Biography of X (Catherine Lacey)
It has topped many best of the year lists. And it is not surprising. The fourth novel by the American Catherine Lacey (all published in Spanish by Alfaguara) is one of those works that do not go unnoticed and immediately generate conversation. Either because of its thematic uniqueness: a story about the world of art and the complexities of love relationships framed in an alternative reality, the Southern Territory, a fascist theocracy that separated from the rest of the United States after World War II. Or for its narrative ambition: a very meta-literary mix of fiction and reality, both historical events and 20th century figures (David Bowie, Lou Reed, Richard Serra, Susan Sontag…), written with crystalline prose and with a rhythm of police thriller. Like good works of art, ‘Biography of X’ works on several levels of reading. And in all of them equally well. 8’5.
The call. A portrait (Leila Guerriero)
This book is tremendous. Tremendous what it tells: the true story of the student and left-wing activist Silvia Labayru, kidnapped at the age of 19 and locked up in a clandestine detention center during the Argentine dictatorship. And tremendous how the journalist and writer Leila Guerriero tells it: “Kidnapped. Tortured Locked up. Laid to give birth on a table. Raped. Forced to pretend. Finally released. And, then, repudiated, rejected, suspected.” ‘The Call’ (Anagrama) is the result of the exhaustive research carried out by Guerriero, together with the exceptional narrative talent of the author. It is not only an extraordinary journalistic exploration of terrible events from the past, but also, as the subtitle of the book says, “a portrait”, a deeply human approach to a woman in the present, to a survivor of some dark years that some continue determined to deny. 8’2.
A Coup de Grace (Dennis Lehane)
It had been seven years since Dennis Lehane had published a new novel. Immersed in his work as a television scriptwriter (‘Mr. Mercedes’, ‘The Visitor’, ‘Locked Up with the Devil’), the author of ‘Mystic River’ and ‘Shutter Island’ returns with another notable thriller. ‘A Coup de Grace’ (Salamandra) is a story with autobiographical elements set in a working-class neighborhood in the writer’s native Boston during the racial altercations that occurred in the process of desegregating public schools in 1974. Lehane shows all his talent to create a brutal and absorbing criminal story, recreate a time full of social tension without falling into presentism (the characters insult with the crudeness with which it was done at that time and social context) and build characters as memorable as the protagonist, Mary Pat Fennessy, a woman hardened by life determined to do everything to find her missing teenage daughter. Brutal. 8.
Miso soup (Ryu Murakami)
Many of us met Ryu Murakami when Takashi Miike’s ‘Audition’ (1999) was released. From whose mind had such a twisted and perverse story come? Well, from a novel by someone who would be known among horror fans as the “other Murakami.” There was only one published book of his, ‘Almost transparent blue’ (Anagrama, 1997). And those that arrived had a problem: they were translations of the English versions. Thanks to the Malas Tierras publishing house, one of Murakami’s most emblematic works comes to us in a new translation directly from Japanese. ‘Miso Soup’ is a rugged and sticky immersion in the red light district of Tokyo in the nineties by a young man who works as a night guide for American tourists. A disturbing psychological thriller that, almost thirty years after its original publication, has not lost one bit of its ability to disturb the reader. 7’8.
The vulnerable (Sigrid Nunez)
Things of fate (or marketing, who knows): the publication in Spain of Sigrid Nunez’s latest novel coincided with the award at the Venice festival for ‘The Room Next Door’, Almodóvar’s adaptation of ‘What’s It your torment’ (Anagrama, 2021), the previous novel by the New York writer. ‘The Vulnerable’ completes a trilogy (‘The Friend’ would be the first, also adapted to film in 2024) articulated about friendship relationships – with concepts such as empathy, favors and care – and the bonds we establish with animals of company. Narrated, as usual, in the first person by a character that is easy to associate with the author herself, ‘The vulnerable’ (Anagrama) is a new demonstration of Nunez’s talent for writing about themes of great existential depth without drowning out her voice, with an admirable lightness, precision and sense of humor and erudition. 8.
Heralded crimes (Rebeca Martín)
It has been one of the most celebrated Spanish trials of 2024. The so-called “causes célèbres” were the antecedent of what is known today as “true crime”: judicial processes that occurred from the mid-18th century onwards, which had a great impact on public opinion and generated all kinds of chronicles and literary works that recreated the most striking and gruesome cases. In Crímenes pregonados (Password), Ph.D. They can see represented “the main tensions that run through a society: class and gender, ideological and religious, medical and judicial…”. 7’5.
Zeal (Sabina Urraca)
Almost ten years have passed since that memorable article, ‘Nightmare in Blablacar’, which brought so much joy (many of us knew her like that) and sadness (Álvaro de Marichalar tried to get 30,000 euros for “moral damages”) from the journalist Sabina Urraca. Then came her applauded debut, ‘The Prodigy Girls’, with which she emerged as a superlative writer. His third novel, ‘El celo’ (Alfaguara), has confirmed his talent. With his usual crude language, full of brilliant and provocative metaphors (remember Ottesa Moshfegh), his tragicomic tone and an agile and fluid style, Magpie builds a story of additions and loneliness, starring a woman and a dog (in heat), through which he reflects on the traumas of abuse, fear and desire, animality and domestication, and the stories that we are told or we tell ourselves to (survive) on a shitty day. 8.
A hallucinogenic trip (Norman Ohler)
The “microdosing” of LSD has been talked about for years now. With Ayelet Waldman’s book as the most popular reference (‘What a good day: Taking LSD in microdoses changed my life’), the use of LSD for therapeutic and creative purposes continues to spread, as well as the voices that defend its decriminalization . One of them is the German writer Norman Ohler. Concerned about the rapid progression of Alzheimer’s in his mother and following the latest studies on the matter, Ohler decided to treat her with microdoses of LSD. He tells it in ‘A hallucinogenic trip’ (Criticism). And also the “journey” that this substance had taken since it was synthesized in 1938 by Albert Hofmann (it was going to be a psychotropic drug to treat depression), until its passage through Nazi Germany as a possible weapon of war, its jump to Washington where The CIA used it in its mind control experiments (MK Ultra), its diffusion as a recreational drug and creativity stimulant in the 60s, until its prohibition in 1966 as a consequence of the “War on Drugs” policy promoted by the US government. 7.
