Un viaje de invierno / Winter Journey
Novel , 1972
Penguin RANDOM HOUSE
Pages: 264
Winter Journey is one of Juan Benet’s most enigmatic and daring novels, a key example of the exploration of new narrative territories in Spanish literature. Set in the mythical Región, and echoing the myth of Demeter and Hades, the story focuses on the preparations for the annual festival of Demetria in La Gándara, in anticipation of the return of her daughter Kore.
In this mysterious and funereal atmosphere, characters, memories and premonitions move as if trapped in a nostalgic consciousness, where time seems suspended and language becomes a threshold between what is spoken and what is withheld. Benet thus constructs a profound reflection on desolation, abandonment and the final journey toward death, while ironically unfolding the text itself with a stylistic mastery that critics were quick to recognize.