musicians. For a short period of their tumultuous lives, this dream does come true.
At the end of his life in 1980, Cesar has deliberately ensconced himself in The Hotel Splendour, to die alone. This is his story, told in flashback. As the reader will surmise immediately, Cesar Castillo never became rich, never lived an easy life, and the excessiveness of his lifestyle--the constant drinking, the lack of sleep, the womanizing--are there to drown out Cesar's deep-seated emotional problems and unhappiness. Cesar is the brother who is always able to hide this melancholy from himself and others, yet when the withdrawn, taciturn Nestor dies, his defenses crumble. It is as if Nestor bequeathed his depression to his older brother, to carry along with the self-destructive habits that were already there.
Cesar Castillo is a richly drawn character who has his good-natured, generous A side, along with his dastardly B side. He is crippled by the need to be macho, but there is a love-starved, abused boy that is still crying out for help. And so, at the end of his life, there are people he has hurt as well as people who will remember him fondly and gratefully forever.
Oscar Hijuelos made every character's pain throb on the page. He made Cesar's alcoholism painful and his sexual urges unbearable. And yet, this is not a hard book to read.
The author also brings a time period and culture back to life in this story. I enjoyed the book very much!
Mambo Kings Sing Songs of Love won the Pulitizer Prize in 1990.
acton's review against another edition
4.0
"Beautiful Maria of My Soul. A song about love so far away it hurts; a song about lost pleasures, a song about youth, a song about love so elusive a man can never know where he stands; a song about wanting a woman so much death does not frighten you, a song about wanting that woman even when she has abandoned you."
Oscar Hijuelos's novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a beautifully written historical novel about Cesar Castillo, who comes to New York City from Cuba in 1949 with his younger brother Nestor with the dream of becoming successful musicians. For a short period of their tumultuous lives, this dream does come true.
At the end of his life in 1980, Cesar has deliberately ensconced himself in The Hotel Splendour, to die alone. This is his story, told in flashback. As the reader will surmise immediately, Cesar Castillo never became rich, never lived an easy life, and the excessiveness of his lifestyle--the constant drinking, the lack of sleep, the womanizing--are there to drown out Cesar's deep-seated emotional problems and unhappiness. Cesar is the brother who is always able to hide this melancholy from himself and others, yet when the withdrawn, taciturn Nestor dies, his defenses crumble. It is as if Nestor bequeathed his depression to his older brother, to carry along with the self-destructive habits that were already there.
Cesar Castillo is a richly drawn character who has his good-natured, generous A side, along with his dastardly B side. He is crippled by the need to be macho, but there is a love-starved, abused boy that is still crying out for help. And so, at the end of his life, there are people he has hurt as well as people who will remember him fondly and gratefully forever.
Oscar Hijuelos made every character's pain throb on the page. He made Cesar's alcoholism painful and his sexual urges unbearable, yet this is not a hard book to read.
The author also brings a time period and culture back to life in this story. I enjoyed the book very much!
Oscar Hijuelos's novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a beautifully written historical novel about Cesar Castillo, who comes to New York City from Cuba in 1949 with his younger brother Nestor with the dream of becoming successful musicians. For a short period of their tumultuous lives, this dream does come true.
At the end of his life in 1980, Cesar has deliberately ensconced himself in The Hotel Splendour, to die alone. This is his story, told in flashback. As the reader will surmise immediately, Cesar Castillo never became rich, never lived an easy life, and the excessiveness of his lifestyle--the constant drinking, the lack of sleep, the womanizing--are there to drown out Cesar's deep-seated emotional problems and unhappiness. Cesar is the brother who is always able to hide this melancholy from himself and others, yet when the withdrawn, taciturn Nestor dies, his defenses crumble. It is as if Nestor bequeathed his depression to his older brother, to carry along with the self-destructive habits that were already there.
Cesar Castillo is a richly drawn character who has his good-natured, generous A side, along with his dastardly B side. He is crippled by the need to be macho, but there is a love-starved, abused boy that is still crying out for help. And so, at the end of his life, there are people he has hurt as well as people who will remember him fondly and gratefully forever.
