Agustín Fernández Mallo's novel 'The Things We've Seen' explores disordered reality through dreamlike narratives
Agustín Fernández Mallo's 'The Things We've Seen,' released by Fitzcarraldo Editions in a £14.99 paperback translated by Thomas Bunstead, presents a disjointed narrative that delves into a chaotic reality. The story begins with an unnamed narrator who, after participating in a 'Net-Thinking' conference on a northern Spanish island in 2014, uncovers files related to a Spanish Civil War prison camp. Transitioning to 2015 New York, he encounters Skyler and a baker crafting cookies shaped like pregnant dogs. The narrative includes Salvador Dalí's thoughts on leporine starvation, explores themes such as the Compton Effect, and features a friendship with Uruguayan Rodolfo. The plot later introduces Kurt Montana, a delusional Apollo 11 astronaut, against the backdrop of Syrian refugee movements and Brexit. The novel concludes with a quote from Carlos Oroza.
Key facts
- Agustín Fernández Mallo is a Spanish writer associated with the Nocilla Generation avant-garde literary movement
- The novel 'The Things We've Seen' was published by Fitzcarraldo Editions in a softcover edition priced £14.99
- Thomas Bunstead translated the work from Spanish to English
- The narrative begins in 2014 on an island off northern Spain where a 'Net-Thinking' conference occurs
- The island contains historical documents about a Spanish Civil War prison camp
- Federico García Lorca's poems appear as contraband in the prison camp stories
- The story shifts to 2015 New York featuring locations like Red Hook and the Lower East Side
- Characters include Skyler, baker making pregnant-dog-shaped cookies, Salvador Dalí, and Uruguayan Rodolfo
- Later sections feature Kurt Montana as a fourth Apollo 11 astronaut and the narrator's girlfriend in Normandy
- The novel references numerous writers and artists including W.G. Sebald, Jorge Luis Borges, and Edward Hopper
Entities
Artists
- Agustín Fernández Mallo
- W.G. Sebald
- Carl Hiaasen
- Louis-Ferdinand Céline
- Georges Perec
- Octavio Paz
- Ben Lerner
- Jeffrey Eugenides
- Jorge Luis Borges
- Edward Hopper
- Giorgio De Chirico
- Federico García Lorca
- Carlos Oroza
- Salvador Dalí
Institutions
- Fitzcarraldo Editions
Locations
- Spain
- Northern Spain
- Galicia
- New York
- Red Hook
- Lower East Side
- East River
- South America
- Uruguay
- Normandy
- Africa
- Syria