This story had so much potential. I loved the idea of Jesus intervening in the lives of mortals. But in the end I was disappointed. The thing is, I can't say exactly why I was disappointed. The book is very well written and, at times, wickedly funny, but the story just didn't resonate with me.

I loved the exchanges between God and Jesus; a troubled Father / Son relationship. However the majority of the novel involved JFK and Castro, so it was a long wait between the clever and humorous dialogue.

I found it a chore to get through, and no book should be that. Having said that, I understand that this is a political satire and I may not be in the correct target audience (a sleep deprived new mother may not have the required concentration and patience).
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Bleakly cynical, brutally honest, and surreally irreverent, The Tragedy of Fidel Castro offers a sometimes uncomfortable juxtaposition of tragedy and comedy, raising Fidel Castro, FDR, and others to the status of myth as the gods look down or maybe intervene. “In their own muddled way, they’re both trying to imitate you,” says G to first-born son J, while Fatima listens and disparate threads come together.

Long passages of introspection characterize this tale, combined with complex and conflicting motivations, mystical rumination, and the greater tragedy of human history, rendered magically surreal. Biblical parables and parallels abound. The madness of Nebachudnezzar repeats itself in a different frame. And diplomacy might be heaven’s only hope a well as mankind’s.

The Tragedy of Fidel Castro is a long, slow, complex read, weightily self-conscious, with darkly tragi-comic humor, fierce determination, and a powerfully unsettling sense of unhinging divinities behind the scenes.

Disclosure: I was given a free ecopy and I offer my honest review. ( )

I enjoyed this book, by far the best passages are the ones where God, Jesus, an Fatima are having a conversations about what to do about the impending war between JFK and Castro. It reminds me a little bit of Voltaire and a little bit of Gabriel Garcia Marquesz. Fascinating. ( )

As usual I didn't pay anything for this book but instead got it for free in exchange for a review. This time directly from the author. Also as usual though I will be absolutely candid in my assessment of it.

So I won't try to synopsize because you can read the description. What I will tell you is that this is deep and tangled satire. It's entirely possible that my lack of appreciation for it is due to a lack of patience on my part but I just could never grasp onto the flow of the narrative. I found my mind constantly wandering to some other topic as I tried to trudge through this book.

I'll leave it at that. If you have an inherent interest in the subject matter and love deep and ponderous satire then this book could be perfect for you but I just couldn't wrap my mind around it. Too bad too because it's got a nice cover. Oh well. ( )

*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

When I saw this book available at NetGalley without request, I decided to download it because its synopsis seemed interesting. An alternative reality where Jesus, aided by Our Lady of Fátima, helps avoid the conflict between Kennedy and Fidel Castro seemed like a story with so much potencial. And on top of that I immediately suspected (and later confirmed on Goodreads) that the author was portuguese, not only for his name, but for the fact that he included Our Lady of Fátima in the story.

Sadly, I could not finish it, and gave up at 26%. I could never really get into the story or connect to the characters and, honestly, it often happened that I would stop reading and could not remember what I had just finished reading... I got the feeling maybe I would have liked it better written in portuguese, cause it felt weird in english.

I really don't like giving up on readings, but with so many books on the bookcases and on the kindle, I simply cannot read just for the sake of reading. Maybe one day I'll give it another chance.