''Twist'' is a 2011

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

novel, with elements of political thriller, written by

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

writer Harkaitz Cano. The book won the 2012 Basque Literature Prize. The original Basque version was published by the Editorial Susa in 2011, Gerardo Markuleta translated the novel to Spanish and it was published by

Seix Barral Planeta Corporación, S.R.L., doing business as Grupo Planeta (), is a Spanish mass media conglomerate operating in Spain, Portugal, France and Latin America. It is headquartered in Madrid. Editorial Planeta, founded in 1949, was the seed of Gru ...

in 2013. The English translation by Amaia Gabantxo was published in 2018 by

Archipelago Books Archipelago Books is an American not-for-profit publisher dedicated to promoting "cross-cultural exchange through international literature in translation." Located in Brooklyn, New York, it publishes small to mid-size runs of international fictio ...

. Set in the 1980s, the protagonist, Diego Lazkano, who works as an interpreter, has two best friends, Zeberio and Soto who are arrested, tortured and ultimately murdered by a Spanish Civil Guard. The murder of his friends changes everything in Lazkano's life. The novel deals with the avenging of Lazkano's friends, and his relationship with a girl named Gloria.

Narrative strategy

The author relates the events in his novel with art, he mentions his favorite painters and talks about the works that have marked more, it distances the reader from the main plot, the Soto and Zeberio starring. The author loves art and this is reflected in his novel, with mentions whining to the art world in general. Use art as if it were a code secret, using it, is the remains of the two killed as one more piece of artistic collection. Cano creates a

narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

very fast by modern technique, using the premise of some events that occurred in the 80s, to enter all these years now. In this way he achieved a very fast narration using a narrative technique that forces the reader to move very quickly between the plot, telling only the events of more notoriety.

History

This narrative is based around real events, specifically the murder of young Basques' Lasa and Zabala. These two murders occurred during La Guerra Sucia ("the Dirty War") where the

Spanish government The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the o ...

, from 1983 to 1987, established illegal death squads to fight Basque nationalist and separatist organizations. Lasa and Zabala were arrested in the town of Baiona, a municipality in France, and then taken to the city of San Sebastian in Spain, where they were tortured. Lasa and Zabala were eventually taken to Alicante, Spain, where they were shot dead and buried. Three years after their murders, a farmer in Alicante called a radio station informing the station that he had found bones. This call led to the unearthing of Lasa and Zabala's story.

Characters

Diego Lazkano

Diego Lazkano is a translator and a part of the band that fights for the liberation of the Basque Country. In the charter named "Redy Made", he speaks about his quiet life, although he remembers over and over again the events that occurred in the 1980s. In his childhood, he joins a theatre group, because of his love for a girl named Gloria, where he met his two best friends, Soto and Zeberio. Later, Diego, both the protagonist and narrator, condemns his two best friends while they're being tortured by the Civil Guard. His separation from his best friends and their joint murder takes a huge leap in his life. The suspicions are raised and revenge is considered necessary, which changed Diego's life forever from then onwards.

Gloria

To start speaking with the description of Gloria, one has to say that the description is given from the point of view of Diego Lazkano. Diego Lazkano illustrates in the book that she has short hair which with time is becoming more and more grey and with a black complexion. She is not married and she has no children. She lives in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, in a little loft located in the Monjuic district. She has no relation with his family for two reasons: because she liked the freedom of living alone and because relations with his father were very bad, as he is a

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

. In the book, she commonly argued with Lazkano about politics, arts and other issues. She is an artist, but she doesn't sell many books. Seeing that, she begin to take drugs.

Murders

* Xabi Soto: He works in the building construction of Gloria as a constructor. Is a fiend of Zeberio and Lazkano. He is murdered after being tortured and buried near the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

for the reason of being part of E.T.A. * Zeberio: He was killed together with Soto and in the same situation.Like his friends Lazkano and Soto, he worked in the work of Gloria.

Civil Guards

* Hernandez and Vargas: The reply Rodrigo's orders, they don't think about themselves and they are not happy with the things that they done. * Rodrigo Mesa lieutenant colonel: He believes in his work more than anything else. straight, which he likes to fulfil their orders without questioning anything at all.

Others

* Furmica is the fascist and aristocratic father of Gloria. He is a lieutenant, and his appearance is more than 75 years. * Gabriel Lazkano is the father of Diego. Lives in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. When he was ill, he disappeared from the life of his son. His son believes he is dead. * Meliton Manzanas: The first police who deliberately killed

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

. Torturer. He charged favors from mothers and sisters of the detainees as it suited him. He was accused of collaborating with the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

in the extermination of the Jews in exchange of people in which the Spanish government was interested. * Santiago Cervera: Medical and friend of the father of Diego Lazkano. There is talk in the book that says that he was involved in dirty things. Disappearance of children, use of violence.

References

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