20–21412
In a passively receptive mood the author went to Havana and drifted thru his days taking in impressions of the city, of the people, of the social atmosphere, of its all-pervading romance. “There was never a more complex spirit than Havana’s, no stranger mingling of chance and climate and race had ever occurred; but, remarkably, a unity of effect had been the result, such a singleness as that possessed by an opera.... It was its special charm to be charged with sensations rather than facts; a place where facts ... could be safely ignored.”
“Mr Hergesheimer, translating the spell of Havana into words of great imagery and color, has visualized its wonderful charm.”
+ Bookm 52:367 Ja ’21 70w
“Half the time we see the city through his meticulously observant eyes, and the other half he plays Boswell to his own personality and ideas. The result is an engaging series of vignettes, a most understanding interpretation, and a remarkably honest human document.” J. S. N.
+ Freeman 2:478 Ja 26 ’21 230w
“A production at once original and excellent. Mr Hergesheimer possesses to an extraordinary degree the power of subjectifying the objective, which is another way of saying that he can make external realities his very own. In consequence of this happy ability his book is about one-tenth Havana and nine-tenths Hergesheimer.”
+ N Y Times p22 D 12 ’20 2000w
“Not the least interesting of Mr Hergesheimer’s remarks refer to the creation of literature, his own and others.’”