Los Gusanos (which literally means 'the worms' but is also used in Cuban Spanish to refer to Cuban-Americans) is ostensibly the story of Marta, a young woman of convictions which are almost religiously intense, and her desire to avenge her brother Ambrosino who died during the Bay of Pigs invasion.

In fact, it's the story of a whole community, Cuban and non-: the staff and inmates at the old people's home where Marta works, the ones who returned alive from the Bay of Pigs, the ones who continue to control the community. We get to see each one well enough to understand what's going on inside their heads - the book is told in the third person throughout, but it changes style when it follows different individuals, from Luz (Marta's best friend) going out on the town, dancing and drinking and gradually getting a little sloppy, to the military-enthusiast teenager that Marta ropes into her plan, seeing his routine job as if it's military drill.

It may seem that this is detracting from the overall story - and indeed, the character of Marta is one of the weakest points of the book, seen largely through religious/saintly metaphors and the sense of future doom which her name hints at (Marta=martyr?). But it fits perfectly with the overall message of the book, which is that no human being should be seen as a means to an end. History tells us that there are the powerful - "In Santiago they were the ones who controlled the jobs, the ones who winked and pinched your cheek and collected their dues, who grinned and said such is life, who paid for the funerals of men they had broken, who left big tips but were rarely charged for a meal" - and there are their victims. Which group is powerful and which is a victim may change, particularly in the context of a revolution (the book shows clearly the complex ups and downs of the revolution and Cuban-exile politics, but also suggests that some of the nastiest oppressors may always find a way to come out on top): but the moral imperative is to help the victims and oppose oppression.

A further note on the title, worms feature several more times: Los Gusanos is also the name of a poem which Ambrosio writes during his military training, which starts "The worms find no food in our hope", an old man complains that his insides are being eaten by the worms of his life, worms turn up in the prison food on the Isla De Las Pinas eaten by those imprisoned as counter-revolutionaries.

Sample: In the kitchen there are two men, a woman and a boy. The kitchen smells like coffee, though only the ex-priest is drinking any, his cup balanced behind him on the edge of the sink. The overhead light bounces hard on the balding spot on his forehead. His hands lie together in his lap, fingertips touching as if in prayer. He can't quite believe he's really here, doing this thing, saying these words. He watches the face of the man who sits against the wall in the shadow of the refrigerator. ( )

I love Sayles' movies. Liked this book, but as my spanish is pretty limited I struggled at times. ( )