Fiction

Reviews and Press for Cuban Science Fiction, by Yoss and Agustín de Rojas

in , ,

Updated September 25, 2015

Just as new possibilities of travel and communication open between Cuba and America, Restless Books brings you a mind-expanding suite of Cuban Science Fiction—the first of its kind in English translation—that explores life on the long-isolated island through the powerful lens of the imagination. Published in the summer of 2015, the first installments—A Planet for Rent, by Yoss, and A Legend of the Future, by Agustín de Rojas—have received tremendous praise and attention from readers. See below for a selection of the reviews and press coverage, including a profile in the New York Times, reviews in NBC News and The Nation, features in io9 and Tor.com, and much more.  

A-Planet-for-Rent.jpg

by Yoss

Translated from the Spanish by David Frye

Cuban Science Fiction

“A Planet for Rent is the English-language debut of Yoss, one of Cuba's most lauded writers of science fiction. Translated by David Frye, these linked stories craft a picture of a dystopian future: Aliens called xenoids have invaded planet Earth, and people are looking to flee the economically and socially bankrupt remains of human civilization. Yoss' smart and entertaining novel tackles themes like prostitution, immigration and political corruption. Ultimately, it serves as an empathetic yet impassioned metaphor for modern-day Cuba, where the struggle for power has complicated every facet of society”

—NPR, Best Books of 2015

Paperback • ISBN: 9781632060365
Publication date: Jun 23, 2015

A-Legend-of-the-Future.jpg

by Augustín de Rojas

Translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor

Cuban Science Fiction

“Finally, we have the chance to read a landmark work from one of Cuba’s greatest science fiction writers…. If you like intensely psychological sci-fi that deftly piles on the suspense, this novel’s for you…. The boundaries between dream and reality, and then between human and machine, almost melt away as the story progresses. And it is de Rojas’s skillful manipulation of those boundaries that makes A Legend of the Future so addictive.”  

—SF Signal

Paperback • ISBN: 9781632060358

Publication date: Jun 23, 2015

Praise and Highlights

The New York Times: A Profile of Yoss and Cuban Science Fiction

“When people think you’re crazy, that’s the beginning of freedom,” says Mr. Sánchez, who found escape in his craft. (Eliana Aponte)

“When people think you’re crazy, that’s the beginning of freedom,” says Mr. Sánchez, who found escape in his craft. (Eliana Aponte)

"In prose that is direct, sarcastic, sexual and often violent, A Planet for Rent criticizes Cuban reality in thinly veiled terms. Cuban defectors leave the country not on rafts but on 'unlawful space launches'; prostitutes are 'social workers'; foreigners are 'xenoids'; and Cuba is a 'planet whose inhabitants have stopped believing in the future.' The book is particularly critical of the government-run tourism industry of the ’90s, which welcomed and protected tourists—often at the expense of Cubans—and whose legacy can still be felt today." —The New York Times

 

The Nation: Some of the Best Sci-Fi Written Anywhere Since the 1970s

“The best science-fiction writers are the peripheral prophets of literature: outsiders who persuade us to suspend our cynicism and disbelief long enough to explore an often uncomfortable vision of the future, not only to show us what could be, but most importantly what shouldn't be allowed to happen, allowing our imaginations to escape the shackles of our blind rush towards so-called 'progress'. One such prophet lives ninety miles off the coast of Florida, in Havana, Cuba, and his name is Yoss.…  Some of the best sci-fi written anywhere since the 1970s.… A Planet for Rent, like its author, a bandana-wearing, muscly roquero, is completely sui generis: riotously funny, scathing, perceptive, and yet also heart-wrenchingly compassionate.… Instantly appealing.”  —The Nation

 

Newsweek: Yoss is a Fashion Icon

José Miguel Sánchez collects Anime and swords in his home in Havana. He is the island’s most celebrated science fiction writer. (Lisette Poole)

José Miguel Sánchez collects Anime and swords in his home in Havana. He is the island’s most celebrated science fiction writer. (Lisette Poole)

