Description
Who Will Close Your Eyes
Book Summary
A literary journey through the most remote towns and villages of Spain to portray the stories and silences of their last inhabitants. Journalist Virginia Mendoza, moved by the same impulse that led Juan Rulfo to write Pedro Páramo, uses words to recover what is lost when a place becomes empty. With empathy and complicity, this narrative essay documents the lives of those still resisting in the "emptied Spain," those who will be the last to close their eyes upon their land.
What is it about?
Starting from a personal experience, the author travels through abandoned villages or those on the verge of disappearing to collect the voices of their final residents. Through interviews, direct observation, and prose that blends reportage with intimate reflection, the book explores the relationship between human beings and the territory they inhabit. It is not just a document about rural depopulation, but a tribute to collective memory and the dignity of those who choose to stay. Each chapter reveals a story of resistance, solitude, and rootedness, showing how the abandonment of a town is also the end of a world of traditions, landscapes, and ways of life.
Main themes
- Rural depopulation and the abandonment of towns in contemporary Spain
- Collective memory and oral transmission of local stories
- Emotional relationship between human beings and their native land
- Resistance and dignity of the last inhabitants of depopulated areas
- Silence as a witness to the passage of time and loss
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers interested in rural Spain, anthropology, narrative journalism, and non-fiction literary essays. It is also for those seeking real stories about depopulation and the link between identity and territory. Especially recommended for those who appreciate travel literature with a social and human perspective.
What this book offers
- A direct and emotional testimony of the reality of the "emptied Spain," through authentic voices
- A deep reflection on the meaning of belonging to a place and the loss involved in its abandonment
- A literary gaze that connects personal experience with a highly topical social phenomenon
- A valuable piece of journalistic documentation that preserves stories that would otherwise fall into oblivion
Technical specifications
- Author: Mendoza Benavente, Virginia
- Publisher: LIBROS DEL KO, SLL
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: True stories, literary essays, reports and collections of journalistic articles, modern and contemporary fiction, historical fiction, Spanish Civil War, anthropology
- Collection: NARRATIVE
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: April 2017
- Number of pages: 182
- Weight: 274 g
Editorial review
Who Will Close Your Eyes is a work that successfully combines journalistic reporting, travel chronicles, and literary reflection. Its main value lies in the authenticity of the voices it gathers and the sensitivity with which the author addresses a topic as urgent as rural depopulation. Although brief in length, the book manages to convey great emotional density and raises necessary questions about memory, rootedness, and the future of forgotten territories. A highly recommended read for those seeking to understand the fading Spain from a human and intimate perspective.