Whether it is accepted with greater or lesser reluctance, Michel Houellebecq’s dazzling narrative career has been sustained on the basis of a conjugation of virulent philippics against these liquid and hypermodern times of misrule, consumerism and banality. In Annihilation, his latest and long-awaited novel – which deals with a future presidential campaign in France, with enigmatic global attacks, with a taciturn guy who must explain them, with family ties, with terrorism, with dreams, with death, with the unavoidable spirituality and of almost everything divine and human—changes belligerent nihilism for a repairing sentimentality, delivers a fruitless work weighed down by excess and commonplace.
All in all, the latest proposal by the author of titles such as elementary particles Y The Map and the Territory is the book of the week for Babelia. There is more. nights at the circus, by Angela Carter, is a fiercely funny and cheeky work that explores the many possibilities of the grotesque. Prometheusby Luis García Montero, covers a theatrical piece on the Greek myth that was performed in Mérida in 2019, and The memory of the wire, by Bárbara Blasco, tackles thorny issues such as guilt, mourning, self-punishment and sexual abuse without allowing the pain to overflow. Faced with the close and recognizable reality of autofiction, Dead hoursby José Antonio Garriga Vela, proposes a true feast of the imagination.
In addition, several titles coincide in recovering the spirit of the fable and that of its usual protagonists, the animals. Is about The book of fables and other fables, by Daniel Samoilovich and Eduardo Stupia; Zoographies. animal literatureby Mariano García (edition); About the death of a dog, by Jean Grenier and Anthropocene Bestiaryby Nicholas Nova and Disnovation.org. Finally, in the essay section, two volumes on Spain and Catalonia stand out: The Spain that we loved so much, by Victor Gonzalez Pin and Tarradellas. A certain idea of Catalonia, by Joan Esculies.
Michel Houellebecq, who changes belligerent nihilism for a repairing sentimentality, delivers a fruitless work weighed down by excess and commonplace. Review by Javier Aparicio Maydeu.
“Nights at the Circus” by Angela Carter
Angela Carter’s novel, with a gallery of characters similar to ‘Freaks Stop’, mixes the most outrageous language with the most refined. Review of José María Guelbenzu.
‘Prometheus’, by Luis García Montero
Luis García Montero brings together his play on the mythological character, a text full of wisdom, with two essays loaded with thought. Review of Berna González Harbour.
‘The memory of the wire’, by Bárbara Blasco
Bárbara Blasco’s novel, full of music and anguish, talks about taking the blame years after a wild and unconscious adolescence. Review by Domingo Ródenas de Moya.
‘Dead Hours’, by José Antonio Garriga Vela
José Antonio Garriga Vela’s book is a true festival of imagination and literature applied to reality. Review by Ana Rodríguez Fischer.
The more than 230 fables that this book contains exude fantasy and humor even in its delicious final moral, which corroborates the validity, or rather the immortality, of this genre. Criticism of Mercedes Cebrian.
From the introduction, this book reminds us that, in literature, the animal has been helping humans to reflect on themselves for centuries. Criticism of Mercedes Cebrian.
It is a breviary of intuitions about canine subjectivity and thoughts about our relationship with domesticated beasts. Criticism of Mercedes Cebrian.
Hybridization is rampant at this time of ours, and the authors of this peculiar volume illustrated with the aesthetics of a field manual attest to it. Criticism of Mercedes Cebrian.
‘The Spain we loved so much’, by Víctor González Pin
Víctor Gómez Pin, who considers the independence referendum a failure for both Catalonia and Spain, can help the progressives recover their Spanish identity. Review by Juan Luis Cebrián.
‘Tarradellas. A certain idea of Catalonia’, by Joan Esculies
Joan Esculies reconstructs in an overwhelming book the vital vicissitudes of the former president of the Generalitat, centered on his fidelity to some ideas during his exile during the Franco era. Review by Jordi Amat.
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A sentimental Houellebecq, Garriga Vela’s feast of imagination and other books of the week