“‘Cubans like to have ‘swing’ [the Cuban word for swag], even though their house is falling down,' he says. His room is adorned with anime posters and Samurai accoutrements, which usually aren’t available in Cuban stores. Yoss is often seen near his home and the University of Havana, jogging in shorts and combat boots. Locals know him as the guy with the unusual metal style, long hair and headbands, an outfit that looks more at home in Seattle than it does in Cuba." —Newsweek

 

NBC News: Cuba's Best Writers Now Published In English

"Can one Cuban author boldly go where none have gone before and inspire American readers? Heavy metal rocker turned science fiction writer José Miguel Sánchez (known for his pen name, Yoss) believes he can.... Yoss's novel is part of an international literary canon of science fiction classics that makes invisible walls visible by showing everyday readers how inequality segregates people by class, politics or ethnicity." —NBC News

 

Words Without Borders: Echoes of Wells, Ballard, Huxley, and Atwood

“Brimming with pertinent topics such as sex work, intolerance, immigration, the dissolution of gender binaries, and government corruption, this compelling book is highly relevant. Joining a literary tradition of writers who envisioned Earth’s future in terrifyingly comprehensible ways, such as H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, J.G. Ballard, Philip K. Dick, Aldous Huxley, and Margaret Atwood, Yoss’s portrayal of Earth’s dystopian downfall weaves together fantasy and reality—at times troublingly close to the latter.… Yoss skilfully weaves themes and characters together into a rich tapestry, and each section gives us a more fulfilling, and fearful, vision of a dominated Earth–now an intergalactic tourist destination." —Words Without Borders

 

Foreword Reviews: An interview with Ilan Stavans

"Cuba is a utopia gone sour. (Don't all of us live in something like that?) Science fiction there is more than a hundred years old, meaning it starts before Fidel Castro dreamed up a dystopian future in the Sierra Maestra in 1958. But the crop of SF writers active under Communism is particularly intriguing; they write about alternatives realities with the full knowledge that they live in one of them. Of course, the argument should be made that SF, no matter where it comes from, isn't about the future; instead, it is a veiled depiction of the present." —Ilan Stavans in Foreword Reviews

 

Daniel José Older: A Planet for Rent is Devastating and hilarious

"Devastating and hilarious and somehow, amidst all those aliens, deeply deeply human." —Daniel José Older, author of the Bone Street Rumba series and Salsa Nocturna

 

The Bookseller: What 1984 did for surveillance, and Fahrenheit 451 did for censorship, A Planet for Rent does for tourism

“What 1984 did for surveillance, and Fahrenheit 451 did for censorship, A Planet for Rent does for tourism.… It’s a wildly imaginative book and one that, while set in the future, has plenty of relevance to the present.” —The Bookseller

Events

From the Blog

Featured
An Unsung Masterpiece of Latin American Science Fiction: Yoss Introduces "The Journey" by Miguel Collazo
Cuban Science Fiction, Cuba, Yoss, Miguel Collazo, The Journey, El Viaje, Translation, David Frye
An Unsung Masterpiece of Latin American Science Fiction: Yoss Introduces "The Journey" by Miguel Collazo
Cuban Science Fiction, Cuba, Yoss, Miguel Collazo, The Journey, El Viaje, Translation, David Frye

In the 1960s, Miguel Collazo was one of a handful of dreamers who set out to write mind-expanding science fiction within the geographic and ideological confines of post-Revolution Cuba. Like most of his Golden Age cohort, he was forced to abandon the genre, but The Journey stands as an unsung masterpiece. A profoundly philosophical novel, it has captured the imagination of Cuban sci-fi icon Yoss for nearly forty years. Here, we present his introduction to The Journey by Miguel Collazo, translated by David Frye, out now in English and Spanish.

