Hi! How are you today?
Do you know
any Basque writers or poets? Do you fancy broadening your knowledge in the area
of Basque literature? I would like to tell you briefly about Jon Mirande and
his novel titled "The Goddaughter"("Haur Besoetakoa" in
Basque).
Jon Mirande, a Basque writer, was considered one of the most renowned poets in Basque literature of the 20th century. The author was born on 1925 on Paris where his family had moved in search of employment. It was in 1944 that he began working as a translator at Ministry of Finance in the capital of France. Mirande collaborated with several not only magazines but also journals, where he published his numerous poems.
He showed
enthusiasm for learning foreign languages from the outset. Although the
Basque language was not his mother tongue, it became the dominant language of
his literary creation. Mirande also translated works by authors such F.
Nietzsche, E. Allan Poe, F. GarcÃa Lorca and others. The writer suffered from a
mental disorder that drove him to kill himself on 1972.
"The
Goddaughter" is his only novel: Mirande finished it on 1959. The author
describes the history of an adult male who has sexual relation with his minor
goddaughter. It's worth reading this book for a number of reasons. In my point
of view, issues that give to rise to so much controversy (e.g. incest,
pedophile, suicide) grab reader's attention. Furthermore, Mirande is fairy
skilled at creating characters and giving free rein to our feelings.
I'm a bit surprised that someone would choose such a controversial topic for his ONLY novel. But considering how he ended his life, he must have been a very troubled man. I'm intrigued... BTW, I guess you cannot say he was a 21st century writer if he died in 1972. Even if he is still popular.
ReplyDeleteRight you are. I wrote by mistake wrong century... That is fine.
ReplyDelete