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A review by book_concierge
Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos
3.0
Audio book performed by Armando Duran
3.5***
This is a young-adult novel from the Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.
Rico Fuentes is a “dark dude” – which means that he is a very-light-skinned Cubano – living in New York City’s Spanish Harlem. Blond, with hazel eyes and freckles, his appearance gets a lot of attention from the tough guys in the neighborhood, who hassle him for being a “whitey.” The fact that he’s slight of build, and prefers books and music to hanging in the streets doesn’t help. Feeling like he doesn’t belong, tired of getting beat up just for his appearance, and torn by events in his family and neighborhood, Rico decides he cannot continue. With his best friend Jimmy, he runs away to Wisconsin, where a former neighborhood boy is now attending college. Gilberto takes the boys in without question. Rico figures he’ll fit in here; he looks like everyone else in Wisconsin. But the 16-year-old soon discovers that he feels just as “different” in Wisconsin as he did in Harlem.
There are elements of this book that I really liked. I enjoyed Rico’s journey of self-discovery and watching him mature and absorb life’s lessons. I liked the fact that he was fairly strong in character – refusing to get involved in drugs or crime. Rico is intelligent, thoughtful, loyal, curious, diligent and conscientious. I was particularly happy to see how his love of reading – especially the works of Mark Twain – helped him understand his situation and consider his options. What I didn’t like was the casual way in which these teens treated alcohol – they were constantly drinking beer. I wondered why Gilberto, who was portrayed originally as a straight-arrow and a role model, tolerated (and even encouraged?) his roommate’s constant use of marijuana. Bad decisions did not seem to have negative consequences; a couple of times I thought “Oh, this is going to turn out badly,” but the expected turn of events never occurred. I know that real life doesn’t always work that way; people behave badly and get away with it every day. But this is a YA novel, and I think the author needs to show consequences for his intended audience. I also wondered why Hijuelos was so circumspect about the time period. If he specifically mentioned that this is set in the mid-1960s I missed that. I figured it out fairly easily due to the cultural references, but I lived those years. I wonder if the teens which are the target audience for this novel will pick up on the time frame so easily. In all, I loved Rico, but I only liked the book.
Armando Duran does a good job of performing the audio book. He has good pacing and good Spanish pronunciation. His skill as a voice artist also made each character sufficiently distinct to avoid confusion.
3.5***
This is a young-adult novel from the Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.
Rico Fuentes is a “dark dude” – which means that he is a very-light-skinned Cubano – living in New York City’s Spanish Harlem. Blond, with hazel eyes and freckles, his appearance gets a lot of attention from the tough guys in the neighborhood, who hassle him for being a “whitey.” The fact that he’s slight of build, and prefers books and music to hanging in the streets doesn’t help. Feeling like he doesn’t belong, tired of getting beat up just for his appearance, and torn by events in his family and neighborhood, Rico decides he cannot continue. With his best friend Jimmy, he runs away to Wisconsin, where a former neighborhood boy is now attending college. Gilberto takes the boys in without question. Rico figures he’ll fit in here; he looks like everyone else in Wisconsin. But the 16-year-old soon discovers that he feels just as “different” in Wisconsin as he did in Harlem.
There are elements of this book that I really liked. I enjoyed Rico’s journey of self-discovery and watching him mature and absorb life’s lessons. I liked the fact that he was fairly strong in character – refusing to get involved in drugs or crime. Rico is intelligent, thoughtful, loyal, curious, diligent and conscientious. I was particularly happy to see how his love of reading – especially the works of Mark Twain – helped him understand his situation and consider his options. What I didn’t like was the casual way in which these teens treated alcohol – they were constantly drinking beer. I wondered why Gilberto, who was portrayed originally as a straight-arrow and a role model, tolerated (and even encouraged?) his roommate’s constant use of marijuana. Bad decisions did not seem to have negative consequences; a couple of times I thought “Oh, this is going to turn out badly,” but the expected turn of events never occurred. I know that real life doesn’t always work that way; people behave badly and get away with it every day. But this is a YA novel, and I think the author needs to show consequences for his intended audience. I also wondered why Hijuelos was so circumspect about the time period. If he specifically mentioned that this is set in the mid-1960s I missed that. I figured it out fairly easily due to the cultural references, but I lived those years. I wonder if the teens which are the target audience for this novel will pick up on the time frame so easily. In all, I loved Rico, but I only liked the book.
Armando Duran does a good job of performing the audio book. He has good pacing and good Spanish pronunciation. His skill as a voice artist also made each character sufficiently distinct to avoid confusion.