A couple years ago I discovered one of my favorite authors. His books aren't easily found near me and I think here in the US he is fairly unknown. But in Europe, and Spain specifically, he is a much more popular figure. And frankly I love him so much that I'd like to spread the word, I'd like to see his books rotating in bookstores across the nation.
My introduction to Javier Marias was his trilogy Your Face Tomorrow and have since read about half of his books. I especially love his long winded and sometimes even lyrical style and the themes he tends to explore such as the interiority of others and what it means to confide in someone. Language also plays a big part in his novels as they tend to take place in Europe and characters/narrators tend to be multilingual. Sometimes the main character is an academic or academic adjacent and sometimes he has ties to mysterious individuals and agencies. Many novels share a character or two though most are standalone.
His style reminds me of Roberto Bolano though I've only really read one book by Bolano.
So without further ado, let me tell you about some of the books I have read by him and maybe tantalize you a bit.
Your Face Tomorrow trilogy – These were incredible and I think still show Javier Marias at his best, his most lyrical, his most paranoid. A man gets mixed up into darker, unnamed forces, perhaps British intelligence under the tutelage of a mysterious man. The spy novels that aren't: the narrator has but to listen in on interviews, to gauge their speech, voice, mannerisms, and of course interpreting their words and what lays behind them. Then, he tells his employers what he thinks and does not really get to see what happens to the person who he lays judgement on.
All Souls – A novel set in Oxford, this is a novel about the intrigues of academia and literature. I loved this one but it's a bit hard to describe and contains a rich cast of figures and Marias' evocative imagery of intrigue.
Dark Back of Time – This is actually a kind of anti-sequel to All Souls, the narrator claims to be the writer of All Souls and describes his real life that the novel was based on and how his associates felt about being included and even other further consequences from having written about Oxford.
He's a bit difficult to summarize or sell to people but if you ever have an opportunity: read Javier Marias.
by VulpesVersace