Author: Máximo Huerta
- Fiction
- Grupo Planeta
- ISBN: 9788408258568
- Release Date: 06-15-2022
-Reviewed by: Libros Por Doquier
I've waited a few days since finishing "Adiós, pequeño" to sit down and write this review. I needed to rest from reading it, to let all my feelings come out; I needed to reflect and sit down with a calm heart to share my impressions with you. Máximo Huerta's latest novel was awarded the Fernando Lara Novel Prize in 2022 and published by Planeta. I honestly don't know what to say about this book because Máximo has bared so much of himself in this book, he has opened his soul and his heart in such a brutal way that I'm embarrassed to comment on something so personal. The novel begins with a phrase that sums it all up: "My mother would have been happier if I hadn't been born." According to Máximo, this is the only truth in his life.
In my opinion, the author has let go of a very heavy burden he'd been carrying for some time, a backpack full of stones that needed to be emptied. Don't expect to find an extraordinary story in "Adiós, pequeño." This is simply the story of a boy who was born and raised in a village in a time when patriarchy was deeply entrenched, where what the father said was what was done at home because he was the one who brought in the money, the one who worked. It's the story of a normal family like many of the people around us but told in an extraordinary way. The events described may be more or less moving to you, or more or less interesting to you, but there's no doubt that Máximo writes beautifully.
"Adiós, pequeño" is a book that provokes reflection, a look back, a reflection on our childhood, our family, our childhood friends, and the sometimes difficult and tortuous relationship between parents and children. In this story, what is told, how it is told, and those silences that speak for themselves are so important. I think the author has managed to create them magnificently, and they say so much within them that I loved it.
