
El viaje a pie de Johann Sebastian
Periférica, 2014
Synopsis
(The Walking Journey by Johann Sebastian) Can the story of an eccentric family become a symbol of a country and an era? Is originality the most common expectation? Shall one narrate a life or narrate against life? In El viaje a pie de Johann Sebastian Carlos Pardo continues exploring autobiography as a fiction genre. The plot? A small-town woman babysits and works as a housekeeper in Madrid. She gets engaged to the young gentleman of the house, a young engineer, with whom she has five children, each of them very individual: two rock musicians, a mechanic, a waiter and a poet. None finish school. There’s divorce. The mother falls ill. One at a time the children lose it. The retired father takes up competing in triathlons as an athlete, enjoys big time success and goes on to open a gym until he suffers a stroke on a bicycle on the side of a road. The reckless children care for the father and mother. But the plot, in this case, is what happens before the ovel, and El viaje a pie de Johann Sebastian does not tell this story but rather what has slipped out of it: through music, street dandyism, humour, arts and politics.
The author offers readers a brief romantic tale in the middle of this novel of rare tenderness: Johann Sebastian Bach, twenty years old, an orphan, travels from Arnstadt to Lübeck to replace his teacher, organist Buxtehude; a small allegorical machination that introduces subtle nuances to the rest of the plot radically altering the realistic premises of the narrative. Thus, the story of a family, both original and mediocre, can encapsulate the slow decline of a person and the carefree approach the autobiographical narrator manages to add to the possibilities of the story, any story, at a time the market price of experience has lost its face value.
MB Authors
- Pepa AGUAR
- Pablo ARANDA
- Juan Luis ARSUAGA
- Manuel ASTUR
- Flavita BANANA
- Joan BARRIL
- Nuria BARRIOS
- María BASTARÓS
- Felipe BENÍTEZ REYES
- Joan-Daniel BEZSONOFF
- BLACKIE BOOKS
- Joana BONET
- Juan BONILLA
- Emilio BUESO
- Bibiana CANDIA
- Leonardo CANO
- Pablo CARBONELL
- Martín CASARIEGO
- Nicolás CASARIEGO
- Paula CIFUENTES
- Juan CUADRA
- Mario CUENCA SANDOVAL
- Malén DENÍS
- Elizabeth DUVAL
- Maria ESCALAS
- Cristina FALLARÁS
- Eneko FERNÁNDEZ
- Laura FERRERO
- Josep Maria FONALLERAS
- Albert FORNS CANAL
- Miguel GALLARDO
- Olivia GALLO
- Xenia GARCÍA
- Ignacio GARCÍA-VALIÑO
- José A. GARRIGA VELA
- David B. GIL
- Santi GIMÉNEZ
- Marcos GIRALT TORRENTE
- Enric GONZÁLEZ
- Ismael GRASA
- Luci GUTIÉRREZ
- Javier GUTIÉRREZ
- Najat El HACHMI
- Alicia KOPF
- Use LAHOZ
- Lucía LIJTMAER
- Shaina Joy MACHLUS
- Adrià MARQUÈS
- Ignacio MARTÍNEZ DE PISóN
- Ramon MAS
- Ana MERINO
- Luna MIGUEL
- Amarna MILLER
- Miquel OBIOLS
- Bruno ORO
- Miqui OTERO
- Anna PACHECO
- Vicenç PAGÈS JORDÀ
- Enric PARDO
- Concepción PEREA
- Juan Manuel DE PRADA
- Jordi PUNTÍ
- Llucia RAMIS
- Antonio J. RODRÍGUEZ
- Félix ROMEO
- Carmen ROMERO
- Xavier RUBERT DE VENTÓS
- Gemma RUIZ
- Juanjo SÁEZ
- Gabriel SALVADÓ
- Màrius SERRA
- Rubén SERRANO
- Ramon SOLSONA
- José Miguel TOMASENA
- David TRUEBA
- Juan VICO
- Enrique VILA-MATAS
- Rosario VILLAJOS
- Rolando VILLAZÓN
- Pedro ZARRALUKI