Las virtudes del pájaro solitario
by Juan Goytisolo
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Weaving together elements of philosophy, history and the terror of the Plague, this novel by the Spanish author Juan Goytisolo was inspired by the story of St John of the Cross.Tags
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"I come from a people who, when they love, die". (p.140)
There appears to be a duality at the center of The Virtues of the Solitary Bird, if indeed there is a core. A patient is dying from AIDS. St John of the Cross composes his Canticle. Perhaps one is influenced by the other, or maybe not. The novel explore quarantine, a segregation to maintain purity, security and survival. A neutron bomb in detonated to rid a city of the plague. A monastery is razed in the name of Orthodoxy. Dogma reigns and the disparate are vanquished. Castro's leper colonies for homosexuals rank alongside Reagan's CDC and freethinkers and subversives are tossed into the cleaning flames. Boccaccio to Birkenau: to classify, to collect, to relate and endure.
There is show more a lyrical push in the novel. The narrative is jerky and abrupt. There are no real transitions. The birds remain elusive. The steel of the aviary a necessity. This was an amazing achievement. show less
There appears to be a duality at the center of The Virtues of the Solitary Bird, if indeed there is a core. A patient is dying from AIDS. St John of the Cross composes his Canticle. Perhaps one is influenced by the other, or maybe not. The novel explore quarantine, a segregation to maintain purity, security and survival. A neutron bomb in detonated to rid a city of the plague. A monastery is razed in the name of Orthodoxy. Dogma reigns and the disparate are vanquished. Castro's leper colonies for homosexuals rank alongside Reagan's CDC and freethinkers and subversives are tossed into the cleaning flames. Boccaccio to Birkenau: to classify, to collect, to relate and endure.
There is show more a lyrical push in the novel. The narrative is jerky and abrupt. There are no real transitions. The birds remain elusive. The steel of the aviary a necessity. This was an amazing achievement. show less
Nota de Pamen en 1ª pág.: Para leer en valladolid 6/5/94 Pamen
Feb 11, 2024Spanish
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137+ Works 2,865 Members
Juan Goytisolo Gay was born in Barcelona, Spain on January 5, 1931. He studied law at the University of Madrid and the University of Barcelona, but did not earn a degree. His first novel, The Young Assassins, was published in 1954. He wrote Children of Chaos and performed six months of military service before moving to Paris in 1956. He found work show more as a reader for Gallimard, one of France's premier publishing houses, and continued to write. His novels include Fiestas, Island of Women, Marks of Identity, Count Julian, Juan the Landless, Makbara, Landscapes after the Battle, The Marx Family Saga, A Cock-Eyed Comedy, State of Siege, and Exiled from Almost Everywhere. He also wrote two political travelogues entitled Countryside of Níjar and La Chanca and two memoirs entitled Forbidden Territory and Realms of Strife. He died on June 4, 2017 at the age of 86. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Las virtudes del pájaro solitario
- Original publication date
- 1988
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 863.64 — Literature & rhetoric Spanish Literature Spanish fiction 20th Century 1945-2000
- LCC
- PQ6613 .O79 .V513 — Language and Literature French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese literatures Spanish literature Individual authors, 1868-1960
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 81
- Popularity
- 393,854
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.80)
- Languages
- 5 — English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 8
