Novel
Three Trapped Tigers
Tres tristes tigres
Guillermo Cabrera Infante · 1967
Synopsis
Nocturnal Havana in 1958, before the revolution, followed through three young people. The photographer Códac tells of his discovery of Estrella Rodríguez, a Black bolero singer; Bustrófedon, even dead, supplies the book with its wordplay; the city is the real hero. There is no plot in the strict sense: voices, Cuban slang mixed with English, and the assassination of Trotsky told in the manner of seven Cuban writers.
Context
Under the title Vista de amanecer en el trópico, the manuscript received the Biblioteca Breve Prize from the publisher Seix Barral in 1964. Francoist censorship made twenty-two cuts; the author revised the proofs in 1965 and the book was published in Barcelona in 1967, the suppressed passages not being restored until 1990. Albert Bensoussan translated it with the author for Gallimard in 1970; Donald Gardner and Suzanne Jill Levine produced the English version in 1971. Britannica compares it to Joyce's Ulysses.
Who it is for
A long novel without a plot, made of puns and parodies; the translations were carried out with the author.
Prizes and reception
Biblioteca Breve Prize 1964 for the manuscript; Best Foreign Book Prize 1970 for the French translation.
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