The Accordionist's Son Book

Last fall I had the good fortune to see El País Vasco, Basque Country. Apart from Bilbao and San Sebastián, I stopped in Guernica. Known in its Basque tongue, Gernika was bombed by the Nazi Luftwaffe as a testing grounds for its Blitzgreig (lightning war) in 1937. General Franco allowed this as the Basque people were not sympathetic to him during the Spanish Civil war. The bombing inspired Picasso to paint his famous painting Guernica, now in the Museo Reina Sofia (I was moved to tears seeing this on a previous trip).

With this background, and having read Fernando Aramburu's Patria, I started this book with much trepidation. Written by Bernardo Atxaga in 2003, it tells the story of David Imaz, the son of Angel, who is following his father's footsteps as an accordionist. In the small mythical town of Obaba, near Gernika, this was a notable career in the 1930s but in the 1960s, David's future is about to change.

David was attracted to Teresa, whose father owns the Hotel Alaska. She reveals a list of seven Republicans executed and his father was implicated. David also discovers that her father took over the hotel from Don Pedro, who was known as the first to leave Obaba for America. Of course, there was some shady stuff going on that force Don Pedro to sell and leave.

Coming to grips with his father's past, David refuses to play at the ceremony honouring the unveiling of a monument honouring the Fascists who died in the war. David's innocent childhood is coming apart as he discovers the past of the townspeople. Then one day in 1970, the monument is blown up and some of his friends are implicated. This is the beginning of ETA and the Basque upheavals that would last some thirty years. David need to choose his future.

Most of the story was told by David thirty years later where is is dying. He married an American woman and has young children living on a ranch in California. His childhood friend Joseph has come to visit his friend and to help with the manuscript. There are holes in the story that need to be filled in. Why did he leave the Basque Country? Was the past reliving itself?

Bernardo Atxaga has written a monumental tale that spans several decades. The central theme of memory is overshadowed by all the political events that changed the country. Writing it down is not an easy task. One forgets, one has different points of view, some lives are changed forever and others are lost. What really happened depends on the memory of those recording them.

The last century has not been easy on the Basque people. Hopefully this century they will fare better. Judging from what I saw visiting their land, I believe it is looking better. But we cannot forget the past and it is so good to read, as challenging as it is, when their stories are written. This is a book to remember, whatever the truth may be.

Definitely a 4.5

There is also a movie made in 2019 that looks very good.