Cuban Science Fiction, Cuba, Yoss, Miguel Collazo, The Journey, El Viaje, Translation, David Frye
An Interview with Cuban Science Fiction Author Yoss
interview, Cuban Science Fiction, Yoss
An Interview with Cuban Science Fiction Author Yoss
interview, Cuban Science Fiction, Yoss
interview, Cuban Science Fiction, Yoss
Publishing, Foreword Reviews, Howard Lovy, Awards, Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Cuban Science Fiction, Ilan Stavans
Restless Books Named Foreword Reviews’ Publisher of the Year!
Publishing, Foreword Reviews, Howard Lovy, Awards, Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Cuban Science Fiction, Ilan Stavans
Publishing, Foreword Reviews, Howard Lovy, Awards, Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Cuban Science Fiction, Ilan Stavans
Restless Events in New York City
Tash Aw, Yoss, Ruth Ozeki, Ilan Stavans, Brooklyn Book Festival, Cuban Science Fiction, Deepak Unnikrishnan, Temporary People
Restless Events in New York City
Tash Aw, Yoss, Ruth Ozeki, Ilan Stavans, Brooklyn Book Festival, Cuban Science Fiction, Deepak Unnikrishnan, Temporary People

All the great Restless author events happening this Fall 2016 in Manhattan and Brooklyn 

Tash Aw, Yoss, Ruth Ozeki, Ilan Stavans, Brooklyn Book Festival, Cuban Science Fiction, Deepak Unnikrishnan, Temporary People
Restless Events in Boston
Yoss, Cuban Science Fiction, Super Extra Grande, Boston
Restless Events in Boston
Yoss, Cuban Science Fiction, Super Extra Grande, Boston

All the great Restless author events happening this fall 2016 in Boston Mass.

Yoss, Cuban Science Fiction, Super Extra Grande, Boston

All Reviews and Coverage

Media Contact

For media and publicity requests, contact Nathan Rostron.

'Don Quixote' Translated (And Illustrated!) Across Cultures

in , ,

Have you ever wondered what Don Quixote looks like in Spanglish? What about Hebrew? Or, for you rare-linguists out there, how about Zapotec? As a corollary to our four-hundredth-anniversary deluxe interactive edition of Cervantes's masterpiece, we've begun to place the first chapter of these and other translations—French, German, Portuguese, and others—side by side, to compare the music of the language and the beauty of the script. Then we got Eko, the artist who's creating twenty original woodcut illustrations for our edition, to illustrate the opening lines from each language. Below we've excerpted the first paragraph of eight of these translations, along with Eko's artwork. There's more to come: We're even been doing an original translation in Newspeak. (George Orwell would be proud—or terrified.) Crazy? We prefer "quixotic." 

We've only got three days left in our Kickstarter campaign to fund our Quixote project, and we've nearly reached our goal! Please help us defeat the windmills. 

Spanish

En un lugar de la Mancha, de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme, no ha mucho tiempo que vivía un hidalgo de los de lanza en astillero, adarga antigua, rocín flaco y galgo corredor. Una olla de algo más vaca que carnero, salpicón las más noches, duelos y quebrantos los sábados, lantejas los viernes, algún palomino de añadidura los domingos, consumían las tres partes de su hacienda. El resto della concluían sayo de velarte, calzas de velludo para las fiestas, con sus pantuflos de lo mesmo, y los días de entresemana se honraba con su vellorí de lo más fino. Tenía en su casa una ama que pasaba de los cuarenta, y una sobrina que no llegaba a los veinte, y un mozo de campo y plaza, que así ensillaba el rocín como tomaba la podadera. Frisaba la edad de nuestro hidalgo con los cincuenta años; era de complexión recia, seco de carnes, enjuto de rostro, gran madrugador y amigo de la caza. Quieren decir que tenía el sobrenombre de Quijada, o Quesada, que en esto hay alguna diferencia en los autores que deste caso escriben; aunque, por conjeturas verosímiles, se deja entender que se llamaba Quejana. Pero esto importa poco a nuestro cuento; basta que en la narración dél no se salga un punto de la verdad.

