Gonzalo Torrente Ballester

Gonzalo Torrente Ballester

La Saga/Fuga de J.B

La Saga/Fuga de J.B / The Saga/Fugue of J.B.

Novel , 1972

Alianza Editorial

Pages: 736

Bursting with imagination, this brilliant, unclassifiable work is considered by many to be the best Spanish novel of the 20th century.

Non-existent on maps and sometimes airborne, the Galician town of Castroforte del Baralla is the setting for this story about the confrontation of generations of J.B. with adversaries whose name begins with A. This novel is imbued with the fantastic realism so typical of its Galician origins, the ambition of great works of art, and the sarcastic humour of Gonzalo Torrente Ballester and his capacity for parody and satire. 

The title announces the content: saga, because it is a legendary chronicle about several generations; and fugue, because its peculiar structure draws on the characteristics of musical “fugues”. José Bastida gives voice to the millenary history of this town, an account of many destinies that unfold over time through successive characters, following the thread of the recurrent reincarnation of the same plot, which continues down the centuries.