This is another book about a man in a psychiatric home, written by a schizophrenic author, although unlike All Dogs Are Blue, there is no humour. It is bleak, showing the very worst of human nature - the people who run the home have a lot of power, and take advantage of the vulnerable residents, stealing from them, sexually abusing them, beating them, and neglecting their basic needs. The story is from the perspective of William, a new resident to the home. His aunt has sent him there because she couldn't/wouldn't deal with his behaviour. The exact details, and quite what his mental illness is, if indeed he has one, are not made clear - but he is more aware of reality and his surroundings than the other residents, to the extent that one staff member wants to pal up with him. Perhaps the bleakest aspect of the story is how William becomes abusive himself, because he can, because the power gives him a good feeling, in this inhumane halfway house of utter despair and squalor - and it's easy to imagine how a lot of people would do this in such a situation. And how his behaviour changes when he has some hope. It is a dark story - depressing and incisive in its unflinching depiction of the depths to which humanity can sink. I didn't 'enjoy' it as such, but I thought it was a incredibly good book, and I feel it is important that there are books that deal with this sort of thing. Especially from having worked in psychiatric homes myself, and seeing how there are staff who really do take advantage of their power and treat the residents as subhuman - not to the extent as what happens in this novel, but I can see how in other cultures with less accountability it could happen.I did find the translation odd at times - sometimes William looks out of the window and sees 'homosexuals dressed as women'. As he has no way of knowing their sexual orientation, I'm wondering if this is a literal translation of what we would call transvestites. Another oddity is when the protagonist tells of someone asking him for a cigarette and says 'I gave it to her'. Surely it would be 'I gave her one', as 'it' would refer to a very specific cigarette, rather than someone asking for 'a cigarette'. I wonder if that again is a literal translation that doesn't quite work in English.
Nečtu moc beletrie, ale mám rád obálky knih, kde šukají pouliční psi a svítí jim přitom oči. Ta kniha je jako deník mý lehce zpožděný spolužačky z vesnický základky, s tím rozdílem, že nebyla kubánka v Miami. Neukazuje to nic o podstatě komunismu, ani kapitalismu, a ten kdo něco takovýho píše na přebal, neví ani o jednom nic. Jenže ta kniha je krásná ve svý prostosti, v tom, že není jednoduchý a vlastně ani normální dosáhnout v podstatě základních atributů spokojenýho života v moderní společnosti. Takových knih by mohlo být milion různých, jenže málokterá by byla ze společenskýho dna, Milion dollar hotelu z Miamy, kde se potí stěny o dost víc než na Kvašákově u brněnskýho hlaváku. Mám rád momenty, kdy prosvítá mužský hajzlovství i u těch citlivých hlavních hrdinů, který jinak každej miluje. Každej má rád roztomilýho pejska, ale i ten šuká mezi ruinama se svítícíma očima. A to je knížka, kterou sem četl o letošních Vánocích, a pak jí dal svý mamě.
What do You think about The Halfway House (2009)?
The Halfway House was sad. It tells the story of a Cuban refugee who has come to Miami to live with his family and to have a better life. However, he gets caught in a downward spiral when his family in Miami feels they are unable to help him. He is strange and cannot adjust to his new life. He is then sent to the Halfway House where he is stuck with a cast of mentally ill characters. His moral compass fails him as he sinks to low levels of behavior typical of the house. He feels that it is not worth trying to make it a better place, but better just to leave--to move himself up and make a new start. I think this book sets out to make the point that it intends to but is too short with little story or character development. What is most interesting about is that author Guillermo Rosales burned most of his written work before killing himself in the early 90's and The Halfway House is one of his few surviving works.
—Kerry
I might change this to five stars one day. I'm not feeling very generous with that extra star at the moment though. One of the reviews on the back mentions the amount of cruelty jammed into just a little over 100 pages, and I concur. Like This Way to the Gas Chambers, Ladies and Gentlemen, this book spares no one in the exposure of being a pretty despicable human being. Inside each and every one of us lies a fascist ready to do the worst things imaginable to others and it's just a matter of the right (or wrong) situation to bring it out, and sadly that is probably the most universal thing that makes humans human (aside from the speaking thing, the use of tools, and opposable thumbs). That said, there is one weakly shining light of goodness and decency in the novel, and it comes from an Anarchist, which maybe it's saying something about Anarchists, but seriously if they aren't shits of human beings too it's only because they've gotten to stand on the moral high ground because every ideology has had a chance to shit on them and they have never had the power to return the favor on a large scale. But it's nice to think that a world like Berkman and Goldman dreamed it would be a whole lot better than any other we've had yet. But that also has nothing to do with this terribly cruel and amazing book.
—Greg
The Halfway House came as a total surprise to me -- I was straightening some books in the library and stumbled across this thin volume that just begged to be picked up.I'm not sure why, but I really like stories narrated by nutcases. Especially when they're nutcases due to completely absurd socio-political circumstances. There's a rare kind of honesty in that kind of voice. This was short, true, cruel & hilarious. Reminded me of stories by Bukowski, Burroughs or Thompson -- but boiled down to its essence + a little extra absurdity. Love the absurdity.
—Rachel Smalter Hall
