La vida desenfrenada de Sailor y Lula

by Barry Gifford

Las cuatro novelas cortas que integran La vida desenfrenada de Sailor y Lula son una suerte de continuación de Corazón salvaje, la novela que en 1990, tras ser llevada a la pantalla por David Lynch, permitió al gran público conocer a un autor cuyo nombre hacía ya algún tiempo circulaba de boca en boca entre los seguidores atentos de las vanguardias literarias.

La primera historia, Las vacaciones de Sailor, comienza cuando han pasado más de diez años desde el final de Corazón salvaje. Y si en la película los amantes se reencontraban, quizá para siempre, en la novela de Gifford todo era más duramente parecido a la vida: Sailor iba a la cárcel, y Lula, presa de la confusión, acababa por volver junto a su histérica madre. Pero el reencuentro acabará produciéndose, aunque demorado, y en un entorno y unas circunstancias no menos «salvajes» que las de la primera novela. Lula ha tenido un hijo de Sailor, Pace, y una tarde en que todo es calma y domesticidad (Lula y una amiga han llevado a sus niños a un parque), el solitario y perverso Elmer Désespéré secuestra a Pace. Sailor, que acaba de salir de la cárcel, acudirá junto a Lula para intentar salvar a su hijo...

En Sultanes de África, Sailor, Lula y Pace ya son una familia feliz. Sailor es ahora un hombre honrado, que trabaja en una fábrica de repelente para cocodrilos, cuando aparecen dos antiguos compañeros de cárcel que intentan complicarlo en nuevos y cruentos delitos...

Con El beso de Consuelo entra en escena un nuevo y fundamental personaje: Consuelo Whynot, una adolescente letal que escapa de casa para ir al encuentro de Venus, su amante india. Sailor y Lula tienen sólo una casual y azarosa relación con la jovencita; pero, envejecidos y en el ocaso de sus vidas, constituyen un extraño contrapunto a la sangrienta deriva de Consuelo y Venus por los caminos de América.

Y, por último, Un mal día para el Hombre Leopardo, el relato que quizá sea el broche final de la historia de los amantes de salvajes corazones. Han pasado más de treinta años: Sailor y Lula, al parecer, han conseguido mantener a raya el horror que pertinazmente aparecía en sus vidas. Pace, su hijo, un hombre ya adulto, trabaja para un director de Hollywood apodado «el Hombre Leopardo» por lo sangriento de las películas que realiza. Y la sangre llama a la sangre...

«No resulta sorprendente que a David Lynch le atraigan las obras de Barry Gifford. Los personajes de Gifford habitan un mundo surreal que es divertido y melancólico a la vez. Un negro y cómico viaje por una América de fantasía que suena desesperadamente verdadera: sentimental e ingenua, pero dura como el acero» (Catherine Texier).

«Los diálogos más divertidos de la literatura americana de nuestros días» (Digby Diehl, Playboy).

«Una diversión muy dura. La combinación del lánguido ritmo de los diálogos sureños y la gangsteril picaresca del norte le dan al libro un mordiente irresistible. El humor macabro y un sentido del tiempo perfecto contribuyen al áspero encanto del libro» (Richard Gehr, Washington Post).

«Espléndidos diálogos, tiernos y duros a la vez, un peculiarísimo sentido del humor y, lo mejor de todo, una maravillosa combinación de sensibilidad morbosa y alma romántica» (Bill Ott, Booklist).

Genres: Fiction, Crime

324 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Barry Gifford is an American author, poet, and screenwriter known for his distinctive mix of American landscapes and film noir- and Beat Generation-influenced literary madness.

He is described by Patrick Beach as being "like if John Updike had an evil twin that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and wrote funny..."He is best known for his series of novels about Sailor and Lula, two sex-driven, star-crossed protagonists on the road. The first of the series, Wild at Heart, was adapted by director David Lynch for the 1990 film of the same title. Gifford went on to write the screenplay for Lost Highway with Lynch. Much of Gifford's work is nonfiction.

Reviews

[Nate D · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm actually reading this all in Sailor & Lula: The Complete Novels, but it makes the most sense to parse these out this way -- Wild at Heart and the more-or-less autonomous Perdita Durango as the excellent antecedent novels, the four novellas contained here as a kind of world expansion and water treading around characters and singular Americana that Gifford clearly loves writing and can't let go of, and the much much later The Imagination of the Heart as series swan song. In that way, nothing here is essential in any way. Similarly little of it is a waste either. Gifford is very compact in his storytelling, even as digressions fill out the main content of any 'plot'. Enjoyed, even as it starts to feel comfortably familiar.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barry Gifford's Sailor's Holiday is the third of the author's Sailor & Lula novels, and unfortunately the weakest one I have read to date. In it, Sailor & Lula's son Pace is kidnapped by a murderous freak -- which prompts Sailor & Lula to get together again. Perdita Durango shows up and tries to kill Sailor for having witnessed her committing a crime ten years ago. And Crazy Eyes Santos is arrested in Chicago for ordering the murder of her ex-girlfriend.

[Philip Horspool · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute fabulous set of novels/short stories. Great stories, great writing but above all else possibly the greatest love story in literature. I can't believe I haven't read this before as it is writing up there with Cormac Mccarthy, James Cain and John Steinbeck. Stories that focus on the underbelly of American society, the have not, the desperados, the without. Read it - you won't regret it.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed these stories taking Lula and Sailor through their life together. I first met these characters in David Lynch's film "Wild At Heart". I knew it came from Barry Gifford's novel, but I did not know that Gifford continued to write about these two through a series of novels and stories. The evolution of their love through time, the wild adventures they become involved in, and the cast of characters (Barry Gifford has a prodigious gift for character names, including quite possibly one of the all time best, Coot Veal)make for excellent reading.

[Sam Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much much bigger story than Wild At Heart, and a really good read. But, sadly, no snakeskin jacket.

[Clint Banjo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth delving into just for the Wild character names! So bonkers it could just be true...superbly written with beautiful metaphors and similes like tasty peanuts(!).

[Jon Bloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ongoing misadventures of Sailor and Lula of Wild at Heart fame. Gritty, tragic, and funny, It is jam packed with absurd characters and unexpected turns. I guess you would call this Southern noir, but it doesn't fit neatly into that category like Charles Willeford. Happy I read it.

[Raúl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A la altura del primero de la trilogía:"Corazón Salvaje "
Grandes diálogos. Ligero, divertido y sencillo. Ideal para noches d calor sofocantes.

[Audry Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What David Lynch wants to be.

[Animal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-4 stars. Love the characters. The stories started to dip in quality by the last two. But overall fun.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love to read these books by Barry Gifford. This is the sequel to Wild at Heart, and there's mention of characters from other books written by Gifford. The chapters are short and lively, electric like. There's hints of black magic, southern style gangsters and occult references. It's a really hot love story and a lot of fun to read.

[Derek Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this off the back of Wild At Heart, which it differs from in some important ways - but that's hardly the point. Very entertaining stories of low-life America, which fill in the rest of the life-story of these two memorable characters. Doesn't seem to feature quite as much cigarette-smoking as Wild At Heart, but few films do.

[Father · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ the book. Barry Gifford has a unique talent for writing strange, disturbing stories, even if they don't turn out the way you want them. This isn't Hollywood.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars might seem a little harsh...but if we're going by what it says when you hover over the little review stars, that's what this gets. "It was OK."