| Author/Contributor(s): | Saramago, José |
| Publisher: | Alfaguara |
| Date: | 2/16/2027 |
| Binding: | Hardcover |
| Condition: | NEW |
«Si hay fábricas de armas, habrá también, inexorablemente y a su lado, fábricas de conflictos».
Meses antes de morir, Saramago volvió a sentir el impulso de reflexionar desde la ficción acerca de una de sus grandes preocupaciones vitales: la violencia ejercida contra las personas y las sociedades. Este relato inconcluso nos presenta a Artur Paz Semedo, empleado de una fábrica de armas, que, intrigado por el sabotaje de una bomba durante la Guerra Civil española e impulsado por Felícia, su exesposa, se adentra en los entresijos de una época convulsa y en un profundo dilema moral.
Último legado narrativo del escritor, Alabardas es una indagación sobre la paz como el único camino posible y un emocionante testimonio de su inagotable espíritu antibelicista. Completan esta edición su discurso de recepción del Premio Nobel, «De cómo el personaje fue maestro y el autor, su aprendiz», y del brindis, «En el aniversario de los Derechos Humanos», ambos pronunciados en 1998.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
A story about violence and the arms trade—more relevant today than ever—that distills the literary mastery of the Portuguese Nobel laureate.
“Where there are arms factories, there will inevitably be factories of conflict alongside them.”
Months before his death, Saramago once again felt compelled to explore, through fiction, one of his deepest lifelong concerns: the violence inflicted on individuals and societies. This unfinished story introduces Artur Paz Semedo, an employee at a weapons factory who—intrigued by the sabotage of a bomb during the Spanish Civil War and urged on by Felícia, his ex-wife—delves into the workings of a turbulent era and into a profound moral dilemma.
The writer’s final narrative legacy, Halberd, Halberd, Shotguns, Shotguns, is an exploration of peace as the only possible path and a moving testament to his inexhaustible antiwar spirit. This edition also includes his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, “How the Character Became the Master and the Author His Apprentice,” and his toast, “On the Anniversary of Human Rights,” both delivered in 1998.