Exaltations Gabriel Caballero

It seemed that Julià de Jòdar had, in a Pasolinian fashion, renounced writing after the colossal and unclassifiable novel. The deserter on the battlefield in Proa. But he returned. And what a return! All thanks to the gentle persistence of the Comanegra Publishing team, who invited him to perpetrate The vulnerable, prequel to the great trilogy Chance and shadows, which continued to stir the tail with the Orson Wellesian volume The boarded-up houseTherefore, it wasn't a triptych but a whole saga, which now expands, to our delight, with The sleepless nightsHowever, during this waiting period, Julià de Jòdar's pen has continued to stir, and it has done so with two remarkable volumes: Gabriel Caballero Variations in Puente del petróleo (the most outstanding examples of its Badalona psychogeography) in The murmur from the borders Ensiola (a collection of some twenty high-caliber literary articles). Not to mention the collective volume, coordinated and edited by Júlia Ojeda, which was published by Lleonard Muntaner, Editor: The Forging of Days: Critical Approaches to the Work of Julià de JòdarNo joke.

The sleepless nights It demands an active, participatory reading. The narrative—beautifully written with flashes of Rococo style—is expanded through metanarrative dialogues—which comment on the unfolding events—and a diverse array of texts that offer a rich textual range. The objective? To create a sublime tsunami of voices, perspectives, points of view, and possibilities for interpretation. All of this serves to cast doubt on the author (is he alive or not?), the narrative voice (who on earth is pulling the wool over our eyes?), history itself (did it really happen that way or not?), and the literary reinvention of events (and that's when each and every cog in the vast Julián de Jódar universe begins to emerge into a fascinating, literary multiverse). Through a hurricane of extraordinary pages, we witness the journey of Jódar's great character, Gabriel Caballero, between the 1980s and the early 2000s—a compendium of illusions, infatuations, steps, failures, successes, and chameleon-like metamorphoses amidst a prodigious, melodramatic love. The result? A new, prodigious work.

And, in addition, we enjoy the certainty that the saga continues, and will continue, with a title that had already been announced and that is once again on the horizon: The resurrection of the fleshI don't need to say that I'm eagerly awaiting it. Since we're on the subject, and given the magnificent monograph dedicated to Biel Mesquida, when will we start organizing a conference and celebration for one of our best authors, Julià de Jòdar? Well, I'm all in. In the meantime, let's (re)read The sleepless nights and all the work of this titan called Julià de Jòdar. Long live and advance!