Oscar Hijuelos made every character's pain throb on the page. He made Cesar's alcoholism painful and his sexual urges unbearable, yet this is not a hard book to read.
The author also brings a time period and culture back to life in this story. I enjoyed the book very much!
grace_theliteraryfiend's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ejamie77's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very sad but beautiful tale of memory, desire, longing, music, love, and family. I found it a little slow to start (not painfully so, just enough for me to think "Really, a Pulitzer for this?" But it really picked up about halfway through, with some really stunning passages. I suspect this one will stick with me.
caitlinxmartin's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book when it first came out and loved it. After the follow-up book, Beautiful Maria of My Soul became available, I decided I need to read it again. I still love it.
The story of two Cuban brothers who immigrate to New York in the '50's to pursue their musical dreams, The Mambo Kings Play Song of Love really captures the flavor of its time and of its music. The language and imagery are rich and evocative of black beans and rice, platanos, cigarette smoke, and music spilling out into the street. I especially loved the descriptions of the brothers, silhouetted in their windows playing and composing music (much to the dismay of their sleeping neighbors) - this is classic imagery, reminding me of photos of musicians from the time.
Mambo Kings is earthy and sensual - its mood hectic and vibrant - and offers us a glimpse into another time and culture (and isn't that what the best books do?).
The story of two Cuban brothers who immigrate to New York in the '50's to pursue their musical dreams, The Mambo Kings Play Song of Love really captures the flavor of its time and of its music. The language and imagery are rich and evocative of black beans and rice, platanos, cigarette smoke, and music spilling out into the street. I especially loved the descriptions of the brothers, silhouetted in their windows playing and composing music (much to the dismay of their sleeping neighbors) - this is classic imagery, reminding me of photos of musicians from the time.
Mambo Kings is earthy and sensual - its mood hectic and vibrant - and offers us a glimpse into another time and culture (and isn't that what the best books do?).
booksandquilts's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
wathohuc's review
3.0
Well, it was good enough. I have to admit to a little bit of disappointment. The nostalgia and the mood is thick in this novel, which is perhaps its strongest element in my opinion. But the narrative structure is a bit chaotic. It works in the sense that the reader doesn't get too completely lost in the different time frames in which the story is told, and one can figure it out; but it's not so intuitive as it could be and you have to work at figuring out when Cesar, the man in his dying days, is narrating, or when Cesar, the bandleader is narrating, or when Cesar, the has-been musician and aging building superintendent is narrating. It's too choppy, I think, and thus a bit distracting. Also, and this is probably just me, the description of sex and sexual desire was a bit too soft-core pornographic to me, and also a bit too overdone throughout the novel. Hijuelos could have conveyed Cesar's macho sexuality and clear sex addiction without referring to sexual encounters in graphic detail so many times. After a while, it seemed just too gratuitous. And the casual date rape that Cesar's admits to, and which is presented way too cavalierly with a careless dismissiveness, shocks the modern sensibilities. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a prude about such things; but I think it overpowered the story of immigrant displacement, longing, loneliness, and sentiments of profound loss that were at the heart of the story. I'm also a bit bummed that I saw the film before I read the novel. Even though it has been many years since I saw the film and I only vaguely remember it, the impressions that it left with me and which undoubtedly influenced my approach to the novel now, were very mistaken. The movie was much more about Nestor's longing for Maria, but, really, that factored so very little to the overall story, which was really about Cesar than about Nestor or Maria. I know that Hollywood has to sell a nice story in a short time, but the Hijuelos text doesn't really lend itself to a Hollywood style story, which means that the film had to take a lot of creative liberties. And so if you go into reading the novel thinking about the movie, you are setting yourself up for some disappointment. Needless to say, I am glad the book won the Pulitzer because it was a worthy effort and it did contribute to a greater popularity for Latinx authors, which I am glad happened.