"We have lived a few years, we have had a lot of fun, we have also suffered, but it is over". This is how forceful the writer Joaquim Carbó explains, about to turn ninety –in August–, in the Ona bookstore while he talks about his new book, Sense futur. Between books and routines (Destiny).
The common thread of this book, written between March 2020 and August 2021, is the day to day that begins with the pandemic - it is dedicated "to the survivors of the carrion virus" -, and from here it jumps back and forth, either talking about his grandparents and his parents like his work at La Caixa or his beginnings as a writer.
Carbó, aware of his age, announces that he has given up the novel, but that he still collaborates with the Cavall Fort i Tatano magazines, while he plans to publish two young adult novels that continue the Temps obert series by Manuel de Pedrolo, which will be published by the Comanegra publishing house. And if Carbó in these memoirs talks about Pedrolo, friend and writer, he also talks about many of his literary companions and readings and authors, and the entire literary system, as well as the contempt in the media for children's and young people's literature, but also cinema and theater.
Throughout the pages of the book he goes from one thing to another, like a walk, and from time to time La Vanguardia –and other newspapers, too– is repeatedly quoted as a result of the articles he reads. Thus, editors of the house such as Llàtzer Moix, Magí Camps, Josep Playà, Julià Guillamon or the beloved Rosa M. Piñol become links in her memory.
The author of already mythical youth novels such as La casa sota la sorra or La colla dels deu, but also for adults such as Va com va, co-founder of Cavall Fort, assures that "it is a pleasure to have reached the age of ninety, but from here, what future can I have? The future is in his books.
Catalan version, here
