Nocilla Dream by Agustín Fernández Mallo

The first novel in the Nocilla trilogy, Nocilla Dream features an inventive though irregular series of narrative snapshots, whose singular plots intersect at liminal locations: from a poplar tree in the Nevada desert and the Singapore International Airport to an isolated petrol station in southern Spain. Through a beautifully crafted structure in which the various narrative strands – linked through objects or ideas – resemble branches from the same trunk, Fernández Mallo unravels interconnected voices of marginalisation uttered from around the globe.

Despite the sometimes random quotes that the author persists in compiling and the lack of depth in a number of sporadic characters, these miscellaneous short stories remain compelling, evoking a deep sense of beauty amid the alienation of contemporary culture, and suggesting that perhaps we are bound to find new ways to communicate in the apparent barrenness of modern life. However, the novel’s fragmentation sometimes entails loss of meaning. Its similarly postmodern blend of art and science as well as high and low culture, innovative as it may be in Spanish letters – indeed, the author inspired a literary movement referred to as ‘Nocilla Generation’ – is nothing new under the Anglophone sun. Notwithstanding, the novel is far from a failure, remaining entertaining throughout and generating food for thought. Whether praised or loathed, it will certainly leave no reader indifferent. [Beatriz Lopez]