Juan Goytisolo Boeken

Een Spaans intellectueel kijkt in 1963 terug op tien jaar ballingschap in Parijs.

The book offers a profound exploration of the historical and contemporary tensions between the West and Islamic societies, drawing from the author's travels in the late 1990s. Through essays that blend historical analysis with personal narratives, it delves into life in conflict zones such as Sarajevo, Algeria, the West Bank, Gaza, and Chechnya. By examining the evolution of Western perceptions of Islam from the 17th century to the Gulf War, it highlights the ongoing ideological, political, and cultural confrontations that define these complex relationships.

Set during the siege of Sarajevo these fictionalized reflections bear witness to the universal cry for freedom.

The narrative features Karl and Jenny Marx in a surreal setting, where they engage with contemporary issues while watching a documentary. As Albanian refugees seek a better life, the story explores Karl's reflections on the failure of ideologies tied to his legacy. It delves into the Marx family's evolving social status, highlighting their move from Dean Street to Highgate, while humorously acknowledging their persistent struggles with poverty. The book intertwines historical figures with modern dilemmas, creating a thought-provoking commentary on legacy and aspiration.

This book offers a sharp and humorous critique of religion, showcasing the author's prowess as a satirist. Through clever storytelling, it delves into the complexities and absurdities of faith, inviting readers to reflect on the role of religion in society. The narrative is infused with wit and insight, making it both entertaining and thought-provoking. As Spain's most celebrated contemporary author, the writer employs a unique voice that challenges conventional beliefs while engaging readers in a meaningful dialogue.

Trapped in his apartment in an immigrant district of Paris, the narrator is far from the high life of museums, elegant restaurants and boutiques. Within this imprisonment, his thoughts oscillate between revolutionary terrorism and pre-pubescent sexuality - a concern he shares with Lewis Carroll. Mirroring the conventions of Arabic texts, Landscapes After the Battle is to be understood from the perspective of its end; an end where the relationship between writer, the reader and the written is revealed as playful and humorous. The appearance of the comic in a novel by Juan Goytisolo is unexpected; like Dracula at a haemophiliacs? convention.

To many, Juan Goytisolo is Spain's greatest living novelist and her sternest critic. An exile from his native land for over forty years (he left Madrid in 1957 to escape Franco's regime), he has mercilessly sought to overturn Spain's Catholic homogeneity by remembering the cultural influence of her medieval and Jewish populations. Few European writers know the Islamic shores of the Mediterranean as intimately as he does. In these essays about Morocco, Turkey, and Egypt, Goytisolo celebrates a world where ritual matters and tradition is alive, where saints live, story-tellers weave their enchantments nightly, and where honor and dignity preserve the importance of the individual. Goytisolo is to Spanish writing what Almodovar is to Spanish cinema. These essays are a fine reading of the vast, heterogeneous mosaic of Islam against the everyday truculent images of the mass media. "A deliciously pretentious aesthete, Goytisolo unashamedly romanticizes popular Islamic life in beguiling, immensely readable, poetic prose."-Publishers Weekly

Die vier Episoden dieses Buches sind eine Liebeserklärung Juan Goytisolos an die Türkei: in bizarren Felsformationen findet er den Geist des katalanischen Architekten Gaudís wieder, in Konya spürt er dem Ursprung der tanzenden Derwische nach. Die sinnliche Qualität des Ringkampfes und das lärmende Labyrinth Istanbuls werden zum Gegenstand seiner unersättlichen Neugier.

Soubor esejů o inspirativní síle kultury islámských zemí napsal španělský spisovatel a kritik evropské civilizace. Z textů lze vyčíst autorovo zaujetí různými složkami islámské kultury i určitou skepsi nad hodnotami, které vyznává uspěchaná moderní civilizace. Setkáme se s velmi různorodými tématy: publikaci otevírají cestopisné črty z putování po Kappadokii, autor nám dále přiblíží tanec dervišů zvaný samá, zápasy yagli v tureckém městě Edirne, knížka obsahuje i brilantně napsaný esej o Istanbulu (Město palimpsest) či text o lidovém kultu světců v islámu.

"Coto vedado" es, junto con su continuación -"En los reinos de taifa"-, uno de los mejores textos que ha dado el género autobiográfico en España. A lo largo de sus páginas, Juan Goytisolo se entrega a un discurso en el que acontecimiento y vivencia se amoldan a la perfección, dando la medida exacta del itinerario de la evolución vital, el tono justo de un paisaje en el que espíritu y acción se complementan. Escrito con rigor transparente, este texto memorialístico constituye, en suma, aparte del valioso testimonio y evaluación de una época marcada por la Guerra Civil y la dictadura, una lúcida reflexión acerca de la existencia