Carlos Fernández-Villaverde (Salamanca, 1983) weaves in Ojos Casi Blancos (Balduque) a brief but deeply evocative narrative, where the rural Asturian landscape becomes the setting for a story full of melancholy, intrigue and the search for identity. The novel is much more than a mystery story: it is an introspection on the passage of time, (…)
Carlos Fernández-Villaverde (Salamanca, 1983) weaves in Almost white eyes (Balduque) a brief but deeply evocative narrative, where the Asturian rural landscape becomes the setting for a story full of melancholy, intrigue and search for identity. The novel is much more than a mystery story: it is an introspection about the passage of time, the weight of decisions and the ghosts that, like the aroma of the inconcrete, persist in the darkest corners of our memory.
From the first pages, the writer and collaborator of hoyesarte.com It immerses us in Corulles, a small fictional village in eastern Asturias that breathes the autocracy and helplessness of any forgotten corner of rural Spain. With a style that oscillates between action and introspection, the author invites us to walk his paths, to smell the damp wood of his houses and to live the routine of characters who seem trapped between what was and what will never be.
The story is woven by the figure of Manolo, a charismatic old man whose life seems like a compendium of anecdotes and secrets. Its tragic end, far from being a simple event, triggers a collective catharsis that reveals the darkest side of its neighbors and, at the same time, the symbolic weight of small rural communities. The protagonist’s “almost white” eyes, beyond their literality, function as a metaphor for the opacity with which time forces us to look at our past.
In his story, Fernández-Villaverde demonstrates his ability to mix the universal with the deeply personal. The relationship between Manolo and the enigmatic narrator – someone whose life is marked by absences and silences – reminds us that, ultimately, we are the echo of those who surrounded and shaped us. This bond, built delicately and without excess, becomes the beating heart of the novel.
Almost white eyes It is also a hymn to the evocative capacity of the senses. From smells to landscapes, his prose makes the reader not only imagine, but feel. And, in that feeling, he finds his greatest achievement, as he transforms an apparently simple story into an intense literary experience.
In short, it is not just a short novel; It is an intimate reflection of our nostalgia and fears, a tribute to those places that we abandon but that never completely abandon us.
Almost white eyes. Carlos Fernández-Villaverde. Balduque. 148 pages. 18 euros.
