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Intemperie by Jesús Carrasco
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Intemperie (original 2013; edition 2013)

by Jesús Carrasco

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
4092861,202 (3.86)15
"A searing dystopian vision of a young boy's flight through an unnamed, savaged country, searching for sanctuary and redemption--from one of Europe's bestselling literary stars. A young boy has fled his home. He's pursued by dangerous forces. What lies before him is an infinite, arid plain, one he must cross in order to escape those from whom he's fleeing. One night on the road, he meets an old goatherd, a man who lives simply but righteously, and from that moment on, their paths intertwine. Out in the Open tells the story of this journey through a drought-stricken country ruled by violence. A world where names and dates don't matter, where morals have drained away with the water. In this landscape the boy--not yet a lost cause--has the chance to choose hope and bravery, or to live forever mired in the cycle of violence in which he was raised. Carrasco has masterfully created a high stakes world, a dystopian tale of life and death, right and wrong, terror and salvation"--… (more)
Member:biblioesti
Title:Intemperie
Authors:Jesús Carrasco
Info:Seix Barral (2013), Perfect Paperback
Collections:Verano 13, Lecturas recomendadas
Rating:*****
Tags:None

Work Information

Out in the Open by Jesús Carrasco (2013)

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» See also 15 mentions

Spanish (12)  English (8)  Catalan (4)  Dutch (3)  Italian (1)  All languages (28)
Showing 1-5 of 8 (next | show all)
De Vlucht is een goede titel. De lezer wordt niet verteld waarom. De naam van de jongen en een herder worden niet genoemd. Het gaat om overleven op de aride vlakte in Spanje. Het vinden van eten, drinken en beschutting. Dieren zijn belangrijk. De jongen leert. Een iets te hoog gehalte aan: 'Maar het lukt.' Goede taal. Niet een boek om achter elkaar uit te lezen.

The Flight is a good title. The reader is not told why. The name of the boy and a shepherd are not mentioned. It is about survival on the arid plains in Spain. Finding food, drink and shelter. Animals are important. The boy is learning. A little too much of, "They survived". Good language.Not a book to read back-to-back from beginning to end ( )
  EMS_24 | Sep 23, 2023 |
My girlfriend wouldn’t have got past page one, the hanging dog. I mention this because if you’re the sort of person that wouldn’t get past page one you’ll regret buying the book and I don’t want to mislead anyone. If you’re not fazed by that and worse then it’s a good read about finding some humanity in a violent world.

This graphic novel adaptation of ‘Out In The Open’ opens, like ‘East Of Eden’, with a description of the landscape in which the story takes place. ‘The town was built on the bed of a broad gully down which water had flowed at some point. Now it was just a long hollow in the middle of an endless plain.’ The original novel doesn’t open like this (I checked), so clearly, writer Jesús Carrasco isn’t following it exactly, though he does begin the actual story with the same scene, the boy hiding in a hole and listening to his pursuers.

They include his father and the sheriff. His father beat him regularly but no doubt pretended to the town that he was terribly missed. The sheriff…well, you’ll see. The boy has no food or water and the only escape route is across a baking hot plain. Fortunately, he finds a wise and kindly old goatherd who is going that way and helps him. Unfortunately, his pursuers don’t give up. Meanwhile, in his dreams, he remembers the terrible past.

Javi Rey’s art is rendered in an attractive linear style decorated with faded pastel colours and seems perfectly suited to the material. His storytelling is clear and vivid. The boy’s nightmares are painted with a more limited palette, mostly one colour, to distinguish them from the rest of the book. The story is terrific but there are brutal scenes. Mind you, each is limited to a panel. This is not a gore-fest but a short, sharp shock. It’s nowhere near as violent as the average Judge Dredd story but that’s cartoon violence and doesn’t feel real. The true-to-life nature of this story makes it harder to take. For all that, I must emphasise that there are humanity and hope as well.

The story takes place in an unnamed country and unspecified time. Although it features a motorised vehicle there are no SF trappings and the general look is primitive. The townsfolk go to mass and the landscape is barren and dry so for me it was Mexico.

I hope someone films it. Thanks to Javi Rey’s striking art, I can easily visualise’ Out In The Open’ as a spaghetti western from Sergio Leone with music by Ennio Morricone. I see Jack Elam as the boy’s brutish father, Lee Van Cleef as the evil Sheriff and Spencer Tracy as the wise, grizzled old man. Unfortunately, I think all these people have moved on to that great cinema in the sky and I don’t know enough about modern film to cast it otherwise.

Recommended as long as you’re not of a too sensitive disposition, though if four or five panels don’t make you feel a bit ill then you’re of a too brutish disposition and possibly a psychopath.

