num_pages: 210
description: Alfanhui's master is a taxidermist who does bizarre things with trees by making them sprout feathers. When the locals burn down the taxidermist's house, young Alfanhui sets off to travel around Castille seeking knowledge rather than his fortune.This is the first English translation of The Adventures of the Ingenious Alfanhui, a picaresque novel in which the hero, a magical little boy, goes in search not of his fortune but of knowledge, growing both wiser and possibly sadder in the process. 'In his dedication, Ferlosio describes this exquisite fantasy novel, first published in 1952 and now beautifully translated into English as a 'story full of true lies.' Much honored in his native Spain, Ferlosio is a fabulist comparable to Jorge Borges and Italo Calvino, as well as Joan Miro and Salvador Dali. Cervantes comes to mind. Ferlosio's prose is effortlessly evocative. A chair puts down roots and sprouts 'a few green branches and some cherries, ' while a paint-absorbing tree becomes a 'marvelous botanical harlequin.' Later, Alfanhui sets off on a tour of Castile, meeting his aged grandmother 'who incubated chicks in her lap and had a vine trellis of muscatel grapes and who never died.' This is a haunting adult reverie on life and beauty and as such will appeal to discriminating readers.'
language: English
title: Adventures of the Ingenious Alfanhui
titlecomplete: Adventures of the Ingenious Alfanhui
genres: Spain, Fiction, Magical Realism, Classics, Spanish Literature, Young Adult, Adult, Fantasy, Literature, Novels
ratings_count: 656
awards: awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Βραβείο Λογοτεχνικής Μετάφρασης ΕΚΕΜΕΛ
category: Ισπανόφωνη Λογοτεχνία
publisher: Dedalus Limited