The Doorman

I love every one of Arenas' works, but this one might be my favorite if only for its comedy, absurdity and depth-- all wielded with perfect balance and execution. A great and often overlooked work by a seriously overlooked writer.

I admit it, I did not pay attention to Reynaldo Arenas' work until the release of the film version of "Before Night Falls." I'm happy that so much attention has been paid to such a great writer, but the irony, like that permeating his writing, is that the world is shown this great artist only a decade after his death.Of course "Before Night Falls" his memoir, is pivotal, but I was interested in "The Doorman" because I wanted to see what Arenas' friend, Lazaro, inspired him to write, or co-write, as was referenced in the film. Also, imagining the handsome actor Olivier Martinez (who played Lazaro, who actually was a doorman) being Juan the doorman in the book, made it special and sexy.But the book! A wonderful, brief, concise and utterly charming allegory of suffering, immigration, and the absurdities of metropolitan life. I think the animals are meant to represent the various factions of oppressed people under Cuban communism, who cannot agree on how to escape. By limiting his setting to mostly the building where he works, Arenas provides a microcosm of human idiocy and animal desperation. This is a must-have for all new Reynaldo Arenas fans. Thanks to his friend Lazaro for inspiring this soulful jewel.

Parable, fantasy, allegory,this is the story of a modern saint naive, surrounded by his wards who co-exist in a high rise Manhattan apartment building where he caters to their quotidian and existential needs; each tenant having his/her own bizarre, laughable, but ultimitely tragic life. As many Manhattanites do, this ensemble of characters has a pet and lives in a quirky, unsettling symbiotic relationship with the animals, be they cats, dogs, orangutangs, or bears. Arenas paints a broad mindscape clearly, coherently, imaginatively, wildly. The doorman himself--a displaced Cuban--displays passion, sympathy, perpexity toward this odd array of tenants, but it is they who are ultimately displaced--from their humanity. "Our fault lies in our partialities" Tennessee Williams once wrote, and in their futile attempts at finding coherence and meaning through the most bizarre behaviors, the denizens who inhabit our doorman's building never attain or fulfill their dreams. Rather, they merely embroil their innocent pets in their own morass. And when the pets rebel, the doorman becomes their champion. This is truly a spiritual novel that is wonderful to read. There are reminders of Vonnegut, Orwell, Kafka, "magical realism" in here, but Arenas is truly a unique voice whose work nearly transcends literature, taking (at least myself) into an altered state of consciousness. Arenas, whose life most would not consider "saintly," has written a book that addresses the pressing "life issues" of many of us. This book is vividly and comfortably translated into English by D. Koch, whose contribution to delivering the thoughts of the author should not be overlooked. I think you can tell I loved this book.

"The Doorman," by Reinaldo Arenas, is a marvelous novel by one of Cuba's literary greats. The book has been translated into English by Dolores M. Koch. In "The Doorman" Arenas tells the story of Juan, a Cuban refugee who takes a job as a doorman in a New York City apartment building. Arenas deftly blends elements of satire, science fiction, fantasy, fable, eroticism, and absurdism as he narrates Juan's remarkable relationships with the building's tenants and their pets.Nothing is off limits in this bizarre comic odyssey. Religious fanaticism, bestiality, political dogmatism, cybernetic reconstruction, and impotence are just a few of the topics skewered by Arenas' savage, yet playful, imagination. In its social scope and satiric incisiveness, the novel is comparable to Ralph Ellison's classic "Invisible Man." Arenas' strange narrator, who frequently comments on the process of writing, reminds me of the narrator of "The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas," the great novel by Brazilian author Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis. And other aspects of the novel read like a warped blending of Dr. Seuss, "Charlotte's Web," and Franz Kafka. But make no mistake: Arenas is a wholly original talent, and "The Doorman" is a unique literary treasure.

Desde mi punto de vista, "El Portero" es una obra escrita en sentido figurado, llena de simbolismo. El personaje de Juan es la representación viva del cubano en el exilio, los animales, de cierta forma también representan los diferentes sectores de la cubanidad en el exilio con sus deseos, sueños y frustraciones, los habitantes del edificio, representan a una parte de la sociedad americana, apática a la realidad circundante y aislada en sus propias miserias espirituales. El final, lírico y casi bíblico representa el más preciado sueño de los que cruzaron el mar en busca de libertad forzados por el regimen o por convicción propia.