22-Feb-2001 -- EWTN News Brief
HAVANA, (CWNews.com) - A controversial Spanish novelist, Juan Jose Armas
Marcelo, author of several novels involving sex and violence, has announced he
is finishing a book inspired by Pope John Paul's visit to Cuba.
Armas Marcelo said that the novel, named "El Nino de Luto y el cocinero
del Papa" (The Mourning Boy and the Pope's Cook), will tell the story of a
fictional character, Diosmediante Malaspina, based on the true life of a
Catholic person murdered two years ago.
"I brought a significant number of tales and stories after visiting
Cuba during the Pope's visit," said the 54-year-old Spanish in an interview
printed by the Chilean daily "El Mercurio."
"It will not be a political novel, although it will bring the issue of
the dictator whose name I will not use because it bores me to death," said
Armas Marcelo, in evident reference to Cuba's President Fidel Castro. According
to the author, "The Mourning Boy" is "a symbol of Cuba, and
especially of Havana, Cuba's capital so rich in culture."
Finally, the novelist said that a conversation he held with an unnamed Cuban
Catholic bishop was "critical" in his decision to write the novel,
which was not originally among his projects. | 