The recent winner of the Princess of Asturias Award for Letters was recognized for his creation of Frank Bascombe, whose first appearance are met by these days 30 years
MADRID.- Richard Ford writes with a scalpel that leaves no scars. . His harsh language, minimalist, cold appearance gave birth to some of the most vivid accounts of the culture, people and the current US policy
often joke that if any be a novelist would be a matter of fate: is dyslexic, he studied letters because it was the only race in which he was accepted, he devoted himself for years uncreative trades, he failed as a journalist. Until, past 40 and unemployed, surrendered himself to his imagination. That crisis arose The sports journalist , the book consecrating in which introduced the world to Frank Bascombe, its universal character.
Just when the 30th anniversary of that creation Ford was awarded today with the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature 2016, one of the highest awards to the career of a writer who indulge in the Hispanic world and that adds to a list of awards including two Pulitzer, a Pen / Faulkner and one Femina.
the jury appreciated its “careful attention to detail in the descriptions, the dark and dense look at the daily life of anonymous and invisible beings” and “desolation and emotion” that carry tales and novels in which breathes “the mosaic of stories cross that is American society”.
He highlighted especially the creation of unforgettable Bascombe, frustrated novelist, journalist successful real estate agent and finally retired through Ford which he used to tell the United States during the past four decades. From The sports journalist (1986) to the recent collection of novellas Frankly, Frank (2014) through Independence Day ( 1995) and Thanksgiving (2006).
Ford evolved hand Bascombe, but denies that claim it as their alter ego. He, unlike his character, never had children and wanted them; did not succeed as a journalist and, of course, did not fail as a writer. And yet, often carry around a Moleskine notebook in scoring what he thought Bascombe to everyday episodes that he has to live. “It helps me to be more connected to the world”
The news of the award surprised Ford, 72, at his home outside New York. “Writers write books for readers, so when you recognize one of us is a good day for both writing as a whole and for all readers,” celebrated, true to himself, in a note that does not waste words.
Born in Jackson (Mississippi), the land of Faulkner, Ford had a difficult childhood. It was a bad student, with a reputation for often getting into street fights than survived his passion for boxing, which still practiced to relax.
In the 60 worked on the railroads of Missouri, wanted study business, but ended in Literature at the University of Michigan. In 1976 he attempted a first novel, A piece of my heart, which in his words “did not read anyone.” Five years later he tried his luck with the last chance, as he began to work on what he believed would be his final profession, sports journalism.
The turning point in his life come when he closed the magazine in writing , Inside Sports, and failed in his attempt to hire him Sports Illustrated. His wife, Kristina Hensley, encouraged him to do “something they really enjoy themselves.”
Sports journalist (1986) was an instant hit. The world discovered a key to understanding modern American society, with its contradictions, dreams and miseries narrator.
Raymond Carver once described Ford as the greatest living writer in the United States. He laughs when I remember, “I’ll settle for being a living writer.” Criticism considered an heir to Hemingway for his sober style and extreme parsimony and accuracy of their descriptions.
Your paragraphs are descargas.Hay to read, for example, the beginning of his latest novel, Canada (2013):.. “First I tell you what the holdup that our parents made and then the killings, which came after the heist is the most important part, as we put it to my sister and me on the path that would eventually take our lives. “
Never attracted political correctness, rather the opposite. It is a builder torn scenes, sometimes ironic and impious. In Frankly, Frank and tells the visit Bascombe makes his ex-wife newly diagnosed with Alzheimer: “He has the shiny skin but veined, the bones of the most visible face, cold eyes, clear and strangely bright, and nose in, larger and sharp smooth times, as if he were concentrating. her breasts appear more small. it is actually more beautiful than I remember, as if you sit well having a degenerative and fatal disease “.
as a teacher also from the short story, Ford would pigeonholed in the” dirty realism “of Carver, Fante and Bukowski: minimalism, stripped language, vulgar beings and currents as characters . He does not like that label.
The Princess of Asturias Prize for Letters -created in 1981- awards the winner 50,000 euros and a sculpture by Joan Miró. A Ford boosted the Spanish Antonio Muñoz Molina and Irishman John Banville. I won the last round of jury voting the Polish poet Adam Zagajewski. In the list of finalists included David Mamet, Andrés Trapiello, Antonio Lobo Antunes and Philippe Claudel, among others.
In October will receive recognition from King Philip VI, in Oviedo. It is expected then some indication of his next work. He says he no longer revive Bascombe. But even with other names will continue telling the daily history of the United States. That country recently said: “I love him, but every day it costs more I love him”
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