Zbogom, Hemingway

One of his literary role models is Ernest Hemingway, whom he both admires and despises – mainly because of his debauchery, excessive machismo and his attitude towards other people, especially Cubans. One day, a heavy rain on Hemingway's Cuban estate brings to light the remains of a body about 40 years old, dating back to the time the writer was in Cuba. Conde cannot suppress his curiosity and embarks on another extensive investigation in order to expose the murderer, but also to shed light on many mysteries in the life of one of the world's greatest writers. Farewell, Hemingway is one in a series of crime novels by the great Leonardo Padura, whose central character is the complex Mario Conde – an aspiring artist, but also a skilled investigator. Although its narrative structure is typical of crime fiction, this novel is much more than that. Padura's sentences reveal entire worlds and outline two Cubas – the one from the 1960s, with Hemingway at the center, and the contemporary one.