Sergio del Molino: “Empty Spain”
Millions of tourists come to Spain every year, and almost all of them head for the coasts or the big cities. 80 percent of the total population lives there. The rest are scattered across the vast, empty land. Every passenger in the express train realizes that: hundreds of kilometers, but no city in sight.
How did this tremendous rural exodus come about? What are the effects? That’s what Sergio del Molino tells in a captivating non-fiction book. He exposes myths and lies, the extreme imbalance and cultural prejudices against the newcomers.
The response to this analysis was immense: Since then, the problem has been on the agenda of all politicians.
Irene Vallejo: «Papyrus»
A surprise hit that was translated into 30 languages: This bestseller tells the story of the invention of the book in antiquity, from papyrus to parchment to paper.
Irene Vallejo explains the importance of libraries – from Alexandria to the fall of Rome – for the emergence of democracies.
Legend:
From papyrus to paper: Irene Vallejo tells of the invention of the book in antiquity.
IMAGO / Panthermedia
She mixes her knowledge of those centuries with associations with current events and believes that books have real power. She provides plenty of evidence. In doing so, she amazes and fascinates the readers, who follow her enthusiastically.
«Spanish and Hispanic-American Poetry»
A mammoth work: poetry from 20 countries, from the year 1000 to the present day, excellently edited and translated, with scholarly forewords and detailed information on the more than 200 authors.
Years of research and dedication have gone into these volumes to secure the poems of Hispanic America and Spain a place on the world poetry map.
Legend:
World-famous poet: Chilean poet Pablo Neruda photographed on June 13, 1966 during a boat trip in New York.
Getty Images/Sam Falk
Poetry is of great importance in these cultures: Pablo Neruda filled football stadiums with his readings, lines by Lorca became dictums.
Poems are a living cultural asset in Spain and are not stuck in an ivory tower. This can be wonderfully verified with these volumes.
Irene Solà: «If I sing, the mountains will dance»
An idiosyncratic, poetic novel set in a Pyrenean village: «The passions are rawer up here. naked. honest. Life and death.” A hard, often archaic life. A lightning strike kills the young family man, his wife has to feed the two children alone.
Legend:
The author Irene Solà, who was born in 1990, achieved great success with her novel. It has been translated into 21 languages and received the European Literature Prize.
Ignasi Roviro
What is special about the novel can already be seen in the first chapter, because the lightning tells how he met the man. Later, a roebuck, a dog, mushrooms, mermaids and others speak.
The reader goes on this journey into disturbing Catalan mountain myths or the past of the civil war, of which many traces still bear witness. In fragments we learn the oppressive fate of the family.
Javier Cercas: «Terra Alta. The blackmail”
The second criminal case of Melchor Marin, who lives with his daughter in the small town of Terra Alta. He has to go to Barcelona because the mayor is being blackmailed and the investigative police team needs reinforcements.
Legend:
Multi-award-winning writer Javier Cercas has been the target of hate mail for opposing Catalan independence. His crime novel is inspired by it.
imago images/Martin Bertrand
Evidently powerful pullers are at work. But who are they? Representatives of long-established Catalan family clans using politics for their own interests?
Against the background of these circles striving for independence in order to make even more profit, Cercas unfolds a political thriller in which the recent past is unraveled. A bitter analysis.
Radio SRF 2 Kultur, culture talk, October 29, 2022, 9:03 a.m.