Galego | English

Fiction

A noite da aurora

By Camilo Gonsar

About this book

This is a fascinating story about life during a trip that starts in Iceland and continues in the mind of readers after the story is over.

The story takes us to Reykjavik, where two Galicians meet when they go to a bank to exchange money, and then comes back to a lonely station in the interior of Galicia, where three friends meet to escape from the mediocrity and monotony that plague their lives. Lor, the protagonist of the novel, is a Galician man who left his village when he was young to travel the world. A noite da aurora shows us why he decided to lead such an erratic life, an adventurous life, instead of accepting an easy life free of any risks.

Camilo Gonsar’s power to evoke, his mastery of dialogue and his intuitive sensibility come together in this wonderful story, in which the characters are portrayed against the backdrop of Iceland's capital, a city described in a visual and amazingly simple way. The novel speaks about displacement, friendship, about love just begun and a decision: to leave one's motherland behind. It is a great reflection on destiny and an extraordinary sample of narrative wisdom.

Book fragment

Before I start telling Lor's story, I'll try to present a schematic idea, which may not be highly organised, of the circumstances in which our meetings took place when I was in the capital of Iceland for a short stay. The first one was a matter of chance. It happened at the counter of a bank where I had gone to exchange some dollars. Lor was especially interested in meeting me, not just because we came from the same place, but because our villages were more or less close to each other, though I had spent my life quite far from mine, though not as far, of course, as Lor from his. We spoke a little about Iceland, I started saying that I would like to be able to write something of what I had seen there.

But then we spoke more about our place of birth and, as we were both in a hurry, we decided to meet in the afternoon to continue talking. Lor told me about a very nice café where we could meet.