Gátak by Irene Solà

Gátak (“The Dams”) is the Hungarian title of the novel Els dics by Catalan writer Irene Solà. Originally published in 2018, her reflection on storytelling was awarded the Documenta prize.

This is Ada. This is the weasel. This is Loki, and this is the dark soil like an open mouth. This is Vicenç from Can Ballador asking Ada if she hasn’t smashed her car yet. This is Jessica S. in her corner in rural England and this is old Ballador inside a tractor. This is Tripi, and these are the silures swimming in the darkness of the Sau reservoir, and this is Samantha, the cow, and the wild boars in hiding. These are the dams. And these are the words, and the stories, and the tales, and the things you say, you explain, you tell or think, or hear or know or feel or steal, like a river of cold, wet and rapid water.