On the Edge (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780811222846)

On the Edge opens with the discovery of a rotting corpse in the marshes on the outskirts of Olba, Spain--a town wracked by despair after the burst of the economic bubble, and a microcosm of a world of defeat, debt, and corruption. Stuck in this town is Esteban--his small factory bankrupt, his investments stolen by a "friend," and his unloved father, a mute invalid, entirely his personal burden. Much of the novel unfolds in Esteban's raw and tormented monologues. But other voices resound from the wreckage--soloists stepping forth from the choir--and their words, sharp as knives, crowd their terse, hypnotic monologues of ruin, prostitution, and loss.

Chirbes alternates this choir of voices with a majestic third-person narration, injecting a profound and moving lyricism and offering the hope that a new vitality can emerge from the putrid swamps. On the Edge, even as it excoriates, pulsates with robust life, and its rhythmic, torrential style marks the novel as an indelible masterpiece.

Author: Rafael Chirbes
ISBN-10: 0811222845
ISBN-13: 9780811222846
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Language: English
Published: 01/25/2016
Pages: 464
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.30w x 1.10d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2015
Library Journal 11/15/2015 pg. 75
Publishers Weekly 11/16/2015
New York Times Book Review 01/24/2016 pg. 12