Saramago's unpublished notebooks "October 8. Frankfurt Airport. Nobel Prize"
The secret history of the Nobel Prize "I kept the news for 24 hours"
"A disgusting stench of medicines filled the atmosphere of the room. It was difficult to breathe. The air, too hot, almost did not reach the lungs of the patient, whose body was outlined under the scruffy bedspread and gave off a dizzying smell of fever."
This is the start of
La viuda
(Alfaguara), unpublished novel in Spanish by José Saramago. And the first one he published. It was in 1947
. José Saramago himself (Azinhaga, 1922-Tías, Lanzarote, 2010) recalled it like this in the third person, as if it were not with him, in a text that appears as a prologue.
"The author is a 24-year-old boy, quiet, introverted, who earns his living as a clerk
in the administrative services of the Lisbon Civil Hospitals, after having worked for more than a year as a mechanical locksmith apprentice in those workshops. hospitals ".
The very young José Saramago
did not receive a shield for the novel, nor did he sign any contract
, it was just a verbal agreement. And to top it all,
the director of Editorial Minerva changed the title
, he did not like
Terra do Sin
. Saramago, who in 1947 had been the father of a girl whom he named Violante, did not argue, "he lowered his head and went from there to announce to his family and friends that the doors of Portuguese literature had been opened to him."
The widow
addresses the situation in which a woman finds herself, a mother of two children, whose husband dies
. Now he will have to take charge of the administration of a farm in the Portuguese Alentejo.
You will experience grief, depression, and desire
. A copy of the first edition of the novel was shown yesterday by his widow, Pilar del Río. It appeared, wrapped in paper, in a dresser drawer. On the first pages are the dedications of several friends. The book was discovered by a man who gave it to a psychiatrist, the one he and the writer's widow shared.
Why hasn't the novel been published in Spanish so far?
Pilar del Río, translator of several of her husband's books, believes that it was due to Saramago's humility.
"He said that it could introduce confusion and that it was not worth so much
, that many books are published. 'Let's not occupy people with this,' said José." Pilar del Río recalled that Saramago found his style with
Levantado del piso
, from 1980. And the discomfort caused by his second book did not receive any response, so for 20 years he dedicated himself to other tasks.
After the publication of
La viuda
, translated by Antonio Sáez Delgado, the
Alfaguara
publishing house will
recover a score of Saramago's books in three periods
; As of January 27, and with the new design of Manuel Estrada ("the covers with doors, windows that help to enter the book"), will appear
Essay on blindness, The Gospel according to Jesus Christ, Memorial of the convent
... ; from March 17
The year of the death of Ricardo Reis, The stone raft, History of the siege of Lisbon.
.. and on June 16 will be recovered the two volumes of
Cuadernos de Lanzarote
and
Las small memories,
its complete theater. Existing translations will be respected.
Pilar del Río recalled that it was the then editor Juan Cruz who hired José Saramago for Alfaguara and during his time, from 1993 to 1999, he published about a dozen titles, new and recovered.
In addition to the books
, on November 2 an exhibition
with photos by Daniel Mordzinski will
be inaugurated in Lanzarote
and
a recitation by José Luis Góme
z will be held with texts by the honoree, Azaña, Machado and Unamuno, who suffered exile in neighboring Fuerteventura. Dramatized and academic readings, debates, conferences, a sound and light show, other dance shows, exhibitions, adapted films, an opera, concerts ... in various cities of Spain, Portugal and Latin America, as advanced by Carlos Reis, an expert in Eça de Queirós, in Saramago and curator for the Centennial of José Saramago.
And something different:
the plantation of a hundred olive trees
brought from Azinhaga, his native land, to Lisbon.
They will be baptized
with the names of one hundred characters of José Saramago
, that affectionate, patient and moral man that is sorely lacking.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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