English

In a village of La Mancha, the name of which I have no desire to call to mind, there lived not long since one of those gentlemen that keep a lance in the lance-rack, an old buckler, a lean hack, and a greyhound for coursing. An olla of rather more beef than mutton, a salad on most nights, scraps on Saturdays, lentils on Fridays, and a pigeon or so extra on Sundays, made away with three-quarters of his income. The rest of it went in a doublet of fine cloth and velvet breeches and shoes to match for holidays, while on week-days he made a brave figure in his best homespun. He had in his house a housekeeper past forty, a niece under twenty, and a lad for the field and market-place, who used to saddle the hack as well as handle the bill-hook. The age of this gentleman of ours was bordering on fifty; he was of a hardy habit, spare, gaunt-featured, a very early riser and a great sportsman. They will have it his surname was Quixada or Quesada (for here there is some difference of opinion among the authors who write on the subject), although from reasonable conjectures it seems plain that he was called Quexana. This, however, is of but little importance to our tale; it will be enough not to stray a hair's breadth from the truth in the telling of it.

Portuguese

Num lugar da Mancha, de cujo nome não quero lembrar-me, vivia, não há muito, um fidalgo, dos de lança em cabido, adarga antiga, rocim fraco, e galgo corredor. Passadio, olha seu tanto mais de vaca do que de carneiro, as mais das ceias restos da carne picados com sua cebola e vinagre, aos sábados outros sobejos ainda somenos, lentilhas às sextas-feiras, algum pombito de crescença aos domingos, consumiam três quartos do seu haver. O remanescente, levavam-no saio de belarte, calças de veludo para as festas, com seus pantufos do mesmo; e para os dias de semana o seu bellori do mais fino. Tinha em casa uma ama que passava dos quarenta, uma sobrinha que não chegava aos vinte, e um moço da poisada e de porta a fora, tanto para o trato do rocim, como para o da fazenda. Orçava na idade o nosso fidalgo pelos cinqüenta anos. Era rijo de compleição, seco de carnes, enxuto de rosto, madrugador, e amigo da caça. Querem dizer que tinha o sobrenome de Quijada ou Quesada (que nisto discrepam algum tanto os autores que tratam da matéria), ainda que por conjecturas verossímeis se deixa entender que se chamava Quijana. Isto porém pouco faz para a nossa história; basta que, no que tivermos de contar, não nos desviemos da verdade nem um til.

Italian

Viveva, non ha molto, in una terra della Mancia, che non voglio ricordare come si chiami, un idalgo di quelli che tengono lance nella rastrelliera, targhe antiche, magro ronzino e cane da caccia. Egli consumava tre quarte parti della sua rendita per mangiare piuttosto bue che castrato, carne con salsa il più delle sere, il sabato minuzzoli di pecore mal capitate, lenti il venerdì, colla giunta di qualche piccioncino nelle domeniche. Consumava il resto per ornarsi nei giorni di festa con un saio di scelto panno di lana, calzoni di velluto e pantofole pur di velluto; e nel rimanente della settimana faceva il grazioso portando un vestito di rascia della più fina. Una serva d’oltre quarant’anni, ed una nipote che venti non ne compiva convivevano con esso lui, ed eziandio un servidore da città e da campagna, che sapeva così bene sellare il cavallo come potare le viti. Toccava l’età di cinquant’anni; forte di complessione, adusto, asciutto di viso; alzavasi di buon mattino, ed era amico della caccia. Vogliono alcuni che portasse il soprannome di Chisciada o Chesada, nel che discordano gli autori che trattarono delle sue imprese; ma per verisimili congetture si può presupporre che fosse denominato Chisciana; il che poco torna al nostro proposito; e basta soltanto che nella relazione delle sue gesta non ci scostiamo un punto dal vero.

