Book Notes: Old Friends by Chirbes

Author: Rafael Chirbes

Title: Los viejos amigos

Language: Spanish

Year: 2004

My rating: 7 out of 10 (because I read his other novels and they are even stronger)

When, oh when, oh when will this brilliant writer finally start getting translated into English*? There is nobody who writes better than he in Spain today, a country where talented writers abound.

“People were so afraid that we’d achieve our Communist revolution and end up taking away their property,” chuckles one of the protagonists. “And then it turned out that they are not even that good at making money within their beloved capitalist system. We, the former revolutionaries, are so much better at amassing fortunes.”

The encounter among a group of old friends who used to dream of the revolution in the Spain of Franco get together thirty years later for an exquisite dinner and swap memories of what it meant to be young and idealistic. Their trajectory is that of the writer himself. Chirbes is both a Marxist and a connoisseur of expensive wines and food. The writer can’t fail observe the irony of his great financial success within the same capitalist system that leaves so many of its staunchest supporters to live in poverty.

* Actually it seems like his most recent novel will appear in English in 2016. It’s a novel of the crisis, and it is absolutely fucking devastating. Until the very last word, it just doesn’t relent. I warn you, though, this is art, not some Girl on the Train kind of trash. This is a novel that requires you to be intellectually awake and present for every single word. It’s complex, it’s infused with history and ideology, but I’m here to guide you through the reading. This is an encounter with art in its purest form, so I highly recommend.