Dafnis Balduz recommends a novel that he has read "for absolute pleasure"

BarcelonaThe actor Dafnis Balduz has a close connection with literature and, at times, has merged it with his vocation – for example, last year, when he turned Édouard Louis' most celebrated book into a show–. As he doesn't set up walls between the two, he is very clear about which book he wants to recommend for the summer: the debut novel by director and playwright Francesc Cuéllar, with whom Balduz worked last year alongside Míriam Iscla, in the show Honestedat. "I could tell you many books that have marked me, but one of the most recent I've read and enjoyed is Everyone wants to be Joseph Conrad's son", says Balduz, who until a few days ago was performing the play Newton's First Law at La Villarroel, where he plays an early professor with rather innovative ideas.

Francesc Cuéllar's literary debut, published by La Magrana, takes the form of a monologue and tells the story of Ernest, a young man forced to return to his parents' home when he realizes he cannot afford rent in Barcelona. Through research into family archives, the protagonist will uncover a secret that will directly impact his identity and force him to look at the world in a different way. "I confess I read this book out of friendship, but Francesc writes very well, with very strong words. It has been an absolute pleasure to discover him as a novelist," explains Balduz, who emphasizes that Cuéllar "is a new voice, the book was published very recently and it's worth championing it".

The actor prefers not to reveal more details of the plot "so that each person can find and discover it for themselves", but he does reveal that "it's a monologue in which various voices and characters appear". Ernest's story starts from a diary and is full of literary, philosophical, and social reflections on our present.