After putting his armful of books onto the table, Abaitua decides to buy one of them, whichever one, in apology for all the mess they’ve made. The first one he picks up. He doesn’t realize it’s Montauk until he sees it on the back cover as the shop assistant’s taking his money. The words Max Frisch are printed in gray, and Montauk in red, in quite large letters for a back cover. It looks like a new edition. His heart starts to beat fast, and he feels like tearing it out of the hands of the rather slow assistant. He says he doesn’t need a bag. On the way out, he pushes past Zabaleta, who was standing behind him watching him buy the book. They almost knock over another display unit. “See you,” he says, and walks away quickly. He stops a few steps later, halfway between the bookshop and where Pilar is. Max Frisch, Montauk. The writing on the front cover is the same size as that on the back, and the picture shows a cloudy twilight sky, with a red neon sign in the background: “NO VACANCY.”
He flips through the book.
“Lynn is going to be thirty-one.”
“These days, I feel no pain.”
“because I can forget.”
“and I have to remember.”
“What are we doing wrong by being together?”
“Lynn is no longer with us. I said nothing. Dead? That’s how it sounded.”
“Lynn will not become a name for guilt.”
Departures. Salidas. Irteerak. Milan IB 5545 is the third flight on the list. The gate’s been announced. Pilar gets up, and he sees her coming toward him, she takes a few steps in his direction and then stands still, as he is doing, trying to put the book into his pocket, but it’s too big. Then, when he starts walking again, she waits for him. She’s holding the newspaper in her right hand. He takes a few more steps toward her, without knowing what to say. The clacking noises start coming from the panel again. He doesn’t look at it but waits for the sound to finish. Pilar puts the newspaper into her other hand and holds out her right, as if wanting to touch him, but then she doesn’t. She lets her hand drop again. Abaitua remains silent.
“What’s with you now?” he hears her say.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ramon Saizarbitoria was born in San Sebastián in 1944. He was one of the leaders of the cultural renewal movement that took place in the 1960’s. His first novel Egunero Hasten Delako—Because every day begins—(1969) is included in all anthologies and histories of literature as the first modern Basque novel. Ehun Metro—One hundred meters—his second novel, was seized by the Franco regime in 1974 and was not published until 1976. With Ene Jesus—My dear Jesus—(1976) winner of the Critics Prize for Literature, he took literary experimentation to the extreme, with an approach to literature that lead him to silence. After a nineteen-years’ editorial gap he published Hamaika pauso—The countless steps—(1995) winner of the Critics Prize for Literature; Bihotz bi. Gerrako kronikak—Love and war—(1996) winner of the Basque Country’s Prize for Dissemination; Gorde nazazu lurpean—Keep me underground—(2000), winner of the Basque Country’s Fiction Prize and of the Critics Prize for Literature; Gudari zaharraren gerra galdua—The old soldiers’ lost war—(2000); Rossetti-ren obsesioa—Rosetti’s obsession—(2001), and Kandinskyren tradizioa—Kandinsky’s tradition—(2003). After Martutene (2013), his latest novel is Lili eta biok (2015), winner of the Critics Prize for Literature.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Aritz Branton is a late arrival in literary translation, after nearly two decades of commercial translation management. He translates mostly for children and younger readers from English into Basque (books by Jeff Kinney, John Buchan) and mostly linguistics and literature from Basque into English (Koldo Zuazo, Javi Cillero). He writes on literature and music for the Basque magazines Entzun and Thebalde.
1 Translator’s note: In English in the original. The considerable number of expressions and sentences written in English in the original are marked in italics from here onward.
HISPABOOKS
Contemporary Spanish fiction in English-language translation
www.hispabooks.com
Martutene Page 102