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Cuando fui mortal
Doce relatos escritos de forma magistral entre 1991 y 1995 y que van desde la crónica de costumbres contemporáneas a los cuentos de fantasmas.
Lo primero que debe saber un escritor de cuentos es que nunca dispone de mucho tiempo y que el lector no admite que ese poco transcurra en vano. Si Javier Marías no lo sabe, al menos lo disimula, porque sus relatos no sólo complacen e interesan, sino que además turban desde su inicio. Al igual que en sus celebradas novelas, su prosa aquí es capaz de alcanzar en unas páginas una tersura y una tensión que apenas permiten apartar la vista, como si tuviéramos la cara pegada a un cristal y no pudiéramos retirarla con una mezcla de fascinación y zozobra.
En los cuentos de Cuando fui mortal nos encontramos con personajes y situaciones que formarán parte de nuestra imaginació un médico español que visita de noche las casas parisinas de mujeres casadas; un guardaespaldas aficionado al hipódromo que deseará que haya muerto el hombre a quien protege; un fantasma que padece la maldición máxima de saber ahora cuanto ocurrió en su vida; una aspirante a actriz porno que aguarda la sesión de rodaje junto a su compañero de reparto a quien no conoce; un escritor que experimenta consigo mismo para poder escribir sobre el dolor más tarde; un hombre y una mujer asesinados por una lanza africana en un Madrid veraniego; un futbolista mujeriego, una señorita de compañíaque amará a un fantasma a quien lee libros y otros que salen directamente de Corazón tan blanco o Mañana en la batalla piensa en mí, mostrando que los escritores de talento llevan siempre consigo su estilo y su mundo en sus visitas a cualquier género.
O quizá bastan las palabras del propio «Sólo concibo escribir algo si me divierto, y sólo puedo divertirme si me intereso. No hace falta añadir que ninguno de estos relatos habría sido escrito sin que yo me interesara por ellos».
Lo primero que debe saber un escritor de cuentos es que nunca dispone de mucho tiempo y que el lector no admite que ese poco transcurra en vano. Si Javier Marías no lo sabe, al menos lo disimula, porque sus relatos no sólo complacen e interesan, sino que además turban desde su inicio. Al igual que en sus celebradas novelas, su prosa aquí es capaz de alcanzar en unas páginas una tersura y una tensión que apenas permiten apartar la vista, como si tuviéramos la cara pegada a un cristal y no pudiéramos retirarla con una mezcla de fascinación y zozobra.
En los cuentos de Cuando fui mortal nos encontramos con personajes y situaciones que formarán parte de nuestra imaginació un médico español que visita de noche las casas parisinas de mujeres casadas; un guardaespaldas aficionado al hipódromo que deseará que haya muerto el hombre a quien protege; un fantasma que padece la maldición máxima de saber ahora cuanto ocurrió en su vida; una aspirante a actriz porno que aguarda la sesión de rodaje junto a su compañero de reparto a quien no conoce; un escritor que experimenta consigo mismo para poder escribir sobre el dolor más tarde; un hombre y una mujer asesinados por una lanza africana en un Madrid veraniego; un futbolista mujeriego, una señorita de compañíaque amará a un fantasma a quien lee libros y otros que salen directamente de Corazón tan blanco o Mañana en la batalla piensa en mí, mostrando que los escritores de talento llevan siempre consigo su estilo y su mundo en sus visitas a cualquier género.
O quizá bastan las palabras del propio «Sólo concibo escribir algo si me divierto, y sólo puedo divertirme si me intereso. No hace falta añadir que ninguno de estos relatos habría sido escrito sin que yo me interesara por ellos».
162 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1996
81 people are currently reading
1024 people want to read
About the author
Javier Marías
140 books2,452 followersJavier Marías was a Spanish novelist, translator, and columnist. His work has been translated into 42 languages. Born in Madrid, his father was the philosopher Julián Marías, who was briefly imprisoned and then banned from teaching for opposing Franco. Parts of his childhood were spent in the United States, where his father taught at various institutions, including Yale University and Wellesley College. His mother died when Javier was 26 years old. He was educated at the Colegio Estudio in Madrid.
Marías began writing in earnest at an early age. "The Life and Death of Marcelino Iturriaga", one of the short stories in While the Women are Sleeping (2010), was written when he was just 14. He wrote his first novel, "Los dominios del lobo" (The Dominions of the Wolf), at age 17, after running away to Paris.
