The shadow of the writer
Taking as an excuse the fate of the Basque children of the War of 36, the II. The novel is based on the World War and ends in 2011. Wars affect all characters, including the Belgian writer Robert Mussche, who gives life to the novel in the footsteps of his life.
Under the genius of docufiction, the characters’ adventures are mixed with historical data in passages that take different forms. But sometimes, I wonder if those historical marks don't get too far from the tone of the novel. There is, however, a passage in which they are perfectly combined, for example, in the description of the attack on the Cap Arcona penitentiary transatlantic.
The novel is sewn thanks to the information obtained by a story-researcher, although it is often disguised with an omniscient narrator. Likewise, the anonymous researcher takes the trace of Kirmen Uribe, especially in the third chapter, where, when asked about the reason for this story, he quotes the death of a friend and, in the end, recognizes that this friend is Aitzol Aramaio. At that moment, I felt that narrative coherence was broken, without the need for it, since the narrator-researcher justifies the existence of the novel itself.
In general, it reads at ease and empathizes easily with the characters. In this sense, we observe the usual naivety in the works of Uribe, although I was not entirely satisfied at the end of an attempt to balance it, claiming that Mussche’s political commitment adversely affects the lives of his wives.
On the other hand, the types of relationships between the characters give rise to reflection, especially those that feel but cannot be publicly expressed: The concerns that appear in Vic's daily life, the hidden feelings of Herman, the inevitable betrayal of Aline, etc. However, many of the relationships between the characters talk about cultural creation and, in this sense, the limits of authorship (to what extent is it ethical to use the reality of others for fiction?) and about translation (how much does the translation of creation have?) reflects in the novel.
In any case, the novel reflects on the consequences of past conflicts and the work of fiction is conceived as a space for dismissing the dead. In this effort against oblivion, however, I have been left with some absences, such as that of the protagonist and that of Karmentxu.
-It was an ordinary afternoon. For anglerfish.” This evening is what Maite Mutuberria tells us in this album. The book has very few texts and the images tell us very well the development of history.
From the beginning we can see in the illustrations a large and quiet... [+]
The one who approaches this book, first of all, will be with G. It meets the images of Mabire. They are comic style images, very accurate strokes and celestial experiences that help to easily interpret characters and situations. These images coincide with the text, which is... [+]
Under the title of Viriditas we can read the subtitle of The Women Who Made Us See the Wonderful World of Plants. This is a great book with a hard lid, in which the illustrations of the plants and a woman take the center of the lilac cover. You can see the approximate content of... [+]
Louisa
Yiusfi
Txalaparta, 2023
-------------------------------------------------
In 2022, Louisa Yousfi published Rester barbare, and Itziar Diez de Ultzurrun and Txalaparta published it in Basque in 2023, following the words of Ainhoa Nadia Douhaibi. He had not insisted so... [+]
For a matter of work, I had to reread this wonderful book. A short book that brings together feminist theory, genealogy and history, and that will surely have a lot of criticism looking on the net and, surprise! I found one, which Irati Majuelo wrote in Berria.El book published... [+]
The book just published by the editorial Consonni has been a great surprise to the public. I did not know the work of Montserrat Roig and the finding has been truly surprising. On the one hand, because the novel was first published in a little more than the death of Franco (in... [+]
The report of a Basque cow was published by Bernardo Atxaga in 1991. The book has had a long history and success in both Basque and other languages. One of Germany's best-selling books was J. The British editor Eccleshare considered it a work to be read in the early years in... [+]
Spring is usually a promise of a cold winter nose that can come after the landing, and has been annotated several times for sleep. Promise, however, is never a safe spring in a ruined terrain. Not at least if we are talking about change or, in particular, revolution. Maddi... [+]
It all started on a field trip with her cousin and her husband. They went to dinner and didn't go home. The protagonist went out to look for them and found a wall. From there, the wall does not let him move forward and sees two characters frozen as dead. Beyond the wall death... [+]
Do you consider yourself a feminist and anti-racist? Have you ever thought that the history of feminism you know is white and colonialist? Have you questioned your knowledge or your view of non-white cultures? Have you made a critical reading of feminist empowerment? Do you want... [+]
They bring home the snails, like a rolled backpack, transporting those who need to live. However, houses can be scratched and divided into two. They even double from time to time, though provisionally, from strength to burden. Ane Labaka Mayoz (Lasarte-Oria, 1992) dedicates the... [+]
The sound of the door was heard while they were having dinner. The stars of the sky said the sabbata was ripe,” thus begins this short novel by Gaizka Arostegi, when Gestapo's "dogs" touch Sara's home door and her parents. As the reader would conclude, this is a novel set in the... [+]
We opened the poems book by Oihana Jaka and found two deals. One father and another son. It is worth noting for its direct relationship with the poems we will find. The book is structured in three parts:
Hamaika urte, Hamaika hilabete eta Hamaika egun. Number eleven is also... [+]
Karmele Mitxelena published in this Xaguxar collection the story The Summer of Fresa in 2022. It narrated the summer adventures of some boys and girls. Now, instead, Aitona Flora's book is a much more interiorized, exciting story narrated from the point of view of the protagonist... [+]