Ramirez Camilo Translator (5 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Good.

paperback. Condition: Good.

Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 448 pages. 8.00x5.25x0.75 inches. In Stock.

Soft cover. Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 218 pages. Published in 2018. The author's breakthrough debut novel, in its very belated English translation. The author's singular masterpiece. The First Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a softcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. The book remains available in multiple subsequent printings. Presents, in its true First Edition format, Jorge Baron Biza's "Desierto y su semilla" in the definitive English translation by Camilo Ramirez. Afterword by Nora Avaro, which provides the crucial context of - the story behind - the novel. It is, after all, an authentic, autobiographical with an innovative literary twist: It is centered around the author's parents, narrated from the author's point-of-view. The real-life tragedy, which the novel re-imagines, is about the inexorable sequence of deaths, not just one death, in the family: The suicide of the Father who, before shooting himself, splashed sulfuric acid on his wife's face, permanently disfiguring her, followed by the Mother's eventual suicide, the sister's suicide, and finally, the author's. It's as if they had a "suicide gene", "semilla" (sperm/semen, which the translator, for understandable reasons, euphemistically calls the more poetic "seed") that was carried and passed on, and not one family member was fit or fortunate enough to survive it. "Jorge Baron Biza's 'The Desert And Its Seed' was rejected by publishers in Buenos Aires and was finally self-published in 1998, three years before the author also committed suicide. Written in a captivating plain style with dark, bitter humor, it has become a great modern classic, published to enormous acclaim throughout the Spanish-speaking world and translated into many languages" (Publisher's blurb). "The best articulation of human pain I've read in a very long time, maybe ever. Incredible to think this is all he wrote. But he got it perfectly. So he didn't need to write anything else" (Tamas Dobozy). That is exactly right: The whole point of writing is to write at least one masterpiece, and not necessarily a "body of work". Plus: The subject of ALL great literature is every human pain. In this novel, it is pain at its most fundamental level: The pain inflicted on the body, which Jorge Baron Biza describes in brutal, relentless detail. The psychological pain that follows is merely the finishing blow. "A great novel" (Alejandro Zambra Cover Blurb). An absolute "must-have" title for Jorge Baron Biza collectors. This title is a great book. As far as we know, this is the only copy of the First English-Language Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: ALL other copies available online are in multiple subsequent printings and have serious flaws ("Good", "Very Good"). This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. One of the greatest novels of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO MIGUEL ANGEL ASTURIAS' "THE PRESIDENT" TITLE IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0811225801. no.

Hardcover. Condition: Brand New. 528 pages. 9.25x6.50x1.00 inches. In Stock.