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Out in the Open

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Out in the Open

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Overview

After suffering violence and betrayal at home, a young boy flees into an uncompromising landscape ravaged by drought. Without food or water, exposed to the heat of the sun and the violence of his pursuers, the boy sets out across the Spanish plains.

An encounter with an elderly goatherd offers hope of survival. The old man can help him stay ahead of the dangers that lie outside—but he can’t fix the internal drama that plays out in the boy’s mind. Nightmares are a constant reminder of a traumatic past and an unstable present.

Based on the award-winning novel by Jesús Carrasco, Javi Rey’s Out in the Open is a cinematic graphic novel about escaping abuse and finding humanity in a world torn apart by the violence of men.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781910593479
Publisher:	SelfMadeHero
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Javi Rey is a Belgian comics artist based in Barcelona. His books include Adelante (with Frank Giroud) and Un maillot pour l'Algérie.

Jesús Carrasco is a Spanish novelist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is the winner of numerous awards, including the European Union Prize for Literature 2016 and an English PEN award.

Interviews

Javi Rey lives in Barcelona.
Jesús Carrasco lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

…bleak and beautiful…For long stretches of unbearable tension nothing happens, and then, when the pursuers catch up with the [boy and the goatherd], the cruelty is searing. What saves the reader is Carrasco's incredibly clean, crisp language (as translated by Margaret Jull Costa), and his precise, deliberate exclusions…Faced with horrible suffering, the novel asks us, will we dispense grace or cruelty? According to Carrasco, the answer is both. And in that answer lies the smallest glimmer of hope.

The New York Times Book Review - Natalie Serber

05/15/2017
Carrasco’s debut novel offers a vague, terrifying, and violent tale told in sparse, taut prose reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy. An unnamed boy is on the run from his harsh father and a sadistic bailiff. He flees into a vast, drought-riddled expanse in his unnamed country with a vague plan to simply get as far from home as possible. After he bumps into an old man with a small herd of goats and an overly friendly dog, the two become travelling companions, heading north to the mountains, where water is supposedly more prevalent. They endure sunstroke, dehydration, and the shocking cruelty of local authorities while slowly growing fond of each other despite their stoic reservations. Details are hazy, and although there are hints of a collapsed civilization barely hanging on after catastrophic climate change, the lack of specificity leaves little to focus on but brutality and survival. The boy’s traumatic history appears as rapid, disconnected flashes, blunting the emotional impact. The violence will make some readers balk, but passages of lovely writing coupled with the jaw-clenching tension and moments of hope make this a welcome introduction a new voice. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"[B]leak and beautiful... I found myself awake in the early morning hours reading about the trials of the characters in their merciless world... [Carrasco's] incredibly clean, crisp language (as translated by Margaret Jull Costa), and his precise, deliberate exclusions.” —New York Times Book Review

"This novel’s deep theme is a peculiar kind of heroism—that of claiming, in a world stripped to necessity, a human remainder of grace: the choice to bear witness to ideals that are more precious than survival and that exist only in our affirmation of them. Out in the Open is a harrowing, humane, and very beautiful book." —Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You

"A timely and certainly intense meditation on the role trust plays in cultural progress and preservation... a gripping read." —The Millions

"Contemporary novels rarely engage so plainly with faith and physical suffering. Its characters are observant because to be unobservant, even for a moment, would be fatal.... [B]eautifully written, the ending will break your heart; but that’s not the point. This is a novel in which heartbreak doesn’t matter. Only survival does." —Los Angeles Review of Books

"Beyond its timely themes of environmental catastrophe and forced migration, the book is written in spare, precise prose that lends it an epic feel. It’s no wonder, then, that Carrasco has already earned comparisons to Cormac McCarthy." —Chicago Review of Books

"Carrasco’s story is conveyed with an odd beauty and majesty." —The News & Observer

"Out In The Open is exceptionally lean and spry; it moves at a rapid pace… Carrasco offers a direct, straightforward, and sparse world, story, and character, but makes it all feel energetic, dynamic, and mysterious rather than hollow, frivolous, or inconsequential.” —A.V. Club

"A dynamite debut by a writer whose dark and symbolic view of an ominous society seems frighteningly realistic." —Library Journal (STARRED)

"Spare in dialogue but lush in cinematic description, Carrasco's novel (as translated by Costa) draws on old archetypes of journey and mentorship, depicting beauty in the gaunt, nameless landscape as well as the relationship between the man and the boy.... Harshly and elegantly told; a quest that feels both old and new." —Kirkus (STARRED)

"Carrasco has masterfully created a high stakes world, a dystopian tale of life and death, right and wrong, terror and salvation." —Bookbub

"An astounding and suspenseful read that feels both like ancient parable and ominous warning. Carrasco is a master stylist, and the ‘boy’ of this novel is the perfect hero. Your heart beats next to his on page after remarkable page." —Ariel Djanikian, author of The Office of Mercy

"[A] terrifying, and violent tale told in sparse, taut prose reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy... [P]assages of lovely writing coupled with the jaw-clenching tension and moments of hope make this a welcome introduction a new voice." —Publishers Weekly

"Undeniably impressive and compelling." —The Scotsman

"[A] tale told with savage precision, and filled with memorable passages." —The Times Literary Supplement

"The writing is austere with flourishes of great beauty from an exceptional translator." —The Independent (UK)

From the Publisher

★ 06/01/2017
A boy, escaping an abusive environment, encounters and befriends an elderly goatherd; together, traveling by night and resting under cover by day, they bond as they struggle to satisfy their basic survival needs—eating, drinking, voiding, sleeping—with the four elements playing pivotal roles, often to their advantage but sometimes not. While scouting for water by himself, the boy is kidnapped by a crippled bounty hunter, from whom he escapes, only to wind up in the clutches of his evil pursuers, the bailiff and his deputy. He and the goatherd confront the captors in a stunning and violent climax that brings the story full circle, with the boy as forsaken as when the tale began. The bare-bones narration and skeletal dialog reflect the stark, drought-ravaged terrain, a withered, austere wasteland set in a chaotic, desolate state. The characters' general anonymity gives an almost parable-like feel to a story of salvation and fragile hope as a downpour closes the novel. VERDICT A dynamite debut by a writer whose dark and symbolic view of an ominous society seems frighteningly realistic. [See Prepub Alert, 2/6/17.]—Lawrence Olszewski, North Central State Coll., Mansfield, OH

Library Journal