"We came to cry and we have cried": we're going to the 'Hamnet' preview

BarcelonaI cried so much reading Hamnet Maggie O'Farrell's film, I still remember that abyss: a hand reaching down my throat and placing a black hole in the pit of my stomach that throbbed as if it were about to burst. So before seeing director Chloé Zhao's recently released film adaptation eight Oscar nominationsThe expectation of a downpour was a ten out of ten on the stairs of my Plómetro (a reference to a popular Spanish TV show). And even more so, fueled by the marketing hype and my Instagram algorithm: lately I've been watching Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal more than my parents. In the queue at the Verdi Park cinemas, at the preview organized by the publishers L'Altra and Libros del Asteroide for industry guests and the press, I confirm that we're all armed with a pack of tissues because everyone here has read the book. Will this be a good thing or a bad thing? We'll find out when we leave.

The cinema lights come on unexpectedly just as the screen fades to black and our cheeks are soaked. We pull out our tissues and several noses smack. "Those of us who had read the book came to cry, and we have cried," confirms bookseller Ángel Tijerín of On the Road, who anticipates a widespread, albeit clichéd, feeling. "The film is very good, but the book... has so much more." He came wearing a Shakespearean ruffled collar to get into character. "Booksellers should take important events seriously, as if it were a music or film gala, with glamour—it's a preview!" he argues.

Olivia Pascual, from La Araña in Cerdanyola del Vallès, is "devastated." The book wasn't fresh in her mind anymore, because it was published in 2021And she slapped him again: "I was blown away, I'm still recovering. It really conveys the sensations, you feel like you can smell the scents, and I think talking about death and grief is very necessary; that we go through it as best we can rather than as we want because we are conditioned by our surroundings, by gender. She will enthusiastically recommend the book again. Carles Peña, from La Isla de Mollet del Vallès, too: "I tried to distance myself from the book and I think it's very good. Her performance is brilliant. The film will be very popular and I think it will sell the book even more."

In fact, publishers are already noticing the boost in sales, which have been steady in recent years: O'Farrell is a safe bet. "There are a lot of people who have read Hamnet But there's still a long way to go, and a good film like this one accompanies and makes you want to read," says editor Eugenia Broggi (La Otra). "If people love the film and it's a box office hit, the book will do well," predicts editor Luis Solano (Libros del Asteroide). "Shakespeare is much more present than in the novel. The film is indeed what the subtitle says: the death of Hamnet and the birth of..." Hamlet"He observes, because there's a scene filmed at the Globe Theatre where excerpts from the classic play are recited. The two editors were moved, but with restraint: "I cried more with the book than with the film," they agree (we agree). "It's such a powerful and impactful book that expectations are very high. If you go to the cinema blindly, the hook catches you off guard." HamnetAnd how wonderful that the editor tells me we'll have a new O'Farrell in February 2027: "And he's excellent. He won't disappoint."

P.S. I get home. Before going to bed, I go in to give the children a goodnight kiss; they've been asleep for a while. In that gesture, the film returns to me. I think about the breath that lies between being and non-being. And I look at them. I'll never let you cross to the other side.