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“A brilliantly inventive writer” A.S. BYATT
“The most important Basque writer of his generation” Times Literary Supplement
“Not just a Basque novelist but the Basque novelist” Guardian
Their lives run into each other, like water running over stones
As the Basque mining town of Ugarte moves from the hazy summer of the 1972 Olympics, through the mining strikes of the turbulent Eighties and into the modern day, her people navigate the silences, secrets, joys and tragedies of their lives.
From the story of a traumatised teenage boy at the town’s bakery, to the tale of a group of comrades on an army base in the twilight of Franco’s dictatorship, the interconnected narratives of Water Over Stones confront the changes time brings to Ugarte’s close-knit community, as the lives of its inhabitants run into to each other like water running between stones.
This extraordinary novel of friendship, nature, love and the immensity of death shows Bernardo Atxaga’s mastery of his craft, and his ability to create places and characters that are impossible to forget.
Translated from the Spanish by Thomas Bunstead and Margaret Jull-Costa
“The most important Basque writer of his generation” Times Literary Supplement
“Not just a Basque novelist but the Basque novelist” Guardian
Their lives run into each other, like water running over stones
As the Basque mining town of Ugarte moves from the hazy summer of the 1972 Olympics, through the mining strikes of the turbulent Eighties and into the modern day, her people navigate the silences, secrets, joys and tragedies of their lives.
From the story of a traumatised teenage boy at the town’s bakery, to the tale of a group of comrades on an army base in the twilight of Franco’s dictatorship, the interconnected narratives of Water Over Stones confront the changes time brings to Ugarte’s close-knit community, as the lives of its inhabitants run into to each other like water running between stones.
This extraordinary novel of friendship, nature, love and the immensity of death shows Bernardo Atxaga’s mastery of his craft, and his ability to create places and characters that are impossible to forget.
Translated from the Spanish by Thomas Bunstead and Margaret Jull-Costa
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Reviews
Profound, luminous and strange. This is really a remarkable novel
A brilliantly inventive writer
Atxaga holds the attention by his sheer craft, by the complete control he exhibits
Not just a Basque novelist but the Basque novelist
The most important Basque writer of his generation
A narrative steeped in poetry in which Atxaga has brilliantly combined reality and fiction
A dramatic story that captivates the reader from the first pages to its splendid ending
The reader will discover once again the great poetic power of Atxaga, and his incredible ability to build entire and profound universes
Atxaga knows how to entertain, move and give autobiography all the charm of fiction
A twisting and rewarding story, and one readers will savor until the lovely finish