
Learning To Lose
David Trueba(Author)
Granta Books (Publisher)
Published on 2. June 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
592 pages
978-1-84627-206-6 (ISBN)
Description
It is the day of Sylvia's sixteenth birthday and her life as an adult is about to begin - not with the party she had been planning, but with a car crash. At the wheel is a talented young footballer, just arrived from Buenos Aires and set for stardom on and off the pitch. As their destinies collide, elsewhere in the city Sylvie's father and grandfather are finding their own lives suddenly derailed by a violent murder and a secret affair.
Set against the maze of Madrid's congested and contested streets, Learning to Lose follows four individuals as they swerve off course in unexpected directions. Each of them is dodging guilt and the fear of failure, but their shared search for happiness, love, purity and - above all - a way to survive forms a taut narrative web that binds the characters together and holds the reader fast.
Set against the maze of Madrid's congested and contested streets, Learning to Lose follows four individuals as they swerve off course in unexpected directions. Each of them is dodging guilt and the fear of failure, but their shared search for happiness, love, purity and - above all - a way to survive forms a taut narrative web that binds the characters together and holds the reader fast.
Reviews / Votes
At turns the novel resembles Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander trilogy ... with its young heroine adrift in a world that offers few reasons to be trustful, and plenty to be otherwise. An elegantly written, well-thought-through coming-of-age novel, with the requisite furtive embraces, broken hearts and missed signals * Kirkus * In this involving ensemble piece, Trueba shows a cinematic flair for the way urban lives intersect - and collide. Crash-style, a car accident in Madrid wraps the fates of a teenager and her father around that of a promising football pro just arrived from Buenos Aires; his career is captured with a rare insight. Against the isolation of the big city, the urge to connect with others binds a snaking, swerving tale -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent * David Trueba brings a cinematic pacing, a very visual sensibility and the feel of an ensemble movie to this, his third novel. And what a novel it is, translated into a sensual and poetic English by Mara Faye Lethem ... Lush, intricate and rewarding * Herald * A captivating novel ... Trueba's analysis of the family unit is intricate and compassionate, as the protagonists undertake explosive interactions with those around them ... allowing the reader to empathise completely. Addictive and absorbing -- Sophie Gordon * Aesthetica * Learning to Lose is complex, powerful, surprising and most of all smart. David Trueba is the real thing. -- Percival Everett, author of Erasure One part Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, one part Paul Haggis' Crash, the rest is all David Trueba, modern day Madrid, and a narrative that pulsates with longing, lust and simmering rage. Don't dare pick it up if you have plans for the weekend, or for the rest of the day for that matter. It's that good. I was casting the adaptation in my mind as I tore through it. Vivid, real and raw, the novel is at once unsparing and entirely humane. Simply masterful. -- Joe McGinniss, Jr., author of The Delivery Man His language is simple; straightforward, but seemingly no detail is left untended. Despite both that and the length, Learning to Lose is never ponderous or hesitant and it is clear from the first that this is an author who has something to say. -- Sienna Powers * January magazine * After Andres Iniesta's game-winning goal in the World Cup final, Spanish writer David Trueba's Learning to Lose isn't the most aptly titled novel to pick up. But soccer fans will appreciate the book, translated by Mara Faye Lethem, for its portrait of an Argentinean player beginning his professional career in Madrid. As Ariel Burano struggles to acclimatize to life in the spotlight an ocean away from his family, Trueba's novel digs under the glossy veneer of Nike and Adidas ads to unveil a sports system that has "managed to make corruption photogenic and legal". * Cleveland Plain Dealer *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 39 mm
Weight
440 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84627-206-6 (9781846272066)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Persons
DAVID TRUEBA was born in Madrid in 1969 and has been successful both as a novelist and as a scriptwriter. La buena vida was his widely acclaimed debut as a film director and was followed by Obra Maestra, Soldados de Salamina, Bienvenido a casa and La silla de Fernando. He is the author of two previous novels, Open All Night (Abierto toda la noche) and Four Friends (Cuatro amigos).