Author:Bernardo Atxaga,Margaret Jull Costa
The Accordionist's Son is a remarkably powerful and accomplished novel, exploring the life of David Imaz, a former inhabitant of the Basque village of Obaba, now living in exile and ill-health on a ranch in California.
As a young man, David divides his time between his uncle's ranch and his life in the village, where he reluctantly practises the accordion on the insistence of his authoritarian father. Increasingly aware of the long shadow cast by the Spanish Civil War, he begins to unravel the story of the conflict, his father's association with the fascists and his uncle's opposition and brave decision to hide a wanted republican.
Caught betweeen the two men, the course of his own life is changed forever when he agrees to shelter a group of students on the run from the military police.
Translated by Margaret Jull Costa.
The first great Basque novel
—— Times Literary SupplementA briliantly inventive writer... terribly moving and wildly funny
—— A. S. ByattThis most delicate and personal of novels packs a powerful political message
—— IndependentIncredibly powerful... magnificently written
—— Financial TimesA magical novel that exlores friendship and memory, language and loss
—— MetroIn all his work, Atxaga delves into the impact of the political on individual lives. What is most moving in The Accordionist's Son is the push and counter-push of these pressures on a believable individual (and Margaret Jull Costa's elegant and unfussy translation gives us a clear view of him in English)
—— GuardianBernardo Atxaga's books are performing an important service to his people and his language
—— Times Literary SupplementCharming and compelling
—— Big IssueEach character is a world, a story marvellously integrated into the whole...A master storyteller has become a fabulous chronicler of reality. If Obabakoak charmed us, The Accordionist's Son charms and moves us
—— La VanguardiaThis is a richly textured, beautifully-written glimpse into a world that makes its otherworldliness felt
—— Sunday Business PostI've recorded all the Jeeves books, and I can tell you this: it's like singing Mozart. The perfection of the phrasing is a physical pleasure. I doubt if any writer in the English language has more perfect music
—— Simon CallowThe greatest comic writer ever
—— Douglas AdamsWodehouse was quite simply the Bee's Knees. And then some
—— Joseph ConnollyI constantly find myself drooling with admiration at the sublime way Wodehouse plays with the English language
—— Simon BrettQuite simply, the master of comic writing at work
—— Jane MooreTo pick up a Wodehouse novel is to find oneself in the presence of genius - no writer has ever given me so much pure enjoyment
—— John Julius NorwichCompulsory reading for anyone who has a pig, an aunt - or a sense of humour!
—— Lindsey DavisThe funniest writer ever to put words to paper
—— Hugh LaurieP.G. Wodehouse should be prescribed to treat depression. Cheaper, more effective than valium and far, far more addictive
—— Olivia WilliamsMy only problem with Wodehouse is deciding which of his enchanting books to take to my desert island
—— Ruth Dudley EdwardsThe Wodehouse wit should be registered at Police HQ as a chemical weapon
—— Kathy LetteWitty and effortlessly fluid. His books are laugh-out-loud funny
—— Arabella WeirP.G. Wodehouse wrote the best English comic novels of the century
—— Sebastian FaulksSublime comic genius
—— Ben EltonWodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in
—— Evelyn Waugh
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