Wasteband
Caminho Publishing house, 2014
In eight and a half minutes Sergei Krikalev crosses the atmospheric layer and loses Gravity, Tania washes the pause from her face; the Moon falls down on a beach full of frogs, the Soviet Union collapses and José, lying in a hospital bed, realizes that he does not miss the legs he has lost but [does miss] her fingerprints; he asks for an artificial heart and presses restart. Unfortunately it is scientifically proven that one cannot remember more than seven things at the same time. Tania forgets José. Sergei Krikalev wants to cry but knows it isn’t worth it: tears do not fall in Space
and only cause trouble.
We are a succession of moments lived to the fullest while reduced to a minimum. We are like photographs.
Press
“(Wasteband) is so distant from a conventional novel as the Earth is from the Moon.”
in Visão magazine, 02 2014
“All good novels are experimental. (…) But some are more experimental than others. (…) With literary craftsmanship and inventive formal play sets, Patrícia Portela does not describe this project (Wasteband) which never really happened. Instead, she asks the reader to be part of the experience itself, turning literature into a game.”
Luís Ricardo Duarte in Time Out Lisbon, 02 2014
“Patrícia Portela takes us (in Wasteband) through a time labyrinth, a fantastic adventure where we are confronted with the thin line between reality and fiction. (…) A translation on paper of a dream and a limitless imagination.”
FS in Jornal de Negócios, 02 2014
” (in Wasteband) Everything is strange, but also familiar, and it is due to this impression that it becomes fascinating. (…)”
Carla Ribeiro in asleiturasdocorvo.blogspot.pt
