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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finding Manana, August 24, 2006
This review is from: Finding Manana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus (Mass Market Paperback)
I chose to read Finding Manana: A memoir of a Cuban Exodus. My father fled communist Cuba and its history has always fascinated me. I enjoyed every page of this book and it was hard for me to put it down because I loved the author's natural style and interesting topics. Although I have a special interest in Cuban history, I believe that anyone who enjoys reading historical non-fiction, would find this novel to be interesting. Finding Manana is a touching story about a young girl trying to find her identity where it is most difficult; in a communist country.
In this bold memoir, Mirta Ojito describes her family's life as gusanos, or worms, in Cuba. This was a term used by the Cuban government to categorize political dissenters. Ojito describes the embarrassing and harsh abuse people who did not support Castro received and illustrates why so many Cubans wanted to leave their country. In great detail, Ojito recalls the day of Castro's speech which all of Havana was expected to attend. Since her family did not believe in Castro's ways and did not support him, they skipped the rally and hid in their apartment for the night. The next morning, when they walked outside they found eggs that had been thrown at their apartment and neighbors yelling hateful words. Through Ojito's personal stories like that, it is easier to understand why so many Cubans left the country they loved so much.
Ojito not only shares her personal story of how she escaped communist Cuba, but she also tells stories of others trying to get out and those attempting to aid them. One story she writes about is that of Hector Sanyustiz, a bus driver so determined to leave Cuba he drove his bus into the gates of the Peruvian Embassy in Havana in hopes of receiving immunity. Soon after Sanyustiz's stunt, over 10,000 people sought asylum in that same Embassy. Ojito writes through many different points of view from the starving people who refuse to move, scared that the Cuban police will trick them out of the Embassy and place them in jail, to the Cuban political figures that work with Castro and try to figure out what to do with all those desperate to leave the country. Another person Ojito discusses is Captain Mike Howell, one of the generous Americans helping to bring back Cuban refugees on his ship. Through this character, Ojito shows how those who have never had to live without freedom often take it for granted. This novel is very humbling for those who believe life in America is difficult or unfair.
Ojito's style is very natural and although she is a reporter, she has the talent of being able to get facts across without being tedious. In Ojito's stories, she educates the reader as well as keeps him entertained and interested. She is able to blend her reporter style with her emotional style in this story making a perfect balance between knowledge and experience. This novel explains many things about communist Cuba and its society many would not know unless they lived through it.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Finding Manana: A Memoir Of A Cuban Exodus, December 15, 2007
In the amazing novel Finding Manana, Mirta Ojito tells the tale of a Cuban exodus. Mirta and her family face enormous amounts of ridicule and torment as their counterrevolutionary family attempts to leave Cuba for a better life in the United States. This book follows the authors' detailed account of her previous life as the Ojito's desire to leave Cuba, and may finally get their chance during the Mariel boat lift.
Born in Cuba, Mirta has always remembered a forced life. Looked badly upon for her belief in God, and her families strong distaste of the forced loyalty they must show to the government Mirta wishes for something better. Castro rules over Cuba and gives little freedom to those who inhabit the island hence the Ojito's dreams of changing the location the United States. Mirta is always fighting for freedom and always has hope throughout her early life which carries over in the pages as you read.
At sixteen Mirta's door receives a knock, when the door is opened two officers are their with instructions. Here it is, the chance the Ojito's have waited their whole life for! The neighborhood watches the Ojito family pile into the Officers car, the chance has come, but can the Ojito's make to Miami, not without some serious obstacles and complications along the way, providing you with the page turning novel everyone wants.
The Author, Ojito, takes her own story and mixes it in with others who made such a drastic difference in Cuban history. Such as the courageous story of Hector Sanyustiz and counter parts Raul and Radames smashing into Pinto's Peruvian embassy to escape Cuba. It tells of the negotiations between Castro and the heroes who wanted happiness for the Cuban people. It explains the story of an unlikely hero, Mike Howell, who captains the Manana and delivers the Cubans to Miami. Finding Manana goes back in time to talk about such famed events as the Mariel boat lift of 1980. And overall creates the intense sensation that you are their reliving these events with Mirta herself.
I liked this book because of its constant job of making me want to know more. It recalls history in personal accounts, taking interesting to a new level. You find yourself emotionally attached to all the characters and are pulling for each to succeed. The changing of one story to another provides excitement and a plethora of outcomes to enjoy and learn about. Finding Manana is a joyful book, as well as a learning experience to all who turn its pages.
I learned much from Finding Manana, it was not only a great story but also somewhat of a fun history book. It provides an almost complete summary of recent Cuban history, Filling each chapter with knowledge. You learn of the monumental struggles each character must go through and gain a new respect for the Cuban people. Learning while enjoying oneself is not always possible but Finding Manana does that, thus I would strongly recommend this book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finding Manana, May 4, 2010
Mirta Ojito takes her own story and mixes it in with others, such as Hector Sanyustiz, the man that crashed a bus thru the Peruvian embassy in 1980 under fire by Cuban guards. During one of his tantrums when Peru refused to turn over the escaped exiles, Castro removed his Cuban guards and within a day over 10,000 folks poured into the embassy. Castro eventually allowed the port of Mariel to be opened up to anybody who wanted to pick up their loved ones (plus a few criminals and mental cases that he threw in), at the end over 125,000 Cubans leaving before he decided to shut down Mariel. Mirta Ojito provides insight into what life was like growing up in a family indifferent to Castro in 1970s Cuba. The book is full of accounts of the oppression, sometimes subtle, of those that do not support Castro's dictatorial regime. Mirta narrates in detail her use as an agricultural child laborer while in her early teens. Evidence of the political apartheid system in Cuba comes to Mirta as a child when she accidentally gets hold of a copy of her school record; where several of her teachers hold against her going to church, her parents' irreverence to support Castro's political activities, and their regular communication with kin in the U.S. The surveillance by the neighborhood Committees for the Defense of the Revolution is evident when her father gets stopped with a bag of potatoes illegally obtained in the black market. Ojito eventually gets to the part when they receive the paperwork to leave Cuba and are processed thru chaotic conditions in Mariel. A moving story!
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