Table Of ContentJavierMariasjkt final:Layout 1 31/08/2011 10:22 Page 1
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J A V I E R
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o
m
M A R Í A S
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is widely regarded as the most important and DaviD K.
gifted novelist writing in spain today, and is Herzbergeris
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known world-wide through the translation of professor and o
chair of the
his fiction into thirty-seven languages. But to
department of J
a large extent, he is perceived as an outlier
hispanic studies
A
among contemporary spanish novelists:
at the University
V
though he professes admiration for miguel de of california,
I
cervantes, as well as a small cohort of spanish riverside.
E
authors from the twentieth century, he has
R
rejected any link between his writing and
novelistic tradition in spain. M
this book provides the most comprehensive A
study to date of the full range of marías R
writing, including discussion and analysis of
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his literary and intellectual formation, his A
development as a novelist and short story S
writer, and his unique perspective offered in
nearly twenty-five years of newspaper columns
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on topics ranging from religion to football. A
V
above all, however, marías is examined here
I
D
as a writer of fictions. throughout this study
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the author examines marías’s constant
. a companion to
awareness of how language can be used to H
E
construct stories as the foundation for
R
engaging the world as well as for imagining Z
B J A VI E R M A R Í A S
it. the nature of marías’s storytelling, and the E
R
way in which he imagines, form the principal
G
focus of this Companion. E
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DAVID K. HERZBERGER
an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF and
668 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester NY 14620, USA
Jacket design: simon LoxLey
www.boydellandbrewer.com Jacket photograph: mick WaLsh
Colección Támesis
SERIE A: MONOGRAFÍAS, 297
A COMPANION TO JAVIER MARÍAS
Tamesis
Founding Editors
†J. E. Varey
†Alan Deyermond
General Editor
Stephen M. Hart
Series Editor of Fuentes para la historia del teatro en España
Charles Davis
Advisory Board
Rolena Adorno
John Beverley
Efraín Kristal
Jo Labanyi
Alison Sinclair
Isabel Torres
Julian Weiss
DAVID K. HERZBERGER
A COMPANION TO JAVIER MARÍAS
TAMESIS
© David K. Herzberger 2011
All Rights Reserved.Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of David K. Herzberger to be identified as
the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2011 by Tamesis, Woodbridge
ISBN 978 1 85566 230 8
Tamesis is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or
accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to
in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is,
or will remain, accurate or appropriate
Papers used by Boydell & Brewer Ltd are natural, recyclable products
made from wood grown in sustainable forests
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
Contents
Foreword vii
Introduction 1
Chapter I: Writing in the Newspapers: Everything under the Sun 17
Chapter II: Two Early Novels:Los dominios del loboand 46
Travesía del horizonte
Chapter III: Two Transitional Novels:El sigloand 71
El hombre sentimental
Chapter IV: On Oxford, Redonda, and the Practice of Reading: 103
Todas las almasandNegra espalda del timepo
Chapter V: Two Shakespearean Novels 139
Chapter VI: Tu rostro mañana 179
Chapter VII: Other Writings 212
SuggestedFurtherReading 229
Bibliography 233
Index 241
Foreword
During the course of preparing this book, in addition to the customary
reading of professional criticism on the work of Javier Marías, I sought also
to stay abreast of the extensive flow of information about him on various
blogsandinternetsites.InthiswayIwasabletocompileanarrayofinforma-
tion from many sources offered from diverse points of view. As might be
expected,someofwhatIfoundwasquiteuseful,providingadetailhereoran
insight there into Marías’s life and works. Marías is a popular figure among
casual readers as well as academic scholars, and the content of the various
websites generally reflected the diversity of readers and opinions on what is
important or not, what is good or bad, about Marías’s work.
Beforesittingdowntowritethisbriefforeword,Ienteredthename“Javier
Marías” one final time into the internet search engine Bing, and clicked on
the submit button. As it turns out, my search produced a list of 242,000
entries (an increase of about one hundred over the week before)—not a
surprisingnumbergiventhevolumeofMarías’swritingandthefactthathis
works have been translated into thirty-six languages. However, I feel
compelledheretoofferaqualificationconcerningmyinternetexploration:I
have not read all of the entries listed under Marías’s name, and further, it is
highlyunlikelythatIwillevermanagetodoso.Atthesametime,Iamquite
confidentthat,ifIhavemissedsomethingcritical,otherswillhastentofillin
any significant lacunae.
