Afro Cuban - Blog Posts
SACRIFICIO by ERNESTO MESTRE-REED (AFTERTHOUGTS)
quickly: a young afro-cuban discovers an underground revolution while investigating the last days of his dead boyfriend ('la revolucion!' won’t die / tourists who won’t leave / sex on the beach / bonfire orgies / little explosions everywhere / the ghost of che guevara / fidel castro as the voice of god / the body is the battleground / the oppressed becoming the oppressor / little brothers following big brothers / individuals finding community / families split by politics / quarantined confinement / dark liquor / kitchens turned into restaurants / HIV as radicalism / radicalism as an artform / queer people in love / men who are afraid to die / cities in the sky).
This is not a review, but I wish it was. Just thoughts as I recollect on the books I've read this year.
This is a book that transformed my views on sex, partnership, and revolution. I read this book in March of 2023 and it is now December. This story (along with THE BOOKS OF JACOB and BELOVED and PIRANESI) has sat with me all year, challenging me to think about who I am in relation to my community, my government, and my body. It has made me think more about what I require (or desire) in a partner, and what I want for the people around me. While reading THE BOOKS OF JACOB, watching LOVE HAS WON: THE CULT OF MOTHER GOD, and simply watching the news, I kept asking myself the same question the book provokes… when do movements become cults? is the oppressed always doomed to become the oppressor? how do you disrupt a negative feedback loop? is it possible to start over and build something totally new?
★ ★ ★ ★ ★