Novel
Singing from the Well
Celestino antes del alba
Reinaldo Arenas · 1967
Synopsis
On a farm in Oriente, a nameless child lives with his grandparents, his mother, his aunts and his cousin Celestino, who carves verses on every tree, which the grandfather fells with an axe. The family considers the two boys useless and abnormal. The child takes refuge in play, builds a castle and a cemetery with his cousin on the riverbank, and spirits mingle with the cruelty of the house.
Context
The author's first novel, a prizewinner in the Cirilo Villaverde competition of the Writers' Union, it appeared from Ediciones Unión in 1967 and sold out in a week; it would be his only book published on the island in his lifetime. It opens the Pentagonía, a secret history of Cuba in five novels, and Arenas later rewrote it under the title Cantando en el pozo. Didier Coste translated it for Seuil in 1973 under the title Le Puits, then retranslated it in 2003 under the title Celestino avant l'aube; Andrew Hurley produced the English version in 1987.
Who it is for
A short, dreamlike novel, in which the child's play and the violence of the house blend together without warning.
Prizes and reception
A popular and critical success on its release on the island, according to the Cambridge University Library.
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