Marías operated a small publishing house under the name of Reino de Redonda. He also wrote a weekly column in El País. An English version of his column "La Zona Fantasma" is published in the monthly magazine The Believer.
In 1997 Marías won the Nelly Sachs Prize.
Marías began writing in earnest at an early age. "The Life and Death of Marcelino Iturriaga", one of the short stories in While the Women are Sleeping (2010), was written when he was just 14. He wrote his first novel, "Los dominios del lobo" (The Dominions of the Wolf), at age 17, after running away to Paris.
Marías operated a small publishing house under the name of Reino de Redonda. He also wrote a weekly column in El País. An English version of his column "La Zona Fantasma" is published in the monthly magazine The Believer.
In 1997 Marías won the Nelly Sachs Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews
March 9, 2019
12 Intriguing short stories by acclaimed Spanish writer Javier Marías, and I enjoyed reading them. They’re inventive and well-written, but I didn’t care much for the subject matter of these stories. A recurring theme was murder; the characters were often offbeat.
Not surprisingly, I thought the weakest one was about a Hungarian soccer star, who played for Madrid.
This was my first introduction to Marías.
Not surprisingly, I thought the weakest one was about a Hungarian soccer star, who played for Madrid.
This was my first introduction to Marías.
April 12, 2022
It's been a few years now since I last read Marias, with two of his novels out of five - Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me & A Heart So White - being two great works that I still think about now and then. During that period he was probably my favourite contemporary writer. This collection of 12 stories wasn't particularly that special though, with a few good ones dotted in between some bang average ones. Best three for me were - Broken Binoculars, Everything Bad Comes Back, Blood On A Spear. Marias states in the preface that 11 of them were commissioned, meaning he was somewhat shackled from writing with complete freedom, especially in terms of length. Put it this way, he is a much better writer than this. His dazzling speculative and philosophically enriched high-brow prose; the way he delves and meticulously probes human relationships; the way he elegantly writes about love and passion, was only seen in minor flashes.
February 14, 2021
CRITIQUE:
Knowing the Narrator
About half way through these twelve stories, I started to suspect that I might actually know the narrator.
This might not be quite accurate, because if you assume that there is (at least) one narrator of each story, there might actually be twelve different narrators. Certainly, the narrator in eleven of the stories is male, while the other is female. So that's at least two.
Still, I started to detect a portrait of the narrator(s) or at least a combination of the narrator(s) and the male protagonist(s) whose experiences each of them was describing.
Let’s Pretend
This is the composite picture that emerged for me. I'll name the narrator after my friend, Paulo, whom I first met in his Spanish restaurant in Little Bourke Street, Melbourne:
Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Yourself
This is the portrait of a male narcissist. (This doesn't imply that there aren't female narcissists. They're just as common, especially in cyberspace and social media, where they have a goody pulpit, from which to espouse or signal their definition of virtue.)
You might know someone who fits Paolo's description. You might fit this description. You might have had a relationship with someone who meets this description.
Only a Fool Would Say That
Many GR reviews of novels by Javier Marias have expressed distaste for his fiction on the basis of his alleged misogyny (often spelled "mysogeny", which tends to undermine the truth of the allegation. Moreover, the allegation is always merely asserted, without evidence, proof or argument. We're supposed to believe it as an act of faith and fraternity).
At a more pedantic, theoretical level, the allegation overlooks or ignores the difference between the author and the narrator/protagonist.
Many of the protagonists are philanderers, but so what? How is an author (whether male or female) to write about philanderers, in particular, or the relationships between the different genders, in general, if they don't have the freedom to invent details of the behaviour and temperament of the protagonists?
When I Was Moral
Marias' fiction is a perceptive, but critical, dissection of male vanity and narcissism.
It would be interesting to read what he or anybody else has to write about female vanity and narcissism.
Few readers would deny that love and sexual relations can become a battleground between the sexes/genders. This is implicit in the philosophical (Hegelian) analysis that describes sexual relationships in terms of a master and slave relationship.
There is no express presumption that the male is the master. In some relationships, the female might be the master.
Beware the Trojan Whores of Fiction!
The wrongful disdain for Marias simply deprives readers of a highly literate voice who is able to write fluently and elegantly about the battle of the sexes. It's an act of narcissism and moralistic hubris in its own right. It's to be hoped that readers ignore these allegations as not worth the cyberspace they are written in. They achieve nothing positive for women, equality or the quality of relationships, or literature.
