The Things We've Seen

Synopsis

Written in three interconnected parts, The Things We've Seen is Agustín Fernández Mallo's most ambitious and accomplished novel. A writer travels to the small, uninhabited island of San Simón, once used as a Francoist concentration camp during the Spanish Civil War, where a series of strange encounters sends him on a journey across continents in pursuit of the ghosts of history.

In the second part, Kurt Montana—the secret fourth astronaut aboard Apollo 11—looks back on a life that stretches from the Vietnam War to the moon landing. In the third, a woman retraces a walk along the Normandy coast while confronting memory, grief, and the refugee crisis unfolding around her.

Blending history, science, philosophy, photography, and fiction, The Things We've Seen is a dazzling meditation on violence, memory, and the hidden connections that bind people across time and place. Described as the novel David Lynch and W. G. Sebald might have written together, it is a bold and unforgettable work of contemporary literature.

About the Author

Agustín Fernández Mallo is a Spanish novelist, essayist, and physicist whose work has transformed contemporary Spanish literature. His acclaimed Nocilla Trilogy helped define a new generation of writers by weaving together literature, science, philosophy, and popular culture. Winner of Spain's Biblioteca Breve Prize, Mallo is celebrated for his intellectually adventurous fiction and innovative narrative style. The Things We've Seen is translated from the Spanish by Thomas Bunstead.

Publisher
Fitzcarraldo Editions

Publication Date
24 March 2021

Format
Paperback

Pages
488

Subjects
Literary Fiction · Fiction in Translation · Spanish Literature · Speculative Fiction · Philosophical Fiction · Historical Fiction · Contemporary Fiction

ISBN
9781913097301