European Book Club 2009

The European cultural institutes in New York City have joined to create the European Book Club.

The Club offers the unique opportunity to discuss well-known, contemporary novels from Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania and Spain.

All books will be read in English translation.

For more information: europeanbookclub.org

Participation is free but prior registration in necessary. Please RSVP as soon as possible to: spain.nyc@europeanbookclub.org

Book to be discussed “The Lone Man” by Bernardo Atxaga

Date of the event Dec.14th (Session full), Dec. 15th

Time 6:30 pm.

Location Instituto Cervantes,

Galeria Amster Yard

211 E 49th. Street NY, NY 10017

Moderator Joseba Zulaika.

Center for Basque Studies,

University of Nevada, Reno

About the book

“The Lone Man” original title in Basque: “Gizona bere bakardadean”. English version by Margaret Jull Costa, Harvill, 1996 has been translated into 15 languages and received several important prizes.

In this "literary thriller" Atxaga, explores the psychological and political landscape of Spain during the delicate and uneasy transition from dictatorship to democracy. During the Franco dictatorship in Spain (1939-75), the suppression of the Basque language and Basque laws and the lack of democratic alternatives gave rise to groups generally known as ETA -- or, in this book, "the organization." When Franco died, Spain gradually converted to a democracy. Basque political prisoners were amnestied, but old wounds did not heal quickly.

The author sets this novel among a group of Basque ex-prisoners, now operating a hotel in Barcelona, during the 1982 World Cup. This small group has renounced the armed struggle. But the cycle of conflict continues as the main character, Carlos, does one last job for the organization, hiding a man and a woman who are on the run from the authorities. Complicating matters, the hotel is crawling with police, ostensibly protecting the Polish soccer team staying at the hotel.

Atxaga works from inside the head of Carlos, increasing the tension page-by-page as the police get closer and closer to the truth. He explores Carlos's relationships with his fellow ex-prisoners, Guiomar and Ugarte, as the plot moves forward. There are also the families, girlfriends, staff, the Polish team and various hangers-on. The police are on to Carlos, he knows they know, but there is no proof. Who was the informer? Will Carlos get "Jon" and "Jone" out of the hotel bakery where they are hiding, without being caught?

A lot of other questions remain unanswered. Why can't Carlos return to the Basque lands? Why did he have to commit his brother, Kropotky, to a mental institution? Will his former comrades -- now business partners -- denounce him?

The Reviews

New Statesman (08/02/96) underlined that Atxaga's novel was not a conventional thriller, and that location and action were developed symbolically through a use of evocative imagery that enriched the plot.

The Guardian (07/29/96) remarked on the originality of the theme and the rhythm of the novel…

The Times (08/03/96) said the novel was a captivating odyssey into the mind of the protagonist.

In Spain the reviews were equally positive. The critic asserted that this was a novel by a great writer, a risky novel, full of detail and irony.

About the author

Atxaga is the basque’s strongest literary voice. He has collected more prizes than any other Basque author to date: Premio Nacional de Narrativa, 1989, the Milepages in 1991, the Tres Coronas de los Pirineos Atlánticos in 1995, the Vasco Universal in 2002, the Cesare Pavese Poetry prize in 2003, the Mondello Prize, etc.

Atxaga’s novels, stories, and poems have been translated into more than seventy languages. The Accordionist´s Son, his latest novel, has been published in the USA last year.

For more information visit: http://www.atxaga.org/blog

About the moderator

Joseba Zulaika is Co-director and Professor at the “Center for Basque Studies” University of Nevada, Reno.

For more information visit: http://basque.unr.edu/04/4.2.1t/4.2.1.02.1.zulaika2.htm

Registration for this event will start in November

Please visit the EBC website http://europeanbookclub.org/ for more details.

European Book Club 2008

About the book

The Carpenter's Pencil [O Lapis do Carpinteiro], by Manuel Rivas was chosen to be the first book to represent at the European Book Club the Galician Literature one of the three minority languages spoken in Spain besides Spanish. The book has been published in Galician in 1998 and is the most widely translated work in the history of Galician literature. This book wan some important national and international prizes.

The story of this book is a love story in a war time, but tell us about the relationship between a prision guard, Herbal, and a physician, Dr. Daniel Da Barca, during the Spanish Civil War in Galicia. Dr. Da Barca is imprisoned because of his anti-fascist ideas and has fallen in love with Marisa Mallo, a daughter of a family who sympathize with Franco’s regime. At the beginning Herbal, a soldier and suporter of Franco’s regime, who was also in love with Marisa, is jealous of the doctor. He has appropriated himself the pencil of a carpenter that has belonged to a Republican painter executed in the prison. Because of the magic qualities of the pencil his character begins to change. A magnificent and interesting literary work with an element of the mysterious.

The Reviews

The Guardian (01/28/2001): Choosing to write in a minority language is in itself a political act, asserting a commitment to identity and cultural heritage. […] The Carpenter's Pencil is a strange and haunting novel, seamlessly translated (by Jonathan Dunne), a sincere and beautiful portrait of a brutal, ugly period of Spanish history.

Mark Thwaite (09/19/2004): Rivas' story is slight but the telling is magisterial, the depth utterly honest, his touch unerringly light, the resonances of his writing wide and the characterisation vivid: prose this poetic and this devoid of sentiment is as rare as it is breathtaking.

About the author

Manuel Rivas was born in A Coruña, Galicia, Northwest Spain, in 1957. He is a Galician writer, poet and journalist. He began his career as journalist very early and collaborated later with prestigious and recognized Galician and Spanish newspapers. He is the most well known contemporary author writing in Galician and is considered a revolutionary. He is strongly and deeply involved with the Galician people, his history, language and culture. In general Rivas is an activist in political, social, national and international organizations. Some of his work has been as well adapted to the cinema.