Rating: 
Summary: beyond the hype
Review: A vivid, honest, insightful look at the confusion in modern Cuba. Ripley gets it right.
Rating:
Summary: An enlightening book
Review: As a Cuban-American born in Cuba, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is about time that books are coming out giving us a true picture of the Cuban condition instead of the stereotypical, cold war, CIA (of old, I hope) inspired version of the truth. Read this book and ask yourself why is there still an embargo on Cuba and how the US can claim the human rights' high ground when it is doing this to a country that poses no threat to the US or others. This book brings the embargo to the single human being level. An eye opener of a book.
Rating:
Summary: An enlightening book
Review: As a Cuban-American born in Cuba, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is about time that books are coming out giving us a true picture of the Cuban condition instead of the stereotypical, cold war, CIA (of old, I hope) inspired version of the truth. Read this book and ask yourself why is there still an embargo on Cuba and how the US can claim the human rights' high ground when it is doing this to a country that poses no threat to the US or others. This book brings the embargo to the single human being level. An eye opener of a book.
Rating: 
Summary: An unbiased perspective of Cuba
Review: Good travel writing must encompass an author's ability to leave a good deal of his preconceptions and certainties at home and view everything from a different perspective. Conversations With Cuba, authored by C. Peter Ripley does not disappoint the reader in presenting Cuba in an impartial and unbiased light that for many of us will be quite a revelation.As the title suggests, the book is based on a chronicle of conversations the author held with several Cubans during the course of his six trips to Cuba from 1991 until 2000. The first trip commences in 1991 and as the author states "a book about Cuba wasn't part of the plan when I began scheming to travel to Fidel Castro's embargoed island." It was moreover a need to satisfy a romantic curiosity that had occupied the author's mind since the age of fifteen. The opportunity presented itself when Ripley convinces a writer friend to tag along with him when the friend had been assigned by a magazine to write an article concerning Castro's emerging tourism trade. From the very onset of his travels in 1991, Ripley is able to make personal contact with ordinary Cubans who are very eager to converse and express their feelings and perceptions. In fact, as the author states, "whatever the problems, whatever the politics of this place, no one, no one, refused to talk with us, about anything. Who is going to believe that back home." Subsequent trips to Cuba reveal a kind of roller coaster ride in the sense that unlike the initial contact with Cuba, there were periods of extreme anxiety when basic necessities such as food, fuel and electricity were rationed. As for consumer goods, they were out of bounds for the average Cubans, although they were available in stores where foreigners frequented. There was also a prohibition imposed on the Cubans from being permitted to frequent hotels where foreigners vacationed. This period was followed by a kind of loosening when a sliver of Capitalism peeks out from the clouds and Castro permits farmers to sell their produce for dollars in various markets. Unfortunately, this does not last too long, and the brakes are applied, putting an end to the so called "good times."
Ripley is very effective in revealing to the reader the spirit and soul of Cuba. As he states, "whatever Cuba was or was not, whatever she might become, she was not an island where a single opinion prevailed, however much some claim or hope." This is evidenced in the many towns and villages Ripley visits and as he asserts, Havana is not Cuba. To understand Cuba you must travel throughout the country and in particular to Santiago, the birthplace of the revolution. It is in all of these towns and hamlets where you will feel, taste, hear and smell what Cuba is all about and perhaps where it may be going in the future. Although the book is not meant to be a scholarly text, it certainly serves as an excellent introduction in understanding Cuban history prior to and after the revolution. Norm Goldman Editor of Bookpleasures
Rating:
Summary: Finally, a different view
Review: I agree with the reviewer who noted that this book gives a different perspective than the typical Cold War paranoid view of Cuba. The changes in Cuba from trip to trip were evident in the author's descriptions. Clearly, the book is slanted toward the Cuban people and away from the Castro regime. However, it did give a nice view of daily life for the ordinary citizen. After a while, though, the book seemed to drag on. Overall, though, it was nice to have a new view of Cuban life, and it clearly showed how the embargo is only hurting the Cuban people.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, a different view
