Product details
- ISBN 9781068209772
- Weight: 150g
- Dimensions: 128 x 197mm
- Publication Date: 29 Oct 2026
- Publisher: Thousand Horsemen Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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"Where are we going, Yonel?"
"Into the world, Matake, with the thistles at our heels!"
The Thistles of the Baragan is the tragic but intensely vibrant story of Matake and his lust for life, despite all its sharp edges. Leaving his pure heart behind with his mother, this young boy joins his father on a journey in pursuit of a better life for the family. We witness, through Matake's voice and eyes, their trials and tribulations, scenes that hit too close to home-of injustice, ruthlessness, and a peasantry caught in the grasp of a poverty so absolute that even the thought of a single bite from a stale bread drives them to violence. Nevertheless, they chase the thistles with childish glee. In the world Istrati paints for them with all his poeticism and descriptive might, the real sorrow lies in being left behind while life flows.
A true ode to humanity and resilience, The Thistles of the Baragan brings the reader face to face with the spiked beauty that is living-a beauty that never simply arrives to those who just remain, waiting.
Panait Istrati (1884-1935) was born in Braila. He began to work at a very young age, and tried his hand at countless jobs during his youth. During this period he was both reading and writing prolifically. He also learned French quickly at that time. He contracted tuberculosis in 1916 and went to Switzerland to be cured. There he was introduced with the novels of Romain Rolland. After his treatment, he continued wandering around Europe, doing odd jobs, and attempting suicide in 1921. He wrote to Romain Rolland in 1923. It was Rolland who helped him get his first work Kyra Kyralina published in 1924, and even wrote a preface to it. A significant part of Istrati's life was spent travelling. He made long trips to Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, and France. His novels, My Departures [1928] and Mediterranean [1934], are all products of these travels. Istrati's masterpiece The Thistles of the Baragan was originally published in 1928, and has become a symbol of "the absolute goodness of the humanity" in literature since then.
Jacques Le Clercq (1898-1972) was born in Karlovy Vary (formerly Karlsbad). He was a professor of French literature and Romance languages at Queens College and Columbia University, and also a member of the editorial board of Brentano's, and wrote poetry under the pen name of Paul Tanaquil. He translated many French classics into English, including Rabelais, Dumas, Stendhal and Balzac.
