Rating: 
Summary: Simply beautiful
Review: The writing in this novel about the musical career of a Cuban composer is itself lyrical. The narrative is prose that aspires to be, and is, both poetry and music. The phrasing and the flow of the syntax is melodious as the composer's experience, because of his name, in a Nazi concentration camp runs counterpoint to the theme. And "Rosas Puras", his most famous and enduring composition, reappears faithfully as a leitmotif throughout the narrative. El Gordito, Israel Levis, and his close relationships with Rita Valladares (singer), Manny Cortez (composer)and his family are full of tender and touching moments. He is simply a man on a quest to find the beauty of life, the music hidden just beneath its surface and awaiting his discovery of its simple melodies. His devotion to his music can be a demanding mistress whom he has no choice but to love with pure devotion and ultimately proves to be his salvation. Hijuelos reinforces his stature as one of America's most supremely talented writers in this sensuously rich and sonorous novel. The close of the book holds moments of heartbreaking tenderness without sentimentality. A Simple Habana Melody is original, germinal, mesmerizing and sung in a distinctive, if not unique, lyrical voice that could only be proffered by a truly gifted writer of the stature of Oscar Hijeulos.
Rating:
Summary: A MOVING REFLECTION SUPERBLY READ
Review: There couldn't be a more perfect pairing than the words of Pulitzer-prize winning writer Oscar Hijuelos and the voice of acclaimed actor and Emmy winner Jimmy Smits. Accomplished in multiple venues, stage, film and television, Smits delivers an impeccable reading to the mesmerizing story of Cuban musician, Israel Levis, the maker of rhumbas.The year is 1947 and Levis, slim and old, is returning to Habana, Cuba, following his incarceration in Buchenwald. Although a practicing Catholic, he was thought a Jew because of his last name. His suffering is a marked contrast to his youth in a well-to-do family where he was raised as a child prodigy. Music was his love, his life. In 1928 he had composed "Rosas Puras" or "Pretty Roses" for his favorite singer and the woman he loved, Rita Valladares. This composition became the most famous rhumba in the world. At that time Cuba reeled under a dictatorship, the iron fist of Geraldo Machado. Eventually the dictator forced Levis to leave Cuba and seek sanctuary in Paris. He lived there in relative peace until 1940 when the world was torn asunder, and he became a victim of the Holocaust. "A Simple Habana Melody" in the hands of the brilliant Oscar Hijuelos is so much more than the story of one man. It is a reflection on art and country superbly rendered by Jimmy Smits. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: Lovely
Review: There is something about the way Oscar Hijuelos writes that makes you nostalgic-not just for events he is describing, but for things in your own life. The "Mambo Kings" was one of these, and "A Simple Habana Melody" is another. Beautifully written, filled with appealing characters, he tells the tale filled with longing and joy, of love lost and found, and one unforgettable song. Israel Levis is not Jewish. He is a devout Catholic from a wealthy Cuban family living in Paris whose name puts him in Buchenwald. Levis is something of an innocent genius, a large man who loves women (and possibly men), a composer of beloved popular songs who flees his island home for Europe when his lyricist and best friend is murdered by the Cuban government. He never stops longing for his home, but does not return until the end of the War, when both he and his country are much changed. Hijuelos presents rich scenes from the musical theater of the 1920s and 30s, and uses Levis' celebrated tune "Rosas Puras" to show how Cuban music was embraced around the world. His scenes of Cuban homelife and friendship in the early 20th century radiate with warmth and nostalgia for a time when people were so important to one another. The composer's love for the wise, talented, and compassionate Rita Valladares, his love of his country and his art make him an entrancing character. This is a beautiful book.
Rating:
Summary: A novel to lose yourself in
Review: This is such a finely written and concieved novel. Loosely based on the life of the Cuban composer of the jazz standard "the peanut vendor" , A Simple Habana Melody presents the life and loves of a gifted musician and composer from Havana named Israel Levis who at the moment of his greatest successes both professionally and personally is caught up in the nightmare of the Holocaust. Levis had followed his true love to Europe and was enjoying the bohemian lifestyle of Paris in the 30's when history collides suddenly with his personal story. Much of the story is told as a flashback after the events have transpired. Hijuelos writes beautifully and his characters live and breath. Levis who is despite his great talent a relatively simple and naive man is such a likeable character that I was sorry to reach the end of this story. A very fine work of literature.
Rating:
Summary: A novel to lose yourself in
Review: This is such a finely written and concieved novel. Loosely based on the life of the Cuban composer of the jazz standard "the peanut vendor" , A Simple Habana Melody presents the life and loves of a gifted musician and composer from Havana named Israel Levis who at the moment of his greatest successes both professionally and personally is caught up in the nightmare of the Holocaust. Levis had followed his true love to Europe and was enjoying the bohemian lifestyle of Paris in the 30's when history collides suddenly with his personal story. Much of the story is told as a flashback after the events have transpired. Hijuelos writes beautifully and his characters live and breath. Levis who is despite his great talent a relatively simple and naive man is such a likeable character that I was sorry to reach the end of this story. A very fine work of literature.
Rating:
Summary: A novel to lose yourself in
Review: This is such a finely written and concieved novel. Loosely based on the life of the Cuban composer of the jazz standard "the peanut vendor" , A Simple Habana Melody presents the life and loves of a gifted musician and composer from Havana named Israel Levis who at the moment of his greatest successes both professionally and personally is caught up in the nightmare of the Holocaust. Levis had followed his true love to Europe and was enjoying the bohemian lifestyle of Paris in the 30's when history collides suddenly with his personal story. Much of the story is told as a flashback after the events have transpired. Hijuelos writes beautifully and his characters live and breath. Levis who is despite his great talent a relatively simple and naive man is such a likeable character that I was sorry to reach the end of this story. A very fine work of literature.
Rating: 
Summary: Two steps short of sublime
Review: To this point I've found it difficult to separate Hijuelos's novels, all of which burst at the seams with humanity, sublime imagery, raw sensuality, and entrancing prose. HABANA MELODY does all these things too, but for the first time I found elements repetitive and digressive, even poorly edited. So while it still stands as one the best books of the year, I have to rate it a notch below the author's preceding and inseparable classics ... a small bump on Hijuelos's path to the Nobel Prize.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, entertaining & thoughful
Review: What a wonderful find. This is the first book I have read by Oscar Hijuelos, but it certainly won't be the last. The character of Israel Levis is so real and "historical" that I found it almost impossible to believe he wasn't. The mixture of culture, history, and music is writing at its best. The complexity of Israel's character causes one to be revolted by him, feel sorrow for him, but at the same time admire him. His naive and optimistic outlook on life may cause him suffering, but shows an indefatigable core of goodness tempered by reality. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the human character.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, entertaining & thoughful
Review: What a wonderful find. This is the first book I have read by Oscar Hijuelos, but it certainly won't be the last. The character of Israel Levis is so real and "historical" that I found it almost impossible to believe he wasn't. The mixture of culture, history, and music is writing at its best. The complexity of Israel's character causes one to be revolted by him, feel sorrow for him, but at the same time admire him. His naive and optimistic outlook on life may cause him suffering, but shows an indefatigable core of goodness tempered by reality. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the human character.
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