José Manuel Sanz Rodríguez He never thought he would eventually write a novel: “The book began inadvertently and ended upor, ”he says proudly. And yet this Llanisco born in Venezuela And settled in the city since the age of six, just published his first fictional work: “Birds in the head“, and 336 pages of the novel that was introduced yesterday in Llanes: ‘I do not consider myself a writer because I do not consider myself“He confesses.
Fan trips, nature And in particular on BirdsSanz, teacher training and warehouse owner, in the capital of Llaniesca, During the pandemic he started writing. His initial intention was modest: to create a short text in which a teenager described what he saw in his departures on the field. But history grew alone: ’I asked me a context and then the story ate the original idea and left a novel by more than 300 pages that didn’t expect me“He explains.
The result is a Fiction work with historical dyeshe plays ManolinThe 13 -year -which in 1937, in the middle of the Civil War, must leave their comfortable life to protect his father and himself: “He has to hurt, grow and take responsibility some time ago,” he says. The story takes over for several years in the Llanes Councilin full competition.
Passion for birds
The title of the book, ”Birds in the head“On the one hand, it refers to a popular expression that describes those who live scattered, dreaming, reality, as a young protagonist before war. On the other hand, he literally mentions his passion Birds And to a detailed inventory that creates them.
The book offers through Manolín’s eyes Intimate and calmly look at war, friendship and forced transit to adulthood: “He’s got some of me because it was easy for me to describe my experience of his eyes when I started to see BirdsEven if you add things that have nothing to do with you. “
The cover of the book “Birds in his head”. / J. Fifteen
The scenes are connected between football matches in Sablín, escape the mountain, records and moments of tension. But There is also space for pure emotions of bird lover: “It’s an unique moment when you see a new kind that doesn’t knows. It’s like something connects with yourself: picture, music, passion. “
The young protagonist observes and writes about 50 common species: blackberries, peirrojos, sparrows, swallows … Some easily recognizable, others who “did not notice those who do not have this interest”. And it is Sanz always wanted to write about birds and that was the germ of the novel: “I didn’t want to make a guide. I had the idea of restoring the common names of the area that was lost.” The novel is a walk through Llanes de yesterdayWith reference to places like El Sablo, El Muelle, Plaza Santa Ana or Paseo de San Pedro.
The will of neutrality around the war
Historical context is always present but treats the will of neutrality: “I tried that what seemed to have been well documented, but without going to the sides as some Conflicts Socily counts, such as the Battle of El Mazuc, without technical details. It’s not my business and I gave me vertigo to get there, ”he says.
He Documentation processN was the most demanding: “It was very complicated because one thinks he knows, but when he starts writing, he realizes that it is not. I had to read a lot, buy books and contrast data. I wanted to be the strictest as possible and there were enough things I had no certainty. “
After writing 90 percent of the book for two months insulationIt was parked for about four years: “The imprisonment ended and I left it. But by the pressure of my wife, my friends and who read it, I dared to finish it“He remembers. What started as a small and personal project has ended “Unexpected” debut.
With ”Birds in the head“, José Manuel Sanz pays a double honor: historical memory of Llanes and the daily and discreet presence of birds which are also part of the soul of the landscape and those who inhabit it.
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