Octavio's Journey - Softcover

Bonnefoy, Miguel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1910477311 ISBN 13: 9781910477311

Publisher: Gallic Books, 2017

Synopsis

‘Simply magical’ Elle

The story of Venezuela told through the adventures of kindly giant, Octavio. Struggling to conceal his illiteracy, he embarks on a transformative journey that unearths his life's purpose.

“His body might have been hewn from a tree trunk; his heart would last for a hundred years. And, like a tree, he was one of those men who die standing up.”

A chance meeting in the local pharmacy transforms the life of lonely, illiterate Octavio. He begins reading lessons and finds love and happiness for the very first time. But Octavio’s destiny lies elsewhere, as he will discover on a journey into the Venezuelan rainforest.

Shortlisted for the Goncourt first novel award, this short but epic fable is both a hymn to Venezuela and the magical story of an extraordinary hero.

Reviews

‘Could almost be a chapter from One Hundred Years of Solitude’ Sunday Times 

‘A masterfully composed poetic and picaresque fable’ Le Figaro

‘A quite irresistible picaresque novel, in the vein of García Márquez’ Nouvel Observateur

‘(a) whistle-stop tour of a remote, seldom-touched-by-literature, and fully intriguing, but ultimately unfathomable, land’ The Book Bag

‘This short novel is impossible to put down (...) felt immersed in this Latin American world just the way I was when I first read Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ Paris Diary

‘We see Bonnefoy in an ode to his homeland and a fable like tale of what was and maybe a feeling that is lost . This is under hundred pages long a perfect evening read.’ Winstonsdad’s Blog

‘A wonderful debut’ Libération

‘Bewitching from the start’ Le Point

About this title

About the Author

Miguel Bonnefoy: Miguel Bonnefoy was born in France in 1986 to a Venezuelan mother and a Chilean father. In 2013, he was awarded the Prix du Jeune Ecrivain, which has previously helped to launch the careers of writers such as Marie Darrieussecq. Octavio’s Journey is Bonnefoy’s first novel, written in French.

Review

‘A wonderful debut’ Libération

‘A hard-to-resist picaresque debut in the vein of Garcia Marquez’s magical realism’ Le Nouvel Observateur

‘Simply magical’ Elle

‘A masterfully composed poetic and picaresque fable’ Le Figaro

‘A refreshing burst of writing, worth lapping up’ Le Point

‘If Miguel Bonnefoy’s novel was a painting, it might be likened to a Diego Rivera piece’ La Vie

‘Young author Miguel Bonnefoy melds poetry and tragedy in a debut as brilliant as it is lightly fantastical’ Stylist

‘An unforgettable new voice’ Le Soir

About this edition

• Publisher: Gallic Books
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1910477311
• ISBN 13: 9781910477311
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176