Cremation

Name: Cremation
Brand: Unknown
SKU: 9780811224307
Price: 39.99 NZD
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By Rafael Chirbes

Summary

In Cremation, Rafael Chirbes weaves a rich narrative centred around the economic and moral decline of modern Spain. The story unravels through the introspective musings of its protagonist, an aging businessman, as he assesses his life amid the crumbling façades of prosperity. The novel delves into themes of greed, betrayal, and the fleeting nature of success, offering a profound exploration of existential reflection and social decay.
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Format: Paperback / softback

$39⁹⁹

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Cremation

$39⁹⁹

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this novel if you are drawn to stories that intricately explore themes of societal decline, moral ambiguity, and human frailty. Set in a Spain grappling with economic upheaval, it offers a gripping narrative that delves deeply into the complexities of modern life and the challenges of confronting one's past.

An overflowing, mesmeric masterpiece about greed from “one of the most remarkable authors on the Spanish scene” (The Guardian)

Description

Along the Mediterranean coastline of Spain, real-estate developers scramble to transform the once pastoral landscape into tourist resorts, nightclubs, and beachfront properties with lavish bars and pools. The booming post-Franco years have left everything up for grabs. Cremation opens with the death of Matías, a paterfamilias who had rejected all of these changes and whose passing sets off a chain reaction, uncovering a past that had been buried for years, and leading those closest to him to question the paths they've chosen.

In a rich mosaic narrative, filled with a hypnotic chorus of voices, Cremation explores the coked-up champagne fizz of luxurious parties shadowed by underworlds of political corruption, prostitution, and ruthless financial speculation. The novel enters that melancholy ouroboros of capitalist greed that led to the financial crash and captures something essential about our values, our choices, and our all too human mistakes.

Like William Faulkner or Francis Bacon, Chirbes stares, clear-eyed, into the abyss, and portrays us as we really are.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Italicized delves deeply into the lives of its characters, reflecting passion and intellect against the backdrop of late 20th-century Spanish society, as noted by Publishers Weekly. Kirkus describes it as a profound examination of personal and communal reflections prompted by a man’s death, showcasing Chirbes' distinct narrative voice. Colm Tóibín praises the novel for its convincing psychological depth and beautiful prose, while Mara Faye Lethem hails Chirbes as a master of Spanish literature, particularly in his use of lyrical descriptions and metaphors. Dustin Illingworth considers Chirbes’ work a critique of modernism, challenging the consumerist culture of the early 2000s. Complete Review regards the book as a powerful testimony on the social and political transformations in post-Franco Spain.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780811224307

Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 14 December 2021

Country: United States

Imprint: New Directions Publishing Corporation

Contributors:

Translated by Valerie Miles

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 28.0mm

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 206.0mm

Weight: 439g

Pages: 432

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Rafael Chirbes

About the Author

Rafael Chirbes (1949-2015) wrote ten novels and received the National Prize for Literature and the Critics Prize for On the Edge. ABC named him “the best writer of the twenty-first century in Spain." Valerie Miles, an editor, writer, translator, and professor, is the cofounding editor of the literary journal Granta in Spanish.