I recently shared my collection of Cuban books with you, but now I'm going to show you my small collection of classic books. Although they have never been my passion and I usually enjoy discovering books by smaller authors, the truth is that the reason why certain books are considered classics is ineffable: they are excellent.
With that in mind and since the book that started it all is Rayuela, with its already well-known structure, it seemed like a fascinating book to have in physical form, so I spent more than two years looking for it in all kinds of bookstores and along the way my collection was born.
A hidden gem in the field of Latin American literature is the anthology of short stories "De lo Real Maravilloso" (Of the Wonderful Real) which contains a series of short stories of the genre named by Alejo Carpentier, which to a certain extent ran parallel to Magical Realism. The best works in the short stories of this style are in a single book, without a doubt, you can't miss it.
Of course, there could not be missing a book from the greatest exponent of Magical Realism and this time with one of his most controversial books, perhaps because of that peculiar way of using language or because he touches in such a personal way on a subject that is still palpable throughout Latin America.
From another novel winner and also a rather controversial book is The House of the Sleeping Beauties, a book that addresses themes such as the passage of time, old age and beauty, but told through a story with an eccentric but contemplative background, perhaps the best work written in the last two centuries that encompasses this characteristic.
Although if we talk about books that have marked these two, they do not need an introduction, Robin Hood and Our Lady of Peris are books that have marked an era, so transcendental that they are already part of the collective imagination of humanity.
And last but not least, what I could consider a family heirloom, a book written by the most universal Cuban of all time, it is difficult to say something that has not already been said about José Martí, who was perhaps the initiator of modernism in the Spanish language. With this book he shows off his mastery by bringing a chemical work for children, including stories, poetry, short stories, reviews of other books, etc. In this book Martí manages to reflect childhood as the most brilliant stage of the human being, calling it the Golden Age.