El Danubio azul | Ludwig Bemelmans | book new | sale

Ludwig Bemelmans

Barataria : Bárbaros | 2006

200 | 4h 42m

spanish | softcover | new | sale

20cm x 16cm | 320gr

In Regensburg, on the banks of the Danube, there is an old brewery, The Blue Danube, where many good citizens and also some local leaders of the Nazi party gather in the evening. Just in front, the river widens and a small island appears in its center, a no man's land inhabited by old Anton and three women who survive by growing the delicate white radishes that go so well with beer. Despite the harmless nature of their lives and occupations, in the eyes of the Nazi commanders, the island's inhabitants are undocumented nomads and therefore deserving of exemplary punishment. The Blue Danube is a disturbing novel full of surprises, in which comedy suddenly gives way to the darkest tragedy. A hot-written novel –Bemelmans wrote it in 1944–, which knows how to combine the thick lines of caricature with the subtle and evocative description of everyday life. A novel that allows the contemporary reader to imagine the rarefied atmosphere of a German city at that time and witness the criminal arbitrariness of the Nazi regime. The Blue Danube is, in short, a passionate reflection on fanaticism, cruelty and fear, but at the same time, it is also a resounding affirmation of life and its pleasures.