SOUNDTRACK:
Knowing the Narrator
About half way through these twelve stories, I started to suspect that I might actually know the narrator.
This might not be quite accurate, because if you assume that there is (at least) one narrator of each story, there might actually be twelve different narrators. Certainly, the narrator in eleven of the stories is male, while the other is female. So that's at least two.
Still, I started to detect a portrait of the narrator(s) or at least a combination of the narrator(s) and the male protagonist(s) whose experiences each of them was describing.
Let’s Pretend
This is the composite picture that emerged for me. I'll name the narrator after my friend, Paulo, whom I first met in his Spanish restaurant in Little Bourke Street, Melbourne:
"He had slightly wavy black hair with not a trace of grey in it, possibly dyed.
"He wore his hair combed back, like a fighter pilot or a French actor in a black-and-white movie.
"He was good-looking, genial and, moreover, extraordinarily polite.
"He was a vain man, indulgent and easy-going, but slightly disdainful of his own children, especially his own sons who weren’t as intelligent or handsome as their father.
"He was much vainer than a woman, you know. He had that foolish masculine pride.
"He’s got the face of a rich man.
"He behaved like a spendthrift and he rarely deprived himself of anything he fancied, at least not with witnesses present.
"He had enough money to pay for his vital pleasures.
"He’s a complete scoundrel, and I get on very well with him. I laughed at his malice, though his tongue was his only weapon. He wasn’t a fighter, even if he could sound aggressive.
"He was one of those men you know you will never be able to confide in, but one in whom you can confidently trust.
"He’s a man of great resourcefulness. He is the instigator, and it will happen when he says it will happen.
"He possessed a certain degree of worldly wisdom which he enjoyed showing off.
"He was an energetic, jokey person who spoke in a rather low voice, in order to underline the irony that all women love.
"He had only to discover that there was an interesting woman in the vicinity for him to start oozing virility and getting terribly full of himself. All a bit animalesque really.
"When he saw a woman he liked the look of, he would make a gesture that makes of her a thing.
"He delighted in tenuous, ephemeral, clandestine contact.
"He would sometimes look at something as if he were touching it, and this would sometimes cause offence.
"Although he claimed to hate men who hurt women, perhaps his gesture was just the reminder some men like to give women that they could hurt them if they wanted to."
Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Yourself
This is the portrait of a male narcissist. (This doesn't imply that there aren't female narcissists. They're just as common, especially in cyberspace and social media, where they have a goody pulpit, from which to espouse or signal their definition of virtue.)
You might know someone who fits Paolo's description. You might fit this description. You might have had a relationship with someone who meets this description.
Only a Fool Would Say That
Many GR reviews of novels by Javier Marias have expressed distaste for his fiction on the basis of his alleged misogyny (often spelled "mysogeny", which tends to undermine the truth of the allegation. Moreover, the allegation is always merely asserted, without evidence, proof or argument. We're supposed to believe it as an act of faith and fraternity).
At a more pedantic, theoretical level, the allegation overlooks or ignores the difference between the author and the narrator/protagonist.
Many of the protagonists are philanderers, but so what? How is an author (whether male or female) to write about philanderers, in particular, or the relationships between the different genders, in general, if they don't have the freedom to invent details of the behaviour and temperament of the protagonists?
When I Was Moral
Marias' fiction is a perceptive, but critical, dissection of male vanity and narcissism.
It would be interesting to read what he or anybody else has to write about female vanity and narcissism.
Few readers would deny that love and sexual relations can become a battleground between the sexes/genders. This is implicit in the philosophical (Hegelian) analysis that describes sexual relationships in terms of a master and slave relationship.
There is no express presumption that the male is the master. In some relationships, the female might be the master.
Beware the Trojan Whores of Fiction!
The wrongful disdain for Marias simply deprives readers of a highly literate voice who is able to write fluently and elegantly about the battle of the sexes. It's an act of narcissism and moralistic hubris in its own right. It's to be hoped that readers ignore these allegations as not worth the cyberspace they are written in. They achieve nothing positive for women, equality or the quality of relationships, or literature.