Review: I agree with the reviewer who noted that this book gives a different perspective than the typical Cold War paranoid view of Cuba. The changes in Cuba from trip to trip were evident in the author's descriptions. Clearly, the book is slanted toward the Cuban people and away from the Castro regime. However, it did give a nice view of daily life for the ordinary citizen. After a while, though, the book seemed to drag on. Overall, though, it was nice to have a new view of Cuban life, and it clearly showed how the embargo is only hurting the Cuban people.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: I didn't know much about Castro's Cuba before picking up Ripley's book, and never thought I would have more than a casual interest in the subject. All that has changed since reading Conversations with Cuba. Ripley's vivid and moving portraiture of ordinary Cubans caught between their allegiances to the revolution and their hopes for future is absolutely compelling. His cinematic feel for the sun-splashed landscape and the paint-flaked cityscape is memorable. This is no Michelin guide to exotic lands and interesting places; it's a Badeker guide to the soul of modern Cuban. A wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: conversations with cuba
Review: In a time when US activists argue that a young boy should notbe reunited with his Cuban father, C. Peter Ripley's Conversation withCuba is an important work. In a distillation of his experiences gathered in multiple visits to Cuba in the 1990s, Ripley introduces the reader to the changes taking place in Cuba. Combining his skill as an astute observer and articulate writer, Ripley challenges the language and imagery long used in the west to isolate and create mistrust of Cuba and its revolution. Conversations with Cuba makes plain that a diversity of opinion exists within Cuba about the revolution. Ripley discusses the dual problem Cuba faces as it transitions to a capitalist economy while continuing to care for its people as promised by the original revolutionary cadre of Fidel, Che, and others. Ripley learns that the struggle to achieve these potentially conflicting goals creates dissatisfaction for some, while for others an abiding faith in the revolution persists. Through the revolutionary affirming experience of his fixer, Paulo, Ripley asks the reader to reconsider the long-held, rarely questioned stereotypes of Cuba. Just as Paulo reconsiders his views about the revolution, Ripley offers hope that the US can abandon the negative views of Cuba and consider the island and its people as they really exist.
Rating:
Summary: conversations with cuba
Review: In a time when US activists argue that a young boy should notbe reunited with his Cuban father, C. Peter Ripley's Conversation withCuba is an important work. In a distillation of his experiences gathered in multiple visits to Cuba in the 1990s, Ripley introduces the reader to the changes taking place in Cuba. Combining his skill as an astute observer and articulate writer, Ripley challenges the language and imagery long used in the west to isolate and create mistrust of Cuba and its revolution. Conversations with Cuba makes plain that a diversity of opinion exists within Cuba about the revolution. Ripley discusses the dual problem Cuba faces as it transitions to a capitalist economy while continuing to care for its people as promised by the original revolutionary cadre of Fidel, Che, and others. Ripley learns that the struggle to achieve these potentially conflicting goals creates dissatisfaction for some, while for others an abiding faith in the revolution persists. Through the revolutionary affirming experience of his fixer, Paulo, Ripley asks the reader to reconsider the long-held, rarely questioned stereotypes of Cuba. Just as Paulo reconsiders his views about the revolution, Ripley offers hope that the US can abandon the negative views of Cuba and consider the island and its people as they really exist.
Rating:
Summary: Compassionate, intelligent depiction of Cuba today
Review: In a time when US activists will argue that a young boy should not be reunited with his Cuban father, C. Peter Ripley's Conversations with Cuba is an important book. In a distillation of his experiences gathered in multiple visits to Cuba in the 1990s, Ripley introduces the reader to the changes taking place in Cuba. Combining his skill as an astute observer and articulate writer, Ripley challenges the language and imagery long used in the west to isolate and create mistrust of Cuba and its revolution. Conversations with Cuba makes plain that a diversity of opinion exists within Cuba about the revolution. Ripley discusses the dual problem Cuba faces as it transitions to a capitalist economy while continuing to care for its people as promised by the original revolutionary cadre of Fidel, Che, and others. Ripley learns that the struggle to achieve these potentially conflicting goals creates dissatisfaction for some, while for others an abiding faith in the revolution persists. Through the revolutionary affirming experience of his "fixer", Paulo, Ripley asks the reader to reconsider the long-held, rarely questioned stereotypes of Cuba. Just as Paulo reconsiders his views about the revolution, Ripley offers hope that the US can abandon the negative views of Cuba and consider the island and its people as they really exist.
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