When the jury that awards the Princess of Asturias Prize for Literature met in Oviedo on Tuesday, the heroic city had not yet taken a nap. If the capital of the Principality is a literary capital, it is, evidently, thanks to The Regent. If now Leopoldo Alas’ masterpiece could choose its best international ambassador, it would undoubtedly opt for Julian Barnes. Over the years the British writer has reiterated his fascination with a novel that is the sister of the classics of 19th century adultery fiction such as Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina o Effi Briest. He has not haggled over the praise: Barnes has described the novel starring Ana Ozores as “the foreign classic lately discovered.”
The Regent and Anagram. These have been the main relationships of the author of Farewells with the Spanish literary system since the mid-eighties. “Like so many readers, I discovered Julian Barnes with his third title, Flaubert’s parrot“explained Jorge Herralde when he presented it in Barcelona at a conference in 2005. That literary artifact about Flaubert had been published in English in 1984, had great international recognition from critics and the public, and Anagrama translated it in 1986. And from then until now. “We are one of its most constant editors,” says editor Silvia Sesé after hearing the news of the award of the Princess of Asturias Award.
“I was afraid of the question about Spanish literature,” he responded at a lunch with journalists in Madrid in mid-October 1987. Barnes was 41 years old and was beginning to establish himself as one of the leading authors of the dream team británcio (to say it with the label of the great commercial of his own brand that is Jorge Herralde). That day he used irony. If they wanted to know what their knowledge of Spanish literature was, they would have to wait a hundred years, which were the same years that had passed for it to be translated. The Regent into English: “Excellent novel,” he said that day.
He also said that the days he had spent in Ronda in a house owned by Martin Amis were etched in his memory. That afternoon he gave a lecture at the Círculo de Bellas Artes and Juan Cruz characterized him like this: “European in his language and international in the symbols he uses, he is part of a generation of English people who were born into the history of taste, consuming all European products without the misty reticence of the past.” The Frenchified Barnes was referring to both Flaubert and cheese.
Barnes’ visits to Spain have coincided with the presentation of his books. In 2005 it was the turn of the stories of The lemon tablethe centenary of Don Quixote was celebrated and he gave a lecture on Cervantes. He referred to the immediate influence he had had on English letters. To argue it he used this comparison: “The work was translated very soon. The first version appeared in 1612. The Regentfor example, took a century to be translated into English after being published in Spain.” After a few years, specifically in 2013, he had a public dialogue with Mario Vargas Llosa about his most beloved author: Flaubert. And Barnes, once again, did not miss the opportunity to praise Clarín’s novel about that woman in the moral and provincial prison that is the Oviedo of that fiction.
A month ago Julian Barnes returned to Barcelona. The pretext was the presentation of Farewellswhich he has presented as his latest book. There was a press conference and in the afternoon a dialogue with Lucía Lijtmaer. It began with reading a text in which he talked about goodbyes, stopping writing and life. “Maybe life is a love story with a hole in the middle.” Ana Ozores would agree. You can look for her in Oviedo where you can finally meet her in person.