children of the fable
children of the fable is the most recent novel by the award-winning Spanish writer, translator, and professor Fernando Aramburu. The work, classified by many critics and readers as a comedy, was published by the Tusquets publishing house in 2023. Since then it has generated mixed opinions among its followers and detractors.
Some claim that it is a soft satire, and others, of a humorous and irreverent story capable of providing good moments of entertainment. This division among readers is not uncommon, the same could be seen in the reviews of his previous books, such as Homeland o Swifts. Despite the constant controversy and criticism, there are many topics in which one can learn from the author, such as his innate talent for prose and his simple way of telling stories.
Synopsis of children of the fable
The yearning for freedom is stronger than reason
Asier and Joseba are like a modern Don Quixote and Sancho Pansa. They are swollen with love for their people, though not with much intelligence. both boys cross the Spanish border to reach France, where the waiting to be recruited in the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), the terrorist organization of the Basque Country. When they arrive, they stay at the chicken farm of a French family, whom they hardly understand.
Shortly after, ETA decides to lay down its arms, therefore, all the soldiers. Asier and Joseba are left to their fate, without purpose or money. Even so, the boys don't let this dampen their convictions, and decide to keep the fight up for themselves. Now they are radicals, apprentice assassins. To maintain balance, one of them assumes the role of ideologue commander, the other becomes his relaxed and humorous henchman.
a comic revolution
This particular pair of terrorists tries to carry out the strangest adventures at all costs. They think they are the most terrible, but they are as hilarious as El gordo and El flaco. In reality, their movement does not have a fixed course, and they only dedicate themselves to forging meaningless plans. This is how some time goes by, without results, until they meet a woman who is going to add more comedy to the situation.
The protagonists are revolutionaries, but children of the fable It is not a book about politics, at least not entirely, and not seriously.. In fact, the approaches of the characters are almost ridiculous.
At all times It is clear that Fernando Aramburu intends to create a satire on radicalism of the terrorists, of their extremist thoughts that, reconstructed from the author's pen, seem like a lost children's game.
A comedy about ideological indoctrination
All the radical cells of any social or political movement have something funny about them. For the most part, these people see life through a two-color chroma, and do not understand that the world and people are painted with millions of different shades. That monochrome behavior is a factor that Fernando Aramburu uses for the benefit of comic relief. that their characters represent.
At the same time, children of the fable it can very quickly turn into a tragedy. Asier and Joseba present themselves as unruly, but in reality they are two good people who try to follow an ideal imposed by a society that does not appreciate them. It is precisely after this discovery that both begin to understand that their fight is not only impossible, but that they are replaceable, a simple human capital.
Life is in the dialogues
How is it possible for two terrorist apprentices to be endearing and funny?: because, in reality, they are just their imposed ideas. It is not possible to consider them evil at heart, at least not knowingly. To exemplify this idea, Fernando Aramburu offers some dialogues that, at the same time, are living proof of the agility of the author's pen. Some of the most notable are:
- “The goals persisted. The targets were sacred. There had been no resignation on the part of the Basque National Liberation Movement, only a change of strategy”.
- "Well, let's see how this armed struggle without weapons works."
- “It's just you and me here. What's the problem? We are both the leadership and the militancy. With a bit of order and hierarchy we can get this done”.
- “We have no weapons. No experience. No infrastructure. In a word, we have nothing. I lie. We have youth, energy and faith. We love our people. Who can stop us?"
About the author, Fernando Aramburu
Fernando Aramburu
Fernando Aramburu Irigoyen was born in 1959, in San Sebastián, Spain. He studied at the CLOC Group of Art and Disart, where he participated in the magazine dedicated to the life and culture of the Basque Country, as well as other states such as Madrid and Navarra. Subsequently He graduated in Hispanic Philology, obtaining a degree from the University of Zaragoza. After working for several years in his native Spain, he moved to the Federal Republic of Germany, where he taught until 2009.
After giving up teaching, he decided to occupy his time solely in literary creation. From this job he constantly collaborates with the Spanish press. Fernando Aramburu's work—including poetry, aphorisms, essays, novels, articles, columns, and more—has been translated into more than thirty languages, and has considerable global reach.
Other books by Fernando Aramburu
Novels
- Fires with lemon (1996);
- Empty eyes (2000);
- The trumpeter of Utopia (2003);
- Life of a louse named Matías (2004);
- Bami no shadow (2005);
- Clara trip by Germany (2010);
- Slow years (2012);
- The great Marivian (2013);
- greedy pretenses (2014);
- Homeland (2016);
- Swifts (2021);
story books
- not to be does not hurt (1997);
- The brick thief (1998);
- The artist and his corpse, miscellany and short stories (2002);
- Mariluz and the flying children (2003);
- The fish of bitterness, stories focused on the victims of ETA terrorism (2006);
- The fjord watchman (2011);
- Mariluz and her strange adventures (2013)
Tests
- the letters ajar (2015);
- Deep veins (2019);
- Utility of misfortunes and other texts (2020);
Poetry
- the booklet (1981);
- shadow bird (1981);
- haze and conscience (1993);
- the booklet (1995);
- I would like to rain (1996);
- Self portrait without me (2018)