HEMINGWAY'S CUBAN SON
I just finished Hemingway's Cuban Son and found it to be a great read. I admit to bias. Raul and Rene are my friends. That said, Rene describes Hemingway from a unique perspective.
Rene Villarreal was Ernest Hemingway's major domo, his butler, his personal assistant for many years at the Finca Vigia, the writer's home near Havana in Cuba. In her autobiography THE WAY IT WAS, Mary Hemingway, Ernest's wife, describes Rene as 'quiet, and well-mannered' a man who worked with 'goodwill and devotion’. And that is the way Villarreal comes across in this memoir, as a man who could be trusted to keep a secret, the consummate gentleman.
Now, in his late 70's, Rene Villarreal's memory is clear as a bell and his description of life with Hemingway is unique and humorous, personal, at times, and honest.
Somewhere along the way he picked up Papa's skill as a storyteller. With his son Raul as editor and interpreter, he describes daily life at the Finca Vigia...hearing Ernest wake in the bedroom above his quarters in the basement, going upstairs to prepare breakfast, counting repetitions while Hemingway did his morning exercises, and performing his most important duty…ensuring Papa was not disturbed when he was writing.
There are stories about the cats and dogs that roamed the house and grounds; the neighbourhood children sneaking over the fence to watch actress Ava Gabor swimming nude in the big pool. Ernest's volatile temper and stormy relationship with his wife, Rene often the mediator.
I am still laughing at is the revelation of Rene's intimate and secret relationship with Adriana Ivancich, the teenager from an aristocratic Italian family with whom Hemingway had become infatuated. But it was Rene with whom Adriana chose to share intimacy.
‘As Rene described it..'She was beautiful and her lips were sweet. She felt like heaven.' (what a tactful way of describing their first tryst. )
The lovers would 'rendezvous late at night by the pool after everyone had gone to bed', including Ernest, especially Ernest, and 'stay out until the early morning hours when they would quietly make their way back to their rooms'.
Ernest never asked and Rene never confessed.
Here is what Rene had to say about it...
"I loved him(EH) like a father, and I knew how he felt about Adriana. But what happened between us just happened."
HEMINGWAY’S CUBAN SON is an excellent memoir, a ‘must read’ for anyone wanting to know more about one of the great writer’s of the 20th Century
Tom Sanders
Rene Villarreal was Ernest Hemingway's major domo, his butler, his personal assistant for many years at the Finca Vigia, the writer's home near Havana in Cuba. In her autobiography THE WAY IT WAS, Mary Hemingway, Ernest's wife, describes Rene as 'quiet, and well-mannered' a man who worked with 'goodwill and devotion’. And that is the way Villarreal comes across in this memoir, as a man who could be trusted to keep a secret, the consummate gentleman.
Now, in his late 70's, Rene Villarreal's memory is clear as a bell and his description of life with Hemingway is unique and humorous, personal, at times, and honest.
Somewhere along the way he picked up Papa's skill as a storyteller. With his son Raul as editor and interpreter, he describes daily life at the Finca Vigia...hearing Ernest wake in the bedroom above his quarters in the basement, going upstairs to prepare breakfast, counting repetitions while Hemingway did his morning exercises, and performing his most important duty…ensuring Papa was not disturbed when he was writing.
There are stories about the cats and dogs that roamed the house and grounds; the neighbourhood children sneaking over the fence to watch actress Ava Gabor swimming nude in the big pool. Ernest's volatile temper and stormy relationship with his wife, Rene often the mediator.
I am still laughing at is the revelation of Rene's intimate and secret relationship with Adriana Ivancich, the teenager from an aristocratic Italian family with whom Hemingway had become infatuated. But it was Rene with whom Adriana chose to share intimacy.
‘As Rene described it..'She was beautiful and her lips were sweet. She felt like heaven.' (what a tactful way of describing their first tryst. )
The lovers would 'rendezvous late at night by the pool after everyone had gone to bed', including Ernest, especially Ernest, and 'stay out until the early morning hours when they would quietly make their way back to their rooms'.
Ernest never asked and Rene never confessed.
Here is what Rene had to say about it...
"I loved him(EH) like a father, and I knew how he felt about Adriana. But what happened between us just happened."
HEMINGWAY’S CUBAN SON is an excellent memoir, a ‘must read’ for anyone wanting to know more about one of the great writer’s of the 20th Century
Tom Sanders
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Permalink Reply by Brian DeFoe on -
Sounds amazing Tom.
I remember that you were not such a big fan (to put it delicately) of How It Was so I can well imagine you enjoyed having another perspective on, er....how it was.
Hope you are well and glad to see you on Facebook.
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