SOUNDTRACK:
April 27, 2025
Nessuno perdona chi si diverte con il destino se il destino gli volta le spalle come castigo dopo essere stato totalmente a suo favore
Gli scrittori finiranno per affezionarsi ai loro personaggi? Quelli di Marías ritornano in racconti diversi,
in un caso (“Il viaggio di nozze”) sono quasi certo che la stessa scena, in versione ampliata, si trovi anche all’interno di un suo romanzo.
Mentre leggevo prendevo appunti:
-Due mariti avari e di due mogli avide
-Due donne italiane che non si conoscono tra loro ma hanno vite e interessi simili
Prendevo appunti e notavo che i primi racconti erano privi di finali inequivocabili. Marías lasciava la porta aperta in modo che fossero i lettori a chiuderla sbattendola, accompagnandola o lasciandola aperta loro volta.
“Quand’ero mortale” è uno dei pezzi pregiati della raccolta. Mi ha colpito molto perché per lavoro mi capita spesso di visitare abitazioni che erano abitate fino a poco prima da altri proprietari. Marías è partito da esse per ampliare il concetto fino a renderlo esoterico. Io mi son sempre limitato ad immaginare le vite di coloro che avevano abitato quei luoghi facendomi guidare da una parete rivestita in perlinato o rifinita con intonaco graffiato oppure chiazzata di umidità o fuliggine. Marías non si è limitato ad immaginare le vite di chi abitò quelle case, ha ipotizzato che i vecchi proprietari tornino silenziosamente in visita elaborando questa pericolosa teoria
È assurdo che permanga lo spazio e il tempo si cancelli per i vivi, o in realtà è che lo spazio è depositario del tempo, ma poi è silenzioso e non racconta nulla.
È assurdo che cosí sia per i vivi, perché quel che viene dopo è il suo contrario, e per quello manchiamo di allenamento. Vale a dire, adesso il tempo non passa, non trascorre, non fluisce, ma si perpetua simultaneamente e con ogni dettaglio, e dire «adesso» è forse un inganno. Questa è la seconda delle cose peggiori, i dettagli, perché la rappresentazione di quel che abbiamo vissuto e a malapena ha lasciato in noi traccia quando eravamo mortali si presenta adesso con l’elemento orrendo secondo cui tutto ha significato e peso…
Se uno ha idee simili, secondo voi, ha bisogno di ricorrere ai morti ammazzati e ai commissari come fanno la maggior parte di coloro che scrivono qui da noi?
Beh, non ci crederete, ma la risposta è: sì. In quasi tutti i racconti c’è un omicidio; in “Sangue di lancia” ve n’è uno particolarmente cruento perpetrato con una lancia souvenir di un viaggio in Kenya. La morte catalizza l’attenzione e allora Marías può raccontare la vita del personaggio, ciò che ha fatto prima di arrivare all’atto finale a quel «Ancora no» / «Adesso sí», i due poli del bellissimo racconto circolare “Nel tempo indeciso”. Circolare perché questa volta il racconto si apre e si chiude e perché il protagonista è uno che per vivere prende a calci una sfera.
Era ungherese come Kubala e Puskas e Kocsis e Czibor, ma il suo cognome era molto piú impronunciabile per noi, si scriveva Szentkuthy e la gente finí per chiamarlo «Kentucky», molto piú familiare e piú castigliano, e da lí lo si chiamò a volte impropriamente «Pollofritto»
Incuriosito ulteriormente da
Continuai a vederlo giocare per altre due stagioni, durante le quali conobbe alti e bassi ma lasciò varie immagini da ricordare. Prevale nella mia memoria quella che prevale per quanti l’hanno vista: in una partita di Coppa Europa contro l’Inter di Milano, in cui mancava un gol per raggiungere le semifinali, restavano soltanto dieci o dodici minuti quando Szentkuthy ricevette la palla nella sua metà campo
Sono andato a cercare in rete e ho trovato
https://en-m-wikipedia-org.translate....
Ho letto volentieri tutti i racconti, anche l’ultimo dove troviamo di nuovo un fantasma che si presenta con puntualità per ascoltare la lettura ad alta voce di una damigella di compagnia. Ella legge i romanzi di Stevenson, Austen, Dumas alla donna anziana che accudisce per lenire il tedio che la vedovanza le ha procurato.