French

Dans une bourgade de la Manche, dont je ne veux pas me rappeler le nom, vivait, il n’y a pas longtemps, un hidalgo, de ceux qui ont lance au râtelier, rondache antique, bidet maigre et lévrier de chasse. Un pot-au-feu, plus souvent de mouton que de bœuf, une vinaigrette presque tous les soirs, des abatis de bétail le samedi, le vendredi des lentilles, et le dimanche quelque pigeonneau outre l’ordinaire, consumaient les trois quarts de son revenu. Le reste se dépensait en un pourpoint de drap fin et des chausses de panne avec leurs pantoufles de même étoffe, pour les jours de fête, et un habit de la meilleure serge du pays, dont il se faisait honneur les jours de la semaine. Il avait chez lui une gouvernante qui passait les quarante ans, une nièce qui n’atteignait pas les vingt, et de plus un garçon de ville et de campagne, qui sellait le bidet aussi bien qu’il maniait la serpette. L’âge de notre hidalgo frisait la cinquantaine ; il était de complexion robuste, maigre de corps, sec de visage, fort matineux et grand ami de la chasse. On a dit qu’il avait le surnom de Quixada ou Quesada, car il y a sur ce point quelque divergence entre les auteurs qui en ont écrit, bien que les conjectures les plus vraisemblables fassent entendre qu’il s’appelait Quijana. Mais cela importe peu à notre histoire ; il suffit que, dans le récit des faits, on ne s’écarte pas d’un atome de la vérité.

German

An einem Orte der Mancha, an dessen Namen ich mich nicht erinnern will, lebte vor nicht langer Zeit ein Junker, einer von jenen, die einen Speer im Lanzengestell, eine alte Tartsche, einen hagern Gaul und einen Windhund zum Jagen haben. Eine Schüssel Suppe mit etwas mehr Kuh- als Hammelfleisch darin, die meisten Abende Fleischkuchen aus den Überbleibseln vom Mittag, jämmerliche Knochenreste am Samstag, Linsen am Freitag, ein Täubchen als Zugabe am Sonntag - das verzehrte volle Dreiviertel seines Einkommens; der Rest ging drauf für ein Wams von Plüsch, Hosen von Samt für die Feiertage mit zugehörigen Pantoffeln vom selben Stoff, und die Wochentage schätzte er sich's zur Ehre, sein einheimisches Bauerntuch zu tragen - aber vom feinsten! Er hatte bei sich eine Haushälterin, die über die Vierzig hinaus war, und eine Nichte, die noch nicht an die Zwanzig reichte; auch einen Diener für Feld und Haus, der ebensowohl den Gaul sattelte als die Gartenschere zur Hand nahm. Es streifte das Alter unsres Junkers an die fünfzig Jahre; er war von kräftiger Körperbeschaffenheit, hager am Leibe, dürr im Gesichte, ein eifriger Frühaufsteher und Freund der Jagd. Man behauptete, er habe den Zunamen Quijada oder Quesada geführt - denn hierin waltet einige Verschiedenheit in den Autoren, die über diesen Kasus schreiben -, wiewohl aus wahrscheinlichen Vermutungen sich annehmen läßt, daß er Quijano hieß. Aber dies ist von geringer Bedeutung für unsre Geschichte; genug, daß in deren Erzählung nicht um einen Punkt von der Wahrheit abgewichen wird.

