The Others

“The streets offered Wielemann nothing but silence and stares. Now there were no more foreigners left, he felt more conspicuous than ever when he crossed paths with a local. His gut feeling was that he had no business being there and that his presence made no sense whatsoever, but that sensation was superseded by a much more powerful one, nurtured for years from a tender age: orders were to be taken seriously. Though merely verbal, he had received a clear and precise command. Special mission: don’t budge from this town.”

In 1837, at the height of the Carlist wars, a young Prussian man named Rudolf von Wielemann heads South to fight for the ‘Order’. Finding himself left behind in the ruins of an abandoned city destroyed by war, he tentatively navigates his new surroundings in which his sense of self begins to distort and transform. A novel on place and (un)belonging, The Others masterfully intertwines humour and tragedy to explore Wielemann’s encounters with eccentric and enigmatic characters, and his unfamiliar surroundings. Garrigasait’s precise and intricately constructed prose, interspersed by beautifully lyrical passages on music and nature, invites readers to delve into reflections on family, politics, and place.

Andrew Mcdougall, Bookblast. Full review here

Once more, the triumph of Garrigasait’s novel is in making nineteenth century material feel so relevant. Many of the debates of the day, with words changed here and there, are not so different from the questions society still faces.

John-Paul Davies, Buzz Magazine

Garrigasait is a strong and supple writer to deal with such merges of time and place, research and reimagining, but each shift strengthens the story. The consistency of tone is confusing yet coherent; Tiago Miller’s translation is, I can only imagine, expert. The soldiers and locals speak in a common language that comes straight from contemporary London but is equally modern and brilliantly reinforces the constant off-setting. Weilemann and Foraster’s dreamlike musical reveries are stunningly rendered and I can’t think of any writing that has so successfully captured the minutia and wholeness of music as this book does.

In Under 300

I was expecting a novel full of unrivalled bravery and stoicism, but instead, what The Others presented was a funny, witty, and intelligent portrayal of life in this environment. The character interactions explore clashing ideologies, shifting politics, and muddled outlooks that seemingly all blend as one. What the community ultimately desire is unclear, for both the reader and Wielemann.

Paul Cheney, Half Man Half Book

I liked this book overall, the prose is richly detailed and full of vivid descriptions. It is full of subtle nuanced humour, especially between von Wielemann and the men he is in charge of.

Eleanor Updegraff, The Monthly Booking

Tiago Miller’s text is graceful in tone and structure, differentiating slightly in style between the present-day and historical sections, and giving us a sharp narrative voice that wavers between humour, melancholia and, just occasionally, a hint of bitterness. Though this line refers to one of the characters in the novel, Miller as well as Garrigasait has proved himself more than capable of ‘making his words fall in with the style of a competent commander’. The result is a coolly immersive and thoughtful novel that asks some of life’s big questions, but is of itself an absolute pleasure to read.

—from The Modern Novel

This really is an excellent book as Garrigasait tells a very clever story, uses ribald humour to portray the military and the Catalans, mocks the Prussians and raises some serious issues, while delving into the history of his own region. Translator Tiago Miller clearly had some fun, trying to convey the Leida dialect of Catalan into colloquial English, as he tells us in the afterword.

Sam Abrams, El Mundo

The Others forces us to leave our comfort zone, and to steer away from indifference, banality, and conformity. A magnificent book!

Toni Sala, Ara

This fantastic book provides us with a reflection of our modern-day selves. The echoes with the present are so intense that it leaves you breathless after every phrase. The Others has the courage to force us to ask ourselves: ‘What skeletons lurk in our cupboards?’

Jordi Puntí, El Periódico

This majestic novel contains moments or tenderness, humour and violence. Garrigasait’s writing is both precise and totally brilliant, and allows us to take a closer look at a country and mentality that is still with us almost two centuries later.