el gaviero
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Letter to my friend Alvaro Mutis
One day in the 1990s, we were walking down the street, having just left the Hôtel des Saints-Pères, and Alvaro Mutis stopped abruptly. We were almost at the corner of Rue de Grenelle, and he said to me, "Emmanuel, I have the feeling we walked like this together a long time ago on a street in Cádiz." And we... Continue reading
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Alvaro Mutis on the monarchy
The paradox, quite painful for me, is that I was already a royalist at a very young age. I could almost say, since childhood. My first readings of history led me to seek out the origins and workings of the monarchy. I know perfectly well that the monarchy, as I conceive it and as other eras have experienced it, is now unthinkable. […] Continue reading
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Excerpt from The Hussar. Poem by Alvaro Mutis
[…] The centuries-old must of the wine, which is watered in the cellars. The power of his arm and his bronze shadow. The stained-glass window that recounts his loves and recalls his last battle grows darker each day under the smoke of lamps fueled by bad oil. Like the wail of a siren. Continue reading
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Nocturne. Poem by Alvaro Mutis
Fever draws the song of an androgynous bird, paving the way for insatiable pleasure that branches out and traverses the body of the earth. Oh! The fruitless voyage around the islands, where women offer the traveler the cool sway of their breasts and the terrifying depth in the hollow of their hips! The tender skin... Continue reading
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One more stopover…
Alvaro Mutis is a truly great writer and, what's more, one of my dearest friends. Since he hasn't published any books for a few years now, I thought I'd pay him a small tribute with quotes from "The Last Stop of the Tramp Steamer," this short novel brimming with... Continue reading