Where did the victims of heroin in the 1980s in Spain go? In it 1979, Novelist Juan Trejo investigates the premature death of his older sister, Nela, in 1979, not only to remember who that teenager was who, like so many others, became hooked on drugs in those years, but also to question the shared responsibility for a tragedy that, four decades later, we still have not been able to assimilate or explain as a country. This is our Book of the Week, which is followed by reviews of other notable titles such as The best in the world, where Juan Tallón returns to the novel after his successful Masterpiece with the fantastic story of an undertaker who discovers that he is an intruder in his own existence, and who in other universe someone with his name and his appearance has built a private and public life that is not his own.
Originally published in 1983, the book by Colombian Tomás González is being reissued First there was the seaa terrible and wonderful story in which we hear the murmur of Kafka and Camus decanted by the best Colombian narrative, and we also listen to Onetti. A common liturgy, Joan Didion’s book, which deals with the frivolity and escapism of an upper middle class unable to cope with reality, is as good an excuse as any other to either enter the universe of the American author or to delve deeper into it. And I eat the verses, dand Angela Marinescu, brings us closer to the genre of the subpoetryinvented by the Romanian poet, one of the most influential voices of recent decades in her language.
A report by Nadal Suau takes us into the microcosm of the Balearic Islands through various readings that shed light on the past and present of the islands, titles such as The great cemeteries under the moon, by Georges Bernanos, and Childhood and Spanish War, by Fabrizia Ramondino. In addition, several new publications offer new visions of Spain’s recent past from very different angles: The transition according to the spiesby Jorge Urdánoz; Hunger as a weapon; by Alba Nueda Lozano; Welcome, Mister Chaplin, by Juan Francisco Fuentes; Postwar and Falange, by Joan Maria Thomàs; y The vertical tribeby Borja Bauzá.
Juan Tejo reconstructs the story of his sister Nela, who died in 1979 at the age of 21, one of the first victims of heroin addiction in Spain, and recalls the shared responsibility in this tragedy. Review by Anna Caballé.
The new novel by the author of ‘Masterpiece’ addresses the issue of multiple identity from a fantasy perspective, through a undertaker protagonist who discovers that he is an intruder in his own existence. Review by Domingo Ródenas de Moya.
The Colombian writer’s book, originally published in 1983, is being reissued, an exuberant text in the tact with which each word is chosen and takes us into an increasingly dense, alcoholic, hallucinatory, pestiferous atmosphere… Review by Marta Sanz.
The American author addresses the frivolity and escapism of an upper-middle class unable to cope with reality. Review by Berna González Harbour.
The inventor of her own literary genre, Romanian poet Angela Marinescu is one of the most influential voices of recent decades in her language and has a legion of followers. Review by Luna Miguel.
The classic book ‘The Great Cemeteries Under the Moon’ by Georges Bernanos is being revived, new research on Aurora Picornell is being published and the novel ‘Childhood and Spanish War’ by Fabrizia Ramondino, inspired by her own experience, is being translated. Report by Nadal Suau.
The classic book ‘The Great Cemeteries Under the Moon’ by Georges Bernanos is being revived, new research on Aurora Picornell is being published and the novel ‘Childhood and Spanish War’ by Fabrizia Ramondino, inspired by her own experience, is being translated. Report by Nadal Suau.
A rarely used documentary collection sheds light on issues such as the adoption of electoral regulations. By Nicolás Sesma.
Hunger was the most serious problem for the Republican rearguard. This book shows how, from the beginning of the Civil War, shortages suffocated and dislocated the battered government economy. By Gutmaro Gómez Bravo.
It had been customary to identify anti-Americanism from the defeat of 1898 to the NATO referendum. It was with the authoritarian modernization during Franco’s regime that society entered the orbit of American hegemony: household appliances and the imaginary. Juan Francisco Fuentes proposes an alternative story. By Jordi Amat.
Beyond violence, propaganda and corruption, the survival of the dictatorship required some success and accommodation. The chameleonism included FET and de las JONS as a condition for maintaining their role as the backbone of the new State. By Jaume Claret.
It is not easy to chronicle subcultures, but reconstructing them is extremely useful: the tension between the central and the marginal defines an era. Using the press, with many oral sources and a mischievous style, the journalist Borja Bauzá has traced the evolution of ‘hooliganism’ in Spain. By Jordi Amat.
One becomes what one thinks. Starting from this ancient Buddhist idea, the philosopher brings together quotes from Wittgenstein, Camus and Heidegger in an essay on confronting fear. Critique by Juan Arnau.
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