True, Ashbery can still write an evocative,nclever poem like “Frontispiece”nin Shadow Train or “Just WalkingnAround” in A Wave. In these he seemsnto be communicating with his ownnfriends, to be letting his verbal netsnhang to dry in a moment of sincerity.nIn so doing he draws the reader in withnhis grace and sensitivity, and henachieves anew his sureness of tone andneffortlessly fine pacing of line—alwaysnthe main strength of Ashbery’s bestnverse.nBut such pieces become rare indeednas one reads through the 340-oddnpages of Ashbery’s collected poetry.nInstead, one finds an ever-mountingnintellectualism, a jaded aesthetic andnvague despair that bode ill for poetry,nat least in this country.nWilliam Rice is a free-lance writer innAnn Arbor, Michigan.nCastro’s Heart ofnDarknessnby Michael WaidernAgainst All Hope: The Prison Memoirsnby Armando Valladares, NewnYork: Alfred A. Knopf; $18.95.nCommunist governments arrest andnimprison citizens who express opinionsnat variance with official orthodoxies.nThere is hardly an educated Americannor European who doesn’t knownM’O’V’I’N’G’?nLET us KNOW BEFORE YOU GO!nTo assure uninterrupted delivery ofnChronicles, please notify us in advance.nSend change of address on this form withnthe mailing label from your latest issue ofnChronicles to: Subscription Department,nChronicles, P.O. Box 800, Mount Morris,nIllinois 61054.nNamenAddressnCity State Zipn32 / CHRONICLESnthat much. They are also aware thatnthese citizens suffer torture and abusenfor many years in those prisons. But itntakes more than knowledge to appreciatenwhat goes on in the prisons of thenSoviet Union, China, North Korea,nAlbania, and our nearest example ofnAnimal Farm, Cuba; It requires conscience,nsympathy, and perhaps evennimaginahon.nFidel, that romantic figure of thenSierra Maestra who gives interviews tonBarbara Walters and Dan Rather, hasnmanaged over the years to be then”good” Communist fighting the evilnimperialist to the North. The Cubanneconomy may be a shambles, his mercenariesnare in Africa and CentralnAmerica, and hundreds of thousandsnof his countrymen choose to risk theirnlives rather than stay in the country,nbut somehow Fidel rises above it all.nFidel may not be able to rise abovenhis most powerful critic, ArmandonValladares, who exposes Fidel as annevil man responsible for the unimaginablensuffering of thousands of innocentnpeople. In a stark and simplennarrative, Valladares recounts 22 yearsnspent in Cuban prisons. Tortured bynbeatings, starvation, sleeplessness, prolongednexposures to heat and cold, andnbiological experiments, he and othersnwere kept in cages and prevented fromnsleeping by guards who would hitnthem with poles and urinate on them.nNot only was Valladares forced to sleepnin human waste, he and other prisonersnwere forced to swim — quitenliterally—in human and animal wastenwhile unblocking a sewer system. Prisonnofficials allowed the prisoners nonwater after their work in the sewer, andnthey lived for weeks encased in filth.nKept stark naked for years because henrefused to wear the uniform of commonncriminals, Valladares and 6,000nothers lived for a time on top of hundredsnof boxes of dynamite wired tonexplode if the “enemy” should try tonliberate the prison.nMany prisoners died, submitted ton”rehabilitation,” or went mad. Incurablendiseases were common amongnthose who survived. Through tremendousnheroism, some endured. Someneven grew spiritually and gained a newnperspective on the world. Some, likenValladares, are now among us, tryingnto share that perspective. While innprison, the problem of communica­nnntion was clear enough. They were innjail, behind walls and bars. The tricknwas to get the writing on some papernand sneak it out of the prison to anfriend, a future wife, a mother, anyone.nValladares smuggled out messagesnbetter than most, and those messagesnprevented him from becomingnnumber 26830 erased from the prisonnroles. But now that Valladares is out ofnprison, can he get the message across?nWho will understand? Freedom tonwrite and speak is not the only requirement.nThere is still talk of establishingnrelations with Cuba. Before we allownCastro to set up an embassy in Washington,nwe need to consider carefullynwhat he did to his own former comrades.nThe victims included manynmajor figures in the Revolution. LikenStalin, Castro had to deal with his ownnBukharins and Trotskys who had andifferent idea about what the Revolutionnwas all about. Like Stalin, hentortured, killed, and silenced them.nAfter the Revolution, some dissidentsnjoined bands that went into thenmountains to wage violent strugglenagainst Fidel. Granma, the officialnCuban Communist newspaper, reportednthat “179 guerrilla bands madenup of 3,591 men” killed 500 Cubannsoldiers through 1970. These figuresnare probably low, but even so, theyntestify against the popular supportnFidel is supposed to enjoy.nPerhaps the most memorable appearancenin Valladares’ prison memoirsnis made by Gerardo, known as thenBrother of Faith. A Protestant ministernwho instilled faith by example amidstndehumanizing circumstances, he constantlynrallied prisoners on the brink ofndespair and madness. Guilty of leadingnprayer meetings in prison and of othernacts of pious subversion, Gerardonmaintained his tranquillity and hisnself-possession in the face of torturenand beatings. In the midst of an especiallynbrutal attack on the prisoners bynguards, the unnamed Brother of Faithngave his most memorable sermon.nValladares quotes this man’s dyingnwords as the valediction to his finalnsummary of 22 hellish years:nAs the ears sped along, a floodnof memories rushed over me.nTwenty-two years in jail. Inrecalled the two sergeants.n