The Boy Who Stole Attila’s Horse

A traditional tale... it also demands to be read at another level. ...This precise, solid and disturbing novel shows wisdom El Pais A brutal, Beckett-like tale. Its end is cathartic, hopeful and violent. It is utopian, and reminds us that language is the only thing that can save us: because language is everything La Vanguardia A vivid novel, full of metaphors and symbols about cooperation, the effort to survive, the world's brutality, and solidarity. All things that remind us of present and universal circumstances Revista de letras It's been a long time since I have read such an impressive book. With its rich and wise prose, combination of mannerism and enlightenment, this broken tale of what makes us tedious and atrocious is also a harsh song of love Tendencias 21 You will emerge from it changed, grown up... an essential novel... a masterpiece La soupe de l'espace It had been a long time since I had come across such a seductive text, writing that is at once lyrical and realistic, perhaps because reality, when seen from the refined and open-hearted angle of the poet, is able to return to us the arterial transparency of its essence, literature's truth, its pure mystery... I began to read and came to a point of not wanting to read more. I did not want to get to the end, did not want to be released from the emotion that overwhelmed with me every sentence. I longed to stay down there, trapped with the two brothers, in the heart of their struggle: Big's to save Small, Small's to fulfil the task that fate had charged him with. -- Zoe Valdes Suffocation and disgust are the dominant impressions, and yet... this book is a charm... Ivan Repila's language is superb, it carries with it all the spells of fairytales with their ogres, wolves and evil stepmothers, but it also manages to evoke the much less fantastical universe of camps, prisons and caves where hostages waste away -- Eric Chevillard Le Monde This is a masterpiece concentrated into 110 pages...This is the sort of book that you don't put down, and leaves you with a knot in your stomach -- Clara Dupont-Monod France Inter Here is a story conceived to leave its mark, to be felt in the pit of one's stomach Librairie L'Ouvre-Boite A fantastic first novel which made me literally plunge back into my dearest memories of childhood reading Librairie La Soupe de l'Espace Beyond the fairytale, which is smoothly and fiendishly spun... [The Boy Who Stole Attila's Horse] is an extraordinary metaphor for what it is to grow up, become a man and thus kill a part of our childhood. It is also a particularly powerful appeal for disobedience Journal L'Alsace It is when it is too simple that it becomes risky. The art of the fable demands naivety, but also cunning. If one is too insipid, it's over; if one digs too deep, one is lost. Yet digging is what Ivan Repila has done in his novel The Boy Who Stole Attila's Horse... a fable that evades all the traps into which the lazy imitators of Saint-Exupery fall, who at least knew himself how to hold a pencil to draw foxes or sheep Mollat.com Ivan Repila is one of Spain's intriguing young literary talents... strange and haunting South China Morning Post [A] collectible pocket novel... Its depiction of madness is as affecting as any I've read in modern fiction... Seek out this treasure; prepare for a knock-out Big Issue An allegory... of economic inequality, and revolutionary rage... a book which packs huge weight for its size -- John Self Asylum A stark allegory about the experience of being arbitrarily imprisoned... Repila gives us ground for optimism in this climate of austerity... the ending of this bitter-sweet fable of our times is both tragic and a call to arms TLS Ambitious and relentless... The Boy Who Stole Attila's Horse is high art, an imaginative allegorical work of breathtaking yet restrained lyric power... magnificently rendered into English... [soars] like an epic poem... This exquisite, terrifying novella is daunting and magnificent, a book that celebrates storytelling as the truest way towards understanding existence Irish Times Has the unfailing grimness of a fairytale... A dark allegory for modern capitalist society... explores the limits of the human mind and our enduring capacity for hope Booktrust The language supports the story's imaginative breadth...Repila's style is witty and refreshing New Statesman Beyond brilliance... may well in time emerge as one of the most widely celebrated books of the decade -- Eileen Battersby Irish Times Utterly fascinating... a novel with a message that cannot be ignored The Bay A deeply unsettling but compelling novella with all the visceral, elemental force of myth and folktale Lady A powerful book, with a fine twist at the end Literary Review A story beguiling in its fairytale-like simplicity and absolute distance from any recognizable reality -- Scott Esposito BOMB Magazine! Hughes's vibrant translation aids Repila's lyrical descriptions of anguish and hope, and the narrative's intelligence and depth make it a gripping read Publishers Weekly A small, hallucinatory jewel of a book David's Book World Human desperation vs the necessity of hope, told via fairytale, this is big picture writing at its most imaginative and unpredictable. Philosophy Football Beautifully-crafted and effective... It is beautifully written. Much of what is presented is also very dark and raw, but it is also a hopeful novel - angrily, almost furiously hopeful, but nevertheless. A very fine small work - and one very much of and for our times. Complete Review