VIAJE DE INVIERNO

From the opening lines of Winter Journey, Amélie Nothomb’s singular microcosm pulls us in. The protagonist’s blunt declaration — “I’m going to blow up the 1:30 p. m. plane” — suggests terrorism, but his cause is neither political nor religious; it is love, total and unconditional, for Zoilo believes that simply experiencing love is already a triumph. His obsession is Astrolabio, a young woman devoted to safeguarding Aliénor, an eccentric novelist whose peculiar autism renders her a kind of gluttonous, helpless “alien” dictating her books to her loyal agent. The autobiographical echo is clear, recalling Nothomb’s own eccentricity and her unusual ties to her sister. In this Winter Journey, we find once again the author’s exquisite extravagance, crafting an absurd, vivid tableau of life, love, and death reminiscent of Valle-Inclán, Jarry, or Beckett.