Eduardo Mendoza continues to write the (almost) fictional autobiography of Eduardo Mendoza. Through an alter ego that is not him, but who lives in times and situations that young Eduardo lived in the throes of Francoism and in his time in New York. If the king receives (Seix Barral) it ended with the death of Carrero Blanco, the negotiated yin and yang that is published today begins with the last days of Franco. And the Generalissimo's death ends up occupying almost the entire book, interrupted by a surreal adventure novel (of pirates, specifically) in Southeast Asia.

Its protagonist, Rufo Battle, has just seen a musical on Broadway when he learns of Franco's death. Where were you? In my house in New York. Because of the time difference [six hours less than in Spain], for me Franco died on November 19. We went to a bar. 'So, what can we do now?'. The question was also “what now do we do with ourselves?” Almost 44 years later, where was he last week, during his exhumation? In Madrid. In addition to an advertising coup for the book [ironizes with a smile] it is also something collective: Franco is a real presence, rather than the Transition, which was something fluid and now we can see it as a whole. To those of us who lived at that time, seeing how Franco is dead, alive, then dead and returns to the scene ..., makes us feel bewildered. Although his book is framed in 1975, he finally talks about the present ... The past It always lasts until the present. The past serves to manipulate it and each one points to where it is convenient ... When describing the Transition it is very critical. It could have been done better. But, come on, I give it a very high note. Something unusual happened: a desire for dialogue, to reach agreements, to compromise, to accept, to sit down at the table with who had been your adversary ... That has not been seen either before or after. There was a time when all politicians were heroes capable of overcoming their differences. Now we are at the opposite extreme, the disappointment is very large ... He has said more than once that the novel should not deal with recent phenomena: do we have to go back to 20 or 25 years to be able to analyze? At least with this type of novel. The real protagonist is the distance: what is now and what was in his time, the fashions, what we did not know where he was going, what seemed very important and was nothing ... Do living between London and Barcelona also gives some distance? I want to believe so. If you live here you see fragmented reality. There, after three or four days, you are able to sediment it. You live two complicated realities: Brexit and the process ... It is a worldwide phenomenon: to be looking for an exit to a problem that we do not know how to solve because we have a system that does not work for us. Two years ago he published 'What is happening in Catalonia?' Do you understand it more now? I understand it much less. It seems that you should keep the bullangas. Because all parties believe they will give votes to them. I don't see where it can lead what is happening. It is causing lasting damage: economic, social, image ... In his book, the chronicle of historical reality is mixed with the experiences of the protagonist and with a third level that looks like a novel adventure within another novel. I started the first book with a quote from 'Tarzan of the Apes', the one my father read to me when I came home from work. For me it is a masterpiece of universal literature. This trilogy is a tribute to the origin, to my first readings or literary fantasies. I always liked pirate novels: Stevenson, Jack London and Sabatini ... Then there is the character of Prince Tukuulo, who wants to regain the throne of the non-existent kingdom of Livonia and takes Rufo Battle to those adventures in Southeast Asia ... It gives Rufo the whole fantasy argument, it pushes him to be what he is. I am a very serious man, but I live with Gurb and all those characters accompany me ...

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