Before Night Falls

I've just begun to read Reinaldo Arenas' Before Night Falls, and although I find some parts of the work to be a bit much, there are some exceedingly beautiful passages. The following, for example, is an incredible meditation on nature and on life drawn from Arenas' childhood:

...I wanted to fly, to fly like those birds, alone in the downpour. I would go as far as the river, a river that roared under the spell of violence let loose. The power of the overflowing current would sweep away almost everything in its path: trees, stones, animals, houses. It was the mystery of the law of destruction, but also of the law of life. I did not know then where that river was headed, where that frenzied race would end, but something was calling me to go with it, saying that I too had to throw myself into those raging waters and lose myself, that only in that torrent, always on the move, would I find some peace... (16-17)

While I do not necessarily agree with everything Arenas writes, there is no denying that this is simply one of the most beautiful passages I have ever read. I hope to find more like it!