Dublinesque
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Samuel Riba is about to turn 60. A successful publisher in Barcelona, he is increasingly prone to attacks of anxiety and, looking for distraction, he concocts a spur-of-the-moment trip to Dublin, a city he has never visited but once dreamed about.
He sets off for Dublin on the pretext of honouring James Joyce’s Ulysses on Bloomsday. But as he and his friends gather in the cemetery to give their orations, a mysterious figure in a mackintosh resembling Joyce’s protégé Samuel Beckett hovers in the background. Is it Beckett, or is it the writer of genius that Riba has spent his whole career trying, and failing, to find?
From one of Spain’s greatest writers, a witty, moving novel about art, life, death and James Joyce.
Librarian’s Comments
A book layered in richness, Rachel Nolan has well said “it’s literature on literature”. And yet, it is a particularly moving story of someone deeply involved with literature having to deal with mortality amid other private demons. Superb reading.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Rosalind
Harvey
Rosalind Harvey’s translation of Juan Pablo Villalobos’ debut novel, Down the Rabbit Hole, was shortlisted for the 2011 Guardian First Book Award and the 2012 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. Her latest translation of his work, I’ll Sell You A Dog, was longlisted for the International DUBLIN Literary Award. She has worked on books by Guadalupe Nettel, Elvira Navarro, Enrique Vila-Matas and Héctor Abad Faciolince and is currently working on a YA title about the journeys of teenage Central American immigrants to the United States. Rosalind is also chair and co founder of the Emerging Translators Network and is a Teaching Fellow in Spanish and Translation Studies at the University of Warwick.
Rosalind Harvey’s translation of Juan Pablo Villalobos’ debut novel, Down the Rabbit Hole, was shortlisted for the 2011 Guardian First Book Award and the 2012 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. Her latest translation of his work, I’ll Sell You A Dog, was longlisted for the International DUBLIN Literary Award. She has worked on books by Guadalupe Nettel, Elvira Navarro, Enrique Vila-Matas and Héctor Abad Faciolince and is currently working on a YA title about the journeys of teenage Central American immigrants to the United States. Rosalind is also chair and co founder of the Emerging Translators Network and is a Teaching Fellow in Spanish and Translation Studies at the University of Warwick.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Anne
McLean
Anne McLean translates Latin American and Spanish novels, short stories, memoirs, and other writings. She has twice won both the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Premio Valle Inclán, and received the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award with Juan Gabriel Vásquez for his novel The Sound of Things Falling. She lives in Toronto.
Anne McLean translates Latin American and Spanish novels, short stories, memoirs, and other writings. She has twice won both the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Premio Valle Inclán, and received the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award with Juan Gabriel Vásquez for his novel The Sound of Things Falling. She lives in Toronto.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
A book layered in richness, Rachel Nolan has well said “it’s literature on literature”. And yet, it is a particularly moving story of someone deeply involved with literature having to deal with mortality amid other private demons. Superb reading.