The Tuner of Silences

Informationen zum Autor Mia Couto, an environmental biologist from Mozambique, is the author of 25 books of fiction, essays and poems in his native Portuguese. Couto's novels and short story collections have been translated into 20 languages. Two of his novels have been made into feature films. His work has been awarded important literary prizes in Mozambique, South Africa, Portugal, Italy and Brazil. His books have been bestsellers in Africa, Europe and Latin America. Six of Couto's books have been translated into English in the United Kingdom: two short story collections by Heinemann and four novels by Serpent's Tail.David Brookshaw is a professor of Hispanic, Portuguese, and Latin American Studies at the University of Bristol (London), and the General Editor of the HiPLA Monograph Series. He is the translator of six books by Couto, including Sleepwalking Land and The Last Flight of the Flamingo. Klappentext "Eleven when I saw a woman for the first time, I was seized by such surprise I burst into tears." A RADIO FRANCE-CULTURE/TELERAMA BEST WORK OF FICTION, 2011 Praise for "The Tuner of Silences" "David Brookshaw's lyrical translation of Mia Couto's Portuguese lull[s] us into a hypnotized semi-acceptance of [an] impossible universe ... Couto's narrative tone, at once deadpan and beguiling, and his virtuoso management of time, place him alongside the best Latin American magic realists."--Times Literary Supplement "To understand what makes Antonio "Mia" Emilio Leite Couto special -- even extraordinary -- we have to loosen our grip on the binary that distinguishes between "the West" and "Africa." Couto is "white" without not being African, and as an "African" writer he's one of the most important figures in a global Lusophone literature that stretches across three continents. The Tuner of Silences is an instantly recognizable part of this oeuvre ... We begin with the magic, with fantasy, with the impossible, and we steadily discover, in the end, that it never really was, that it always was what we were trying to pretend it wasn't. There is no magic. There is only reality."--"The New Inquiry" "Starkly poetic ... a novel of damaged souls in a damaged country, "The Tuner of Silences" is an eloquent tale of loss." --M.A. Orthofer, "The Complete Review" "Couto's language is rich, fertile, and often full of riddles that turn reality, as we know it, on its head. His stories straddle African and European worlds, and his preoccupations range across issues of race and identity, national culture and legacies of the country's civil war ... translated into shimmering prose by David Brookshaw, "The Tuner of Silences" is a true tour-de-force of modern African writing ... Couto's literary cosmos is unforgettable." --Anderson Tepper, "Words Without Borders" "A phenomenal book ... a paragon of contemporary African literature ... some of the most beautiful and moving prose being written today."--"The Coffin Factory" "The biggest eventt Zusammenfassung "Eleven when I saw a woman for the first time! I was seized by such surprise I burst into tears." Inhaltsverzeichnis BOOK ONE - HUMANITY I, Mwanito, the tuner of silences My father, Silvestre Vitalício My brother, Ntunzi Uncle Aproximado Zachary Kalash, the soldier Jezebel the jenny BOOK TWO - THE VISIT The apparition The woman's papers Eviction order Second batch of papers Madness Orders to kill BOOK THREE - REVELATIONS AND RETURNS Leave taking A bullet bitten The immovable tree The book ...

Auteur

Mia Couto, an environmental biologist from Mozambique, is the author of 25 books of fiction, essays and poems in his native Portuguese. Couto's novels and short story collections have been translated into 20 languages. Two of his novels have been made into feature films. His work has been awarded important literary prizes in Mozambique, South Africa, Portugal, Italy and Brazil. His books have been bestsellers in Africa, Europe and Latin America. Six of Couto's books have been translated into English in the United Kingdom: two short story collections by Heinemann and four novels by Serpent's Tail.

David Brookshaw is a professor of Hispanic, Portuguese, and Latin American Studies at the University of Bristol (London), and the General Editor of the HiPLA Monograph Series. He is the translator of six books by Couto, including Sleepwalking Land and The Last Flight of the Flamingo.

Texte du rabat

"Eleven when I saw a woman for the first time, I was seized by such surprise I burst into tears."

Résumé
"Eleven when I saw a woman for the first time, I was seized by such surprise I burst into tears."

Contenu

BOOK ONE - HUMANITY
I, Mwanito, the tuner of silences
My father, Silvestre Vitalício
My brother, Ntunzi
Uncle Aproximado
Zachary Kalash, the soldier
Jezebel the jenny

BOOK TWO - THE VISIT
The apparition
The woman's papers
Eviction order
Second batch of papers
Madness
Orders to kill

BOOK THREE - REVELATIONS AND RETURNS
Leave taking
A bullet bitten
The immovable tree
The book