Eamonn Murphy ( )
  bigfootmurf | May 13, 2020 |
In a dystopian world that is almost, but not quite, our world, a nameless boy is fleeing a horrifically abusive situation. He must cross a waterless expanse with little cover. His abuser, an evil man known as the bailiff and the bailiff’s gang which include the boy’s teacher and even the boy’s own father, cannot let him escape. The boy is well aware that most probably his journey will lead to his death, and yet he cannot stay.

Unexpectedly the boy comes across an old man, a goat herder. He is one of the few people known to live and travel this empty plain. But is he friend or foe?

The boy slowly learns to trust and rely on his new acquaintance. Even more slowly the boy learns confidence in himself.

The old herder adheres to a moral code of right and wrong, even in this evil world. Some reviewers point out the allegorical images of the goatherder/(shepherd) and his moral teachings. If so, to me it’s an Old Testament sort of morality at times meeting violence with violence, but at the same time stopping short of revenge.

It can be a tough read, but it is a page turner and is one of my favorite books of the year. ( )
  streamsong | Nov 29, 2019 |
Out in the Open is a Spanish novel from 2013. It reminds me of The Road but better. To appreciate, one has to know of Spain's environmental problems with water. There are dry regions that once had villages and farms that have been abandoned to desert. This is due to water mismanagement by coastal resort cities and global warming, rivers dry up, vegetation dies. None of this is discussed in the novel, but anyone from Spain will understand the context and visuals described, not unlike an Old West movie. The setting is vaguely in the future, after the rule of law has collapsed, but with a foot in the Middle Ages. If the age had a historical parallel it might be Late Antiquity when pagan culture was dying off and the Dark Ages beginning. The writing is spare and action oriented with a sinister sense of being hunted - at some point I became so attached to the main characters it left me afraid to keep reading. Carrasco has that power, it is immersive and believable. Highly recommend. ( )
  Stbalbach | Nov 18, 2017 |
I read this in my quest to prepare for my trip to Spain by reading more Spanish authors. It was at the library, apparently quite a popular book in Spain. Hopefully this book will NOT be useful in my travels, as it's mostly about suffering. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic landscape, a dreadful drought that has left the landscape very harsh, and for the most part the people match the landscape. The main character is a young boy. We never learn his name, he is just the boy; I think as a reminder of how dehumanizing the whole situation is. The boy is on the run from abuse and betrayal in his village. He meets an elderly goatherd. The goatherd doesn't talk much, but turns out to be the one kind person around, and he takes the boy under his wing. This takes courage, because the boy is being chased by evil characters from his village.

The story seems allegorical, on the one hand, but on the other hand, the descriptions are very specific. For example, when Carrasco tells you about the boy's attempts to milk goats, you can really visualize the scene. This is a good translation I think, and I found the book compelling. ( )
  banjo123 | Nov 3, 2017 |
Showing 1-5 of 8 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (13 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Jesús Carrascoprimary authorall editionscalculated
Van der Wal, ArieTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wal, Arie van derTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Vanuit zijn lemen schuilplaats hoorde hij de echo van de stemmen die hem riepen en als waren het krekels, probeerde hij iedere man afzonderlijk te plaatsen binnen de grenzen van de olijfboomgaard. Gebrul als verschroeide rotsrozen.
Quotations
Na meer dan een dag waren de ingewanden van de gekeelde geiten gaan koken, waardoor hun buik was opgezwollen. Dodelijke gassen in de kookpan van darmen.
De gieren en kraaien, die spoedig zouden komen, zouden uiteindelijk een kolom vormen die tot kilometers in de omtrek te zien was.
Een vliegende schroef met het geklapwiek van zwarte veren boven de stoffige aarde. ( op +- 50%)
Hij kneep zijn ogen dicht van de pijn, die hem inwendig leegzoog.Hij schreeuwde niet. Hij keek naar de lucht en huilde als een Sint Sebastiaan bij zijn marteling met de pijlen.
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"A searing dystopian vision of a young boy's flight through an unnamed, savaged country, searching for sanctuary and redemption--from one of Europe's bestselling literary stars. A young boy has fled his home. He's pursued by dangerous forces. What lies before him is an infinite, arid plain, one he must cross in order to escape those from whom he's fleeing. One night on the road, he meets an old goatherd, a man who lives simply but righteously, and from that moment on, their paths intertwine. Out in the Open tells the story of this journey through a drought-stricken country ruled by violence. A world where names and dates don't matter, where morals have drained away with the water. In this landscape the boy--not yet a lost cause--has the chance to choose hope and bravery, or to live forever mired in the cycle of violence in which he was raised. Carrasco has masterfully created a high stakes world, a dystopian tale of life and death, right and wrong, terror and salvation"--

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