Caracol Beach

By Eliseo Alberto

Book Overview

Eliseo Alberto's award-winning Caracol Beach combines the passionate imagination of magic realism with the plotting of a thriller (and a modicum of farce). The result is a literary tour de force. Beto Milanes, the night watchman at a graveyard in the Florida resort town of Caracol Beach, is a guilt-ridden Cuban war veteran. Tormented by memories and hallucinations, he yearns to die but is unable to take his own life. Instead, he decides to force someone-anyone-to kill him. That decision sets in motion a night of violence that draws an odd assortment of characters into Beto's orbit. In scenes that range from the jungles of Angola to a seedy Florida bar, Alberto explores war, madness, exile, and the redemptive power of love. Translated by Edith Grossman.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375705066
• ISBN13: 9780375705069
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Haunting and wonderful

I read this book a few years ago but still recall its images vividly. The interwoven stories, foreshadowing, and imagery are quite masterful and overall present a great narrative.

A separate reality with a hint of biculturalism

In this very good book Alberto writes of madness coexisting with the reality of separate cultures. Ghosts and people from beyond reach and caress the characters as they go about trying to fulfill the promise of a graduation which ends very badly for three of the seniors. Caracol beach starts with magic and realism but it gives way to tenderness and much humor. Very good.