Although my perusal of internet sites may have fallen somewhat short of
completeness, my aim in this book is to provide the most comprehensive
reading of Marías’s work to date. In fact, as I finish this study, it is the only
book to cover all of his major works. I begin with a general introduction to
Marías,includingabriefoverviewofhislifeandhisthoughtsonavarietyof
topics,aswellashowhiswritingmightfruitfullybeviewedinthecontextof
Francoist (1939–1975) and post-Francoist Spain. I touch only briefly in the
introduction on a number of thematic and aesthetic elements that inform his
writing in general—these are then filled in with greater depth in subsequent
chapters. In the past decade and a half Marías has written hundreds of
columnsforthenationalpressinSpain;chapterIexploresthewiderangeof
VIII FOREWORD
interests and opinions expressed in these writings, including his thoughts on
literature in general and fiction in particular.
Themajorpartofmystudy,chaptersIItoV,isdevotedtoMarías’snovels,
whichI(andnearlyallcritics)considertheimaginativecoreofhiswork.Itis
clearlythepartthathasresonatedmostfullywiththepublicandalsoreceived
the most intense scrutiny from critics. For the most part, I have studied his
novels in chronological order, grouping them in chapters by the common
ideas and techniques that characterize them. Only in chapter IV, where I
discussTodaslasalmas(1989)andNegraespaldadeltiempo(1998),haveI
deviatedfromthischronologicalprogressionforreasonswhichIhopewillbe
apparent. In the final chapter I include Marías’s short fiction and other
non-fictional works—these merit critical attention for how they convey his
versatility as a writer, but on the whole have not generated the same level of
national or international acclaim.
I wish to thank Elspeth Ferguson of Tamesis, who first suggested this
studyandarrangedforitsinclusionintheCompanionseries.Iamgratefulto
my research assistants, J’leen Saeger, Lucero Flores-Paez, and Jason Wells,
fortheirassistanceintrackingdownandorganizingbibliographicmaterial.A
sabbatical leave granted by the University of California, Riverside, allowed
me to undertake the early research for this project and conceptualize its
development.Asalways,IamthankfultomywifeSharonforhersupportin
ways both large and small.
Introduction
WhenJavierMaríaswasaskedinaninIINNTTRROODDUUCCtTTIIOONNerviewin2006,“Whatisyournatural
state?” he responded with a single word: “Indecision.” But he quickly quali-
fied his response, suggesting that another layer needed to be peeled away.
“But that doesn’t mean I never make decisions,” he pointed out. “It means I
take my time.”1
For readers with more than a passing familiarity with his writing and, in
particular, with his novels, Marías’s observation that he takes his time will
comeasnosurprise.Indeed,forthenarratorswhotellhisstories,andforthe
readers who navigate the complicated path through them, time and patience
are both required and rewarded. A contemplative, even bemused indetermi-
nacyliesatthecoreofMarías’sfiction,whichisconstructedmostoftenwith
ameanderingstylethatgrowsslowlyandpersistentlytoconfigurehistextual
worlds. Marías admires the precision of language (he is an accomplished
translator from English to Spanish), yet he celebrates its elusiveness. He
constructs his fiction with lengthy, complex sentences replete with subordi-
nate clauses and distant antecedents; his voluble meditations and stylistic
digressions sometimes try the forbearance as well as the confidence of even
the most assiduous of readers.
YetMaríashasalsoshownanextraordinaryabilitytowritedirectly,tosay
whathewishestosaywithefficiencyandcandor.Usingastylepracticedand
polished for more than fifteen years in his weekly columns for the national
press (with specific deadlines and word quotas), Marías has published
hundreds of short pieces that are narrowly focused and remarkably concise.
Whenconsideringtheentiretyofhiswork,therefore,heenvisionshimselfas
awriterdivided:heissometimesMaríasthe“citizen”andothertimesMarías
the“novelist.”Asheputitin2006,whenrespondingtoaseriesofquestions
1 SarahFay,“JavierMarías:TheArtofFiction,”InterviewwithJavierMarías.The
Paris Review, 179 (2006). http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/5680/the-art-of-
fiction-no-190-javier-Marías. No page numbers. The question about Marías’s “natural
state”arisesinthecontextofMarías’sobservationthatJosephConrad’snaturalstatewas
“disquiet bordering on anxiety.”
