Laidlaw de William McIlvanney
RBA, libros SERIE NEGRA (6 de febrero 2014)
272 páginas
ISBN: 978-8490561072
Tamaño: 14 x 21.3
Presentación: Rústica con solapas
Disponible en e-book
Idioma: Español
Traducción: Amelia Brito Astorga
Mi reseña está AQUÍ
Month: February 2014
OT: GR 124 – The Royal Path
Madrid’s natural way out towards its northerner surrounding woodlands, the Monte de El Pardo, runs parallel to Manzanares river. This path has been maintained throughout the centuries, linking the capital city to a wooded area preserved by its use as royal hunting ground. In the last century, the development of motorways along river beds and over existing roads endangered the survival of paths like this one. The process of reverting the situation was driven by civic and ecologist associations, later supported by public institutions and administrations. The historical path has survived, turning to be a GR (long distance path) that remembers in its name its royal origin and offers today the possibility of getting by foot out of the city to every ‘man in the street’.
Taken from: La Senda Real, un largo camino (pdf)
I took this pictures yesterday.
OT: The world of flamenco mourns today with the loss of one of the greatest
Paco de Lucia, one of the greatest living guitarist in the world, died this morning at age 66. According to some sources the Spanish artist would have suffered a heart attack in Mexico, where he was with his children and grandchildren. May he rest in peace.
Paco de Lucia – Almoraima (Bulerias) (1976 Live UK TV Performance). In this video the BBC incorrectly credited the title as ‘ Entre Dos Aguas’ which is an entirely different track.
Review: The Panda Theory by Pascal Garnier
Esta entrada es bilingüe, para ver la versión en castellano desplazarse hacia abajo
Gallic Books, 2012. Kindle edition. 204 KB. Translated by Svein Clouston. Original title: La Théorie du panda (2008), eBook ISBN 978-1908313232. ASIN: B007HOO7T2. 128 pages.
One Sunday in October a mysterious character who calls himself Gabriel arrives at a gloomy town in the interior of Brittany. ‘The sea was far away, its presence unimaginable.’ We know nothing about him, though, through short fragments intertwined with the main narrative, the reader finds out that Gabriel is haunted by his past. Gradually, he will meet several people. Madeleine, the hotel receptionist; Jose, the owner of the local bistro; and a young couple hosted in the same hotel. One way or the other Gabriel is always willing to help them without expecting anything in return. But the reader suspects that, at some point, the story will take an unexpected turn.
The first thing that has struck me is that The Panda Theory is beautifully written. It will delight those who like their novels with a dark tone, and this one is certainly a bleak novel. But this doesn’t mean that it lacks a certain sense of humour. It is also a novel that is difficult to classify as crime fiction, or any genre. I’ve read somewhere that Pascal Garnier himself did not believed in genres. He has been compared to George Simenon. If this is the case, no one should be misled. This is not a Maigret mystery, but what Simenon himself had termed as ‘roman dur’ or hard novel. Pascal Garnier sadly died in March 2010. ‘Though his writing is often very dark in tone, it sparkles with quirkily beautiful imagery and dry wit.’ What I fully subscribe. After his death, Gallic Books has made available to the English-speaking audience some of his books. To date four have been published The Panda Theory, How’s the Pain?, The A26 and Moon in a Dead Eye. A fifth one, The Front Seat Passenger, will be released soon. Highly recommended.
My rating: A (I loved it)
The Panda Theory has been reviewed by Crime Thriller Fella, The Complete Review (M.A.Orthofer), findingtimetowrite (Marina Sofia).
La Teoría del Panda de Pascal Garnier
Un domingo de octubre, un misterioso personaje que se hace llamar Gabriel llega a un pueblo sombrío en el interior de Bretaña. “El mar estaba lejos, su presencia inimaginable.” No sabemos nada de él, a pesar de que, a través de fragmentos cortos entrelazados con la narración principal, el lector se entera de que Gabriel vive atormentado por su pasado. Poco a poco, va a conocer a varias personas. Madeleine, la recepcionista del hotel; José, el dueño del restaurante local; y una joven pareja que se aloja en el mismo hotel. De una forma u otra Gabriel está siempre dispuesto a ayudar sin esperar nada a cambio. Pero el lector sospecha que, en algún momento, la historia tomará un giro inesperado.
Lo primero que me ha llamado la atención es que La teoría del Panda está muy bien escrita. Hará las delicias de aquellos que gusten de sus novelas con un tono oscuro, y ésta es sin duda una novela muy sombría. Pero esto no quiere decir que carezca de un cierto sentido del humor. También es una novela difícil de clasificar como novela negra, o de cualquier género. He leído en alguna parte que el propio Pascal Garnier no creía en los géneros. Ha sido comparado con George Simenon. Si este es el caso, nadie debe engañarse. Este no es un misterio de Maigret, sino lo que el propio Simenon había denominado como “roman dur” o novela dura. Pascal Garnier murió lamentablemente en marzo de 2010. “Aunque su escritura tiene a menudo un tono muy oscuro, brilla por la insospechada belleza de sus imágenes y por su agudo ingenio.” Lo que suscribo plenamente. Después de su muerte, Gallic Books ha puesto a disposición del público de habla inglesa algunos de sus libros. Hasta la fecha se han publicado cuatro The Panda Theory, How’s the Pain?, The A26 y Moon in a Dead Eye. Un quinto, The Front Seat Passenger, será publicado proximamente. Muy recomendable.
Mi valoración: A (Me encantó).
Summertime All The Cats Are Bored
A nice tribute to Cesaria Evora that I forgot to highlight yesterday in my review:
‘He turned on the stereo and looked for a CD. Something calm. Tender. And melancholic. He chose a disk by Cesaria Evora Sodade. The languorous voice of the singer from Cape Verde rose in the deserted house.’
You can listen Sodade HERE.
A Crime is Afoot 