David Uclés
David Uclés's The Peninsula of Empty Houses is an award-winning, total and immersive novel that redefines the Spanish Civil War with magical realism, amplifying the raw reality of a dying Iberia and its unforgettable characters.
The Peninsula of Empty Houses, awarded the Cálamo Book of the Year 2024 Prize and the Andalucía Critics' Prize, stands as a total and immersive novel about the Spanish Civil War, narrated through the lens of magical realism. This masterpiece unfolds the devastating story of a family's complete disintegration, the progressive dehumanization of an entire people, and the disintegration of a vast territory, reflecting an Iberia transformed into a landscape of abandoned houses and wandering souls. Through its pages, we meet unforgettable characters: a soldier who cuts open his skin to release the accumulated ash of war; a poet who, after a bombing, mends the shadow of a disfigured girl; and a teacher who instructs his students in the art of playing dead to survive. We are presented with a general who sleeps clinging to the severed hand of a saint, a blind child who miraculously regains sight during a blackout that plunges the country into darkness, and a peasant woman who, in an act of desperation or spell, paints every tree in her orchard black. Other singular fates include that of a foreign photographer who steps on a mine near Brunete and is unable to move his foot for forty years, a man from Gernika who drives a van with the smoking remains of an air raid to the heart of Paris, and a wounded dog whose blood stains the last strip of a forgotten flag in Badajoz. This is, in essence, the definitive chronicle of the Spanish Civil War and of a dying Iberia, where the fantastic is not an adornment, but the foundation that sustains and amplifies raw reality. In this narrative universe, the anonymous members of a large clan of olive growers from Jándula see their destinies intertwine with those of historical figures such as Alberti, Lorca, Unamuno, Rodoreda, Zambrano, Kent, Hemingway, Orwell, Bernanos, Picasso, Mallo, Azaña, and Foxá. The novel merges the epic with the costumbrist to weave a prodigious and complex tapestry, simultaneously poetic and grotesque, beautiful and delirious. Critics have received the work with unanimous enthusiasm: Iñaki Gabilondo has described it as «the best thing I've read in many, many years», assuring that David Uclés has written an extraordinary book that «will remain in the history of our country's literature». Ian Gibson, for his part, confesses: «No contemporary novel has moved me as much as The Peninsula of Empty Houses. I am astonished and grateful». Pablo Martín Sánchez highlights Uclés's «unforeseen prose, as original as it is uninhibited», considering him «a true breath of fresh air in Spanish literature». Nadal Suau, in Babelia of El País, emphasizes that «Uclés's honesty is impressive, as is the conviction with which he undertakes the challenge». Finally, Juan Marqués, in La Lectura of El Mundo, describes it as «a very good novel, brave and entertaining, witty and well-written», praising that David Uclés «achieves the narrative feat of recounting episodes of extreme violence with humor and not crashing».
Authors: David Uclés
Publication date: 20-03-2024
Language: es
Pages: 641
Rating: No data
La península de las casas vacías, written by David Uclés and published on 20-03-2024, is included in our catalog for information queries and ebook downloads in epub or pdf format.
David Uclés (Madrid, 1989) is a Spanish epic fantasy and science fiction writer. He rose to prominence by winning the Minotauro Award in 2016 with his novel "La última fortaleza," becoming the youngest author to receive this award. He has a degree in Journalism. He has published other novels such as "El juramento de la sal" and "El abrazo del viento."
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