Hebrew DQ.jpg

Hebrew

Hebrew 1st 'graph DQ.jpg

Zapotec

Ndaani’ ti guidxi huiini’ nuu lu ca layú sti’ La Mancha, guidxi qui ganda guietenala’dxe’ la, raca cadi xadxí di’ guleza ti binni la’dxiró’ ni ma qui runi dxiiña’, ni ma xadxí zucá si yagaguezaguiiba’ sti’, ma nándasi guriá yoo xubaguidi sti’, ma nuu si qui runi gasti’ mani chuga dxiiña’ sti’.  Ti guisu beela yuze ni huaxié’ risaca robe huadxí ne laaca beela di’ guidxaa góxhibe, dxita nucha’ xiixa beelazá robe sábadu, bizaa ca viernes, guugu huiini guirá’ domingu, ma ngasi nga rugaanda laabe sibe guibani nebe. Sti ndaa bidxichi riaana laabe riquiiñebe laa lu ca ni rácube, ti neza lari luguiá’ nanaande’ nacahui ne xaguete’ ti réndasi casi racu gunaa, lari ma gudi’di’ xhí, chupa ndaa lari dxaa nabumbu ruchii ca ñeebe ni rindá ruseegu’ xco’re’ be, ca ñeebe ricá guelaguidilari nadxaa, ne lade dxi lu gadxe gubidxa rácube ti lari té stuudxi risaca. Ti gunaa ma gula, napa didihuiini’ chupa late gande iza, runi dxiiña’ ra lídxibe, laaca nabeza nebe ti xhiágabe ca’ru’ gusaa gande iza, ti nguiiu laaca nápabe ra lídxibe, ni rucaabe guni nitiicasi caquiiñebe. Binni la’dxiró’ di’ ma ze’ gusaabe chupalategandechii iza. Naguidxiru’ rihuinnibe, neca laabe nabídxibe, nabidxi lube, nacándaru’ riásabe ne nabé riuula’dxibe guuze’gui’xhi’. Nuu tu ná la? rabi cabe laabe Quijada, pacaa Quesada (rarí’ la? quipe zie’nu’ ca ni bicaa xquendanabánibe), pa caañe huiininu huaxa zannanu gudxi cabe laabe Quijana; pa gudxi cabe laabe zacá, pa co’, nga huaxa qui risaca lu xquiaapadiidxa’ di’, ni risaca nga guininu ni bizaaca dxichi be, cadi gusiguiinu.

Translation credits:

John Ormsby (English)

Antónion Feliciano de Castilho (Portuguese)

Bartolomeo Gamba (Italian)

Louis Viardot (French)

Ludwig Braunfels (German)

Haim Nachman Bialik (Hebrew)

Victor Terán (Zapotec)

Presenting the Next Books in the Restless Classics Series

in , , ,

With the Kickstarter campaign for launching Don Quixote as the first Restless Classic well underway, Restless Books is pleased to announce the next four books due to get the same treatment—deluxe editions, new supplementary content and context, and interactive features with passionate teachers via video series and online book club discussions. These timeless works still speak to our time and place—and especially to our “restlessness.” We’ll be bringing them back in splendid fashion, and we hope you’ll join us for the conversation.

Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe 

This classic about a shipwreck survivor—often framed as as a parable of English pluck and industry (and cannibals)—is due for a reboot. Written in 1719 during the crescendo of the British empire, the book has fascinating things to tell us about colonialism and globalization. The Restless Classics edition will include perspectives on the book from writers and thinkers across the world and history whose own cultural inheritance was shaped by imperial expansion.

The Souls of Black Folk, by W.E.B. Du Bois

Born in Massachusetts three years after the abolition of slavery, W.E.B. Dubois’s life as an activist, leader, Pan-Africanist, sociologist, educator, historian, writer, editor, poet, and scholar spanned the the course of civil rights history from emancipation to the marches and movements of the 1960s. Unprecedented in its time, his monumental work The Souls of Black Folk remains a profound and essential exploration of questions of race, justice, and the human spirit. The restless classics edition will explore what Dubois’s wisdom can still teach us today.

Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

No, you’ve been getting it all wrong: The doctor is Frankenstein; the one with the bolts in its neck is Frankenstein’s monster. Wait, he doesn’t have bolts in his neck? We’ll have to revisit this grotesque, thrilling tale that spawned the horror and science fiction genres, and still resonates with today’s debates about the limits and frightening power of science and human ambition.

Poems, Protest, and a Dream, by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

The original badass nun, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz wrote this fierce injunction against the bishop who wanted to stymie her intellectual pursuits in the 1600s, during a time when the Spanish empire (in what would later become Mexico) gave little credence to women’s capabilities. This remarkable collection is a foundational work not only of feminism, but also of Hispanic literature.