New delivery of Carpentier book, chronicles paying tribute to La Habana

June 4, 2019

The Ediciones Boloña seal (Raíces collection) has a new installment of the title Crónicas habaneras, a tribute to the city of La Habana that is approaching its 500th anniversary of its founding.

From Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier, the text speaks about the founding of the Cuban capital, its people, monuments, customs, architecture, food and music, described from the feelings of the essential author, the first Latin American to obtain the Cervantes Prize.

That capacity to know how to see and to be able to feel will accompany the sensitivity of the unrepentant observer and will lead to his theory of the marvelous real, Dr. Graziella Pogolotti and Mario Cremata highlighted in the prologue.

The pages reveal details of the then ancient and romantic village, the history of many of its peripheral and urban sites, the cemetery, the first public bath, Tejadillo street where Fidel Castro would establish his first law practice.

The book features photos by Julio Larramendiz and its chronicles bear the signature of Lina Valmont, a pseudonym used by the author of Los pasos perdidos in his earliest youth making reference to his mother's nickname.

Considered one of the fundamental writers of the 20th century in the Spanish language and with notable influence in Latin American literature, Carpentier's work has dedicated repeated space to the so-called Ciudad Maravilla.

El siglo de las luces and La consagración de la primavera are two of his texts that reflect that love for La Habana, a city that reflects the binomial Marvelous Real, a style that Alejo himself used to recreate his reality.