Thanassis Valtinos

Name: Thanassis Valtinos
Brand: Laertes, a Press for Literary Translation, Inc
Price: 16.49 GBP
Availability: InStock

Early Works

Written by Thanassis Valtinos

£16.49 £21.99

In stock

From a master of modernist literature, Thanassis Valtinos, this volume collects two ground-breaking novellas that altered the trajectory of Greek fiction, together with two autobiographical short stories. Here Valtinos maps the fates of his native Peloponnesian villagers through odysseys of departure and historical upheaval. Set in the early twentieth century, "The Book of Andreas Kordopatis" records the repeated attempts of the narrator to emigrate to America. Wrought from a first-hand account, it offers a revelatory view of the struggles of the undocumented in that era. "The Descent of the Nine" is a civil war drama that details the attrition of nine Communist rebels trapped in government-controlled territory. In Addiction to Nicotine the onset of adolescence interfuses with the last stages of the leftist grip on the countryside. Aistratigos offers the keenly sketched portrait of a veteran, whose privation, in war and affection, has led to an almost mystical reclusiveness.

Thanassis Valtinos was born in 1932 in Kastri, Kynourias in the Peloponnese. He has written novels, novellas, short stories, and film scripts and translated ancient Greek tragedies for the theater. His work has been translated into many languages and has earned him numerous awards, including Best Film Script (Cannes Festival 1984), the Greek State Prize for Best Novel (1990), the International Cavafy Prize (2002), the Petros Haris Prize, conferred by the Academy of Athens for Lifetime Achievement (2002), the Gold Cross of Honour of the President of the Greek Democracy (2003), and the Greek State Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2012). In 2008 he was elected a member of the Greek Academy and served as its president in 2016. He is currently president of the board of directors of the Petros Haris Foundation, a position he has held since 2013.