Two Brothers
B. Atxaga(Author)
The Harvill Press
Published on 18. October 2001
Book
Hardback
132 pages
978-1-86046-834-6 (ISBN)
Description
An elegiac tale of lost innocence and the ruthlessness of the natural world, where the hunter all too soon becomes the prey. As he dies leaving his two boys orphans, Paulo's father lays on him the duty to look after his retarded but overgrown younger brother, for otherwise Daniel will be put away in an institution. But Daniel never listens to his brother, who is unable to exert any authority over him. Instead Daniel, aged twenty and still in the throes of puberty, goes off in an inept, fumbling pursuit of the village girls, as they ride past on their bicycles on the way to sewing lessons or cake-baking classes. Among these girls are pretty Teresa and her plain friend, Carmen, a girl disfigured by a birthmark on one cheek. Both of them are sweet on Paulo, the quiet, irresolute but handsome lad who works in the family sawmill, while Teresa is the reluctant, indeed disgusted, object of Daniel's dreams. Each girl schemes to cut the other out and win favour with Paulo. All ends in tears. And the narrators of this story, who take turns to continue the tale, are creatures of the wild, driven by their inner voices - a bird, squirrels, a black snake.
Reviews / Votes
"Among the most versatile, riveting, gifted and - unexpectedly - lyrical of contemporary authors" Amanda Hopkinson, Independent on Sunday; "Atxaga is a brilliantly inventive writer...his work seems to me to be in the centre of what is most new and exciting in modern European writing...He understands the nature of storytelling and is, at once, terribly moving and wildly funny" A.S. Byatt; "A lyricism, an imagination that characterise his books as fiction in the purest state" Javier Goni, El PaisMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paper over boards
Weight
260 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-86046-834-6 (9781860468346)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Person
Bernardo Atxaga, a Basque, was born in 1951, and is the award-winning author of many novels including The Lone Man, The Lone Woman and Obabakoak.