A writer's writer writes about writers, writing...y mucho más

Tusquets, 2001


Started the study-reading of Javier Cercas' Soldados de Salamina. It raises interesting questions about the value of literature written by authors who supported and/or were part of the falange. Excellent transition de parte de la profe. Cristina, from Cela to Cercas. Soldados is quite an easy, compelling "read" and from the first few pages, it's evident that the story would translate smoothly into screenplay. Indeed, the filmic version (click for the excellent site) of the novel was extremely sucessful and nominated for an Oscar. I look forward to seeing the film next week - the protagonist appears to have undergone a sex change. As much as this novel can "pass" for literatura popular, there is a literary weight to it which enabled its being used in this seminar and as subject of critical works. Of particular interest are the writing about writing angle, the above-mentioned question about questionable authors and the nods to or strong presence of other authors, here especially to Chilean author Roberto Bolaño (who died, age 50 at the apex of his career in 2003 Obituary in the UK's Guardian Unlimited). Instead of citing the first sentence of the novel here or even the first mention of Bolaño (in which Bolaño reveals to the narrator that he has read and liked both of his books and displays the worn copies to prove it), I'd like to copy the following. It's now perhaps a bit eerie...definitely a tribute to Bolaño mixed with a bit of respectful competitiveness on the part of Cercas...

"Esa tarde, mientras escuchaba con creciente interés la historia exagerada de Miralles, pensaba que muy pronto iba a leerla en uno de los libros exagerados de Bolaño, pero cuando llegué a mi casa, después de despedir a mi amigo y de pasear por la ciudad iluminada por farolas y escaparates, quizá llevado por la exaltación de los gin-tonics yo ya había concebido la esperanza de que Bolaño no fuera a escribir nunca esta historia: la iba a escribir yo" (164).