El carrer estret / The Narrow Street
Novel , 1951
Edicions 62
Pages: 384
Halfway between a costumbrist tableau and neorealist literature, Pla once again demonstrates the inexhaustible power of his prose.
A city veterinarian arrives in the village of Torrelles to practice his trade. Settling on Carrer Estret, and thanks to the gossip of his invaluable cook, Francisqueta, he becomes a witness to the daily lives of his neighbors. The narrative, which the author describes as merely the result of having "carried a mirror along a road," is built through a picturesque mosaic of characters, whose everyday banality is transformed into literary material of extraordinary quality.