Marías ha il passo del maratoneta, ma qui lo si apprezza anche sui 5000 e i 1500. Potrebbe essere il libro adatto per prendere confidenza con lui e capire se sia il caso di provare la mezza maratona de “L’uomo sentimentale” o le maratone delle trilogie (quella sentimentale soprattutto)
Gli scrittori finiranno per affezionarsi ai loro personaggi? Quelli di Marías ritornano in racconti diversi,
in un caso (“Il viaggio di nozze”) sono quasi certo che la stessa scena, in versione ampliata, si trovi anche all’interno di un suo romanzo.
Mentre leggevo prendevo appunti:
-Due mariti avari e di due mogli avide
-Due donne italiane che non si conoscono tra loro ma hanno vite e interessi simili
Prendevo appunti e notavo che i primi racconti erano privi di finali inequivocabili. Marías lasciava la porta aperta in modo che fossero i lettori a chiuderla sbattendola, accompagnandola o lasciandola aperta loro volta.
“Quand’ero mortale” è uno dei pezzi pregiati della raccolta. Mi ha colpito molto perché per lavoro mi capita spesso di visitare abitazioni che erano abitate fino a poco prima da altri proprietari. Marías è partito da esse per ampliare il concetto fino a renderlo esoterico. Io mi son sempre limitato ad immaginare le vite di coloro che avevano abitato quei luoghi facendomi guidare da una parete rivestita in perlinato o rifinita con intonaco graffiato oppure chiazzata di umidità o fuliggine. Marías non si è limitato ad immaginare le vite di chi abitò quelle case, ha ipotizzato che i vecchi proprietari tornino silenziosamente in visita elaborando questa pericolosa teoria
È assurdo che permanga lo spazio e il tempo si cancelli per i vivi, o in realtà è che lo spazio è depositario del tempo, ma poi è silenzioso e non racconta nulla.
È assurdo che cosí sia per i vivi, perché quel che viene dopo è il suo contrario, e per quello manchiamo di allenamento. Vale a dire, adesso il tempo non passa, non trascorre, non fluisce, ma si perpetua simultaneamente e con ogni dettaglio, e dire «adesso» è forse un inganno. Questa è la seconda delle cose peggiori, i dettagli, perché la rappresentazione di quel che abbiamo vissuto e a malapena ha lasciato in noi traccia quando eravamo mortali si presenta adesso con l’elemento orrendo secondo cui tutto ha significato e peso…
Se uno ha idee simili, secondo voi, ha bisogno di ricorrere ai morti ammazzati e ai commissari come fanno la maggior parte di coloro che scrivono qui da noi?
Beh, non ci crederete, ma la risposta è: sì. In quasi tutti i racconti c’è un omicidio; in “Sangue di lancia” ve n’è uno particolarmente cruento perpetrato con una lancia souvenir di un viaggio in Kenya. La morte catalizza l’attenzione e allora Marías può raccontare la vita del personaggio, ciò che ha fatto prima di arrivare all’atto finale a quel «Ancora no» / «Adesso sí», i due poli del bellissimo racconto circolare “Nel tempo indeciso”. Circolare perché questa volta il racconto si apre e si chiude e perché il protagonista è uno che per vivere prende a calci una sfera.
Era ungherese come Kubala e Puskas e Kocsis e Czibor, ma il suo cognome era molto piú impronunciabile per noi, si scriveva Szentkuthy e la gente finí per chiamarlo «Kentucky», molto piú familiare e piú castigliano, e da lí lo si chiamò a volte impropriamente «Pollofritto»
Incuriosito ulteriormente da
Continuai a vederlo giocare per altre due stagioni, durante le quali conobbe alti e bassi ma lasciò varie immagini da ricordare. Prevale nella mia memoria quella che prevale per quanti l’hanno vista: in una partita di Coppa Europa contro l’Inter di Milano, in cui mancava un gol per raggiungere le semifinali, restavano soltanto dieci o dodici minuti quando Szentkuthy ricevette la palla nella sua metà campo
Sono andato a cercare in rete e ho trovato
https://en-m-wikipedia-org.translate....
Ho letto volentieri tutti i racconti, anche l’ultimo dove troviamo di nuovo un fantasma che si presenta con puntualità per ascoltare la lettura ad alta voce di una damigella di compagnia. Ella legge i romanzi di Stevenson, Austen, Dumas alla donna anziana che accudisce per lenire il tedio che la vedovanza le ha procurato.
Marías ha il passo del maratoneta, ma qui lo si apprezza anche sui 5000 e i 1500. Potrebbe essere il libro adatto per prendere confidenza con lui e capire se sia il caso di provare la mezza maratona de “L’uomo sentimentale” o le maratone delle trilogie (quella sentimentale soprattutto)
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December 11, 2024A little divertimento here. I'm just going to focus on 1 of the dozen short stories in this collection of the great Spanish author Javier Marias, one of my favorite writers of the moment: 'In uncertain time'. It's only about 12 pages long, but it is a marvellous illustration of the power of temporality in narratives.
Marias writes about a fictional Hungarian football player, some time in the 1970s or 1980s, that came to play in Madrid (diplomatically Marias doesn't tell us the name of the club). It's a tragic story actually, but there is one magnificent scene, when this 'Szentkuthy' (no first name) has an opportunity to score an easy goal: he has maneuvered himself past 2 players and the keeper and just has to push the ball in the goal. But ... he stops on the goal line and simply waits, foot on the ball; whilst the exalted crowd in the stadion is urging him to push the ball behind the line, the opponent players return. Marias writes: “It was only one second, but I don't think it was erased from the memory of a single spectator. He marked the enormous gap that exists between the inevitable and what is no longer avoided, between what is still future and what has already happened, between the 'not yet' and 'the time has come', of which we very rarely experience the tangible transition.”(…)“ He stopped what was about to happen, not to the extent that he stopped time but that he marked it and made it uncertain, as if he said: “I am the maker and it will be when I say, not when you want it; if it happens, because I'm the one who decides.""
Now, this is not only great story telling, but it also demonstrates an aspect of temporality that we rarely experience. Normally, we are just subjects of time, we are floating in the stream of time, powerless beings, surrendered to the inexorably ticking clock. Marias in this story apparantly shows a moment an individual seems to have power over time, making it 'uncertain'. Of course, this is misleading. In fact, when you look at it, the football player indeed doesn't stop time (though it can look like that to the spectators), but he only seizes control over events: he can mark the goal or he can decide not to; in this split second he effectively makes the decision; but to be honest: one second later, it would have been too late, the opponent players would have prevented the goal. So, it looks like - in the end - time still is the only winner. Bottomline: there's no escape to temporality, and thus, to history. Am I becoming too fatalistic, with age?
Marias writes about a fictional Hungarian football player, some time in the 1970s or 1980s, that came to play in Madrid (diplomatically Marias doesn't tell us the name of the club). It's a tragic story actually, but there is one magnificent scene, when this 'Szentkuthy' (no first name) has an opportunity to score an easy goal: he has maneuvered himself past 2 players and the keeper and just has to push the ball in the goal. But ... he stops on the goal line and simply waits, foot on the ball; whilst the exalted crowd in the stadion is urging him to push the ball behind the line, the opponent players return. Marias writes: “It was only one second, but I don't think it was erased from the memory of a single spectator. He marked the enormous gap that exists between the inevitable and what is no longer avoided, between what is still future and what has already happened, between the 'not yet' and 'the time has come', of which we very rarely experience the tangible transition.”(…)“ He stopped what was about to happen, not to the extent that he stopped time but that he marked it and made it uncertain, as if he said: “I am the maker and it will be when I say, not when you want it; if it happens, because I'm the one who decides.""
Now, this is not only great story telling, but it also demonstrates an aspect of temporality that we rarely experience. Normally, we are just subjects of time, we are floating in the stream of time, powerless beings, surrendered to the inexorably ticking clock. Marias in this story apparantly shows a moment an individual seems to have power over time, making it 'uncertain'. Of course, this is misleading. In fact, when you look at it, the football player indeed doesn't stop time (though it can look like that to the spectators), but he only seizes control over events: he can mark the goal or he can decide not to; in this split second he effectively makes the decision; but to be honest: one second later, it would have been too late, the opponent players would have prevented the goal. So, it looks like - in the end - time still is the only winner. Bottomline: there's no escape to temporality, and thus, to history. Am I becoming too fatalistic, with age?
July 8, 2019
Enjoyable book of short stories. A bit angular and quirky but that suits me fine, including;
.... a doctor provides a personalised injection service for the wives of old obnoxious rich men
.... a gay man is found dead next to a dead whore - why can his friend not let this go
.... a lonely woman reads to a ghost
.... a doctor provides a personalised injection service for the wives of old obnoxious rich men
.... a gay man is found dead next to a dead whore - why can his friend not let this go
.... a lonely woman reads to a ghost
January 17, 2015
creo que tal vez no fue la forma mas común para comenzar a embarcarme en el mundo de Javier Marías, pero tal vez si fue la mejor.
Esta serie de relatos, son uno mejor que otro, están llenos de verdad, de mortalidad y sobre todo de tristeza, por algo que no fue pero sigue siendo.
Javier Marías me enamoro, espero leer mucho mas de el.
Esta serie de relatos, son uno mejor que otro, están llenos de verdad, de mortalidad y sobre todo de tristeza, por algo que no fue pero sigue siendo.
Javier Marías me enamoro, espero leer mucho mas de el.
January 20, 2021
Javier Marías me parece un tremendo escritor y creo que este libro es un claro reflejo de ello. Aquí se encuentran reunidos 12 relatos que en su mayoría hablan de fantasmas (y por consiguiente de muertes y vidas ajenas); y en todos ellos se encuentra impregnado su característico estilo narrativo: el de un gran observador que no le teme a la reflexión, por mas larga que esta sea. Así que si por cosas del destino se encuentran con alguno de estos cuentos, por favor no duden en leerlos:
Cuando fui mortal
Menos escrúpulos
Sangre de lanza
No más amores
Cuando fui mortal
Menos escrúpulos
Sangre de lanza
No más amores
March 28, 2011
when i was mortal collects a dozen of javier marías' short stories. all but one of these were commissioned, some with literary or thematic constraints, for various spanish-language publications in the early 1990s. while i, perhaps foolishly, have yet to read one of marías' novels, i do find his short stories well written and cleverly composed. as one who generally prefers the novel to the short story format, i must imagine his longer works as even more rewarding.
though when i was mortal is without a lackluster tale, none seem to excel quite so effortlessly as marías' recently translated short story/novella bad nature, or with elvis in mexico. nonetheless, the collection's best pieces include "the night doctor," "on the honeymoon," "broken binoculars," the title story, and "spear blood." when i was mortal was rendered from the spanish by the remarkable margaret jull costa.
though when i was mortal is without a lackluster tale, none seem to excel quite so effortlessly as marías' recently translated short story/novella bad nature, or with elvis in mexico. nonetheless, the collection's best pieces include "the night doctor," "on the honeymoon," "broken binoculars," the title story, and "spear blood." when i was mortal was rendered from the spanish by the remarkable margaret jull costa.
i often used to pretend i believed in ghosts, and i did so blithely, but now that i am myself a ghost, i understand why, traditionally, they are depicted as mournful creatures who stubbornly return to the places they knew when they were mortal. for they do return. very rarely are they or we noticed, the houses we lived in have changed and the people who live in them do not even know of our past existence, they cannot even imagine it: like children, these men and women believe that the world began with their birth, and they never wonder if, on the ground they tread, others once trod with lighter steps or with fateful footfalls, if between the walls that shelter them others heard whispers or laughter, or if someone once read a letter out loud, or strangled the person he most loved.
June 22, 2017
No soy mucho de libros de relatos y menos cuando no tienen conexión unos con otros, pero me encanta el estilo narrativo de Javier Marías y por eso, cuando me topé con Cuando fui mortal, quise leerlo.
Es una compilación de relatos escritor por encargo, puede que por eso, no me hayan acabado de agradar todos ellos, pero leer a Marías sigue siendo un placer. A partir de, más o menos, mitad de libro están los relatos que más me han gustado, destacaría el que da nombre al libro y Todo mal vuelve.
Es una compilación de relatos escritor por encargo, puede que por eso, no me hayan acabado de agradar todos ellos, pero leer a Marías sigue siendo un placer. A partir de, más o menos, mitad de libro están los relatos que más me han gustado, destacaría el que da nombre al libro y Todo mal vuelve.
September 24, 2020
3.5⭐️. Primer libro que leo de Javier Marías y me ha gustado su forma de escribir, su estilo narrativo es cautivador. Este libro trata de 12 relatos cortos, entretenidos y bastante sorpresivos.
February 27, 2020
Toto je jednoducho zla kniha. Odhliadnuc od faktu, ktory Marias uz na zaciatku priznava, a teda, ze 11 z 12 poviedok v zbierke boli na objednavku. Okrem toho ich podla mna navyse vydatne recykloval, co je vidno uz len na vybere postav - rozpravaci su az na jednu vynimku muzi okolo 35ky, cerstvo zenati a uz sa nenapadne rozhliadajuci po dobrodruzstve, