Siarl's Reviews > Before Night Falls

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Before Night Falls
by

Reinaldo Arenas

Siarl's review

Jun 03, 2024

really liked it

bookshelves: gay, memoir

4.9/5 stars. Shatteringly brilliant!
I inched my way through this book, engaged completely by his words. I have been transformed and enlightened reading Arenas. An incredible and heartbreaking memoir, which I rank below five stars for the sad reason that I could not bear to read it again. A second read would be beyond my first-world frailty. Highly recommend reading this book, especially for anyone (currently) living in a free country.

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Reading Progress

March 21, 2024 – Shelved as: to-read

March 21, 2024 – Shelved

March 21, 2024 – Shelved as: gay

March 23, 2024 – Started Reading

March 23, 2024 – Shelved as: memoir

March 23, 2024 –

page 5

1.26% "“Perhaps the best memoir I’ve EVER read…” writes Fabian. The shocking memoir by visionary Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas "is a book above all about being free," said The New York Review of Books--sexually, politically, artistically. Exactly what I need right now."

April 10, 2024 –

page 9

2.26%

April 27, 2024 –

page 53

13.32%

May 9, 2024 –

page 88

22.11%

May 16, 2024 –

page 137

34.42% "This book is intense"