The Accordionist’s Son

The Accordionist’s Son

Bernardo Atxaga

Soinujolearen semea

Pamiela

Arre

2003

Sold to Bulgaria, Catalonia (Spain), Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, Galicia (Spain), Germany, Greece, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Spain, Turkey.

473 pages

2013 Finalist in the TLS (The Times Literary Supplement) Translation Awards, with the English translation by Margaret Jull Costa, 2009 Valle-Inclán Award for Margaret Jull Costa, 2008 Grinzane Cavour Prize (Italy), 2003 Critics' Prize for Narrative in Basque (Kritika Saria euskarazko narratibari)

A celebrated international author, listed among the "21 top writers for the 21st century”. - The Observer

A fresh voice in Basque and Spanish literature…The Accordionist’s Son, first published in the Basque language in 2003, is [Atxaga’s] most accomplished novel. - The Independent

While recognizing that all stories ‘embellish life,’ [Atxaga] has created a rich and vibrant world that is sadly threatened with extinction. - Magill Book Reviews

The most accomplished novel to date by an internationally celebrated writer. - Bookforum

We fall in love with the language of the Basque author, which smells of freshly baked bread, and in which we hear the wind whistling, always ahead of the rain, and the gentle fire crackling around which we hear the words flowing like memories that reveal a story, or create the warp in which the plot and the melancholy take place. This is the sound of Atxaga, Bernardo, writer of strong Basque waters about the tears of violence, the humanity of the rebels, the invisible realities that converge in the complicity of the real. [...] It has been my pleasure to read it. [...] Bernardo Atxaga has created his literary worlds in two voices, with two equidistant languages, different in their roots as a spirit of identities, between which his writing is the bridge of conversation. - Guillermo Busutil, La Opinión (Málaga)

Each character is a world, a story marvelously integrated into the whole… A master storyteller has become a fabulous chronicler of reality. . . The Accordionist’s Son charms and moves us. - La Vanguardia

It is easy to understand why The Observer listed Atxaga as one of the top twenty-one writers for the twenty-first century.

As David Imaz, on the threshold of adulthood, divides his time between his uncle Juan’s ranch and his life in the village, where he reluctantly practices the accordion, a tradition that his authoritarian father insists he continue, he becomes increasingly aware of the long shadow cast by the Spanish Civil War.

Letters found in a hotel attic, along with a silver pistol, lead David to unravel the story of the conflict, including his father’s association with the fascists, and the opposition of his uncle, who took considerable risks in helping to hide a wanted republican. With affection and lucidity, Bernardo Atxaga describes the evolution of a young man caught between country and town, between his uncle the horse-breeder and his political father. The course of David’s life changes one summer night when he agrees to shelter a group of students on the run from the military police.

This is the most accomplished novel to date by an internationally celebrated writer. The Accordionist’s Son is memorable for its epic scope―from 1936 to 1999―and the details with which it sparkles in gorgeous prose. It is easy to understand why The Observer listed Atxaga as one of the top twenty-one writers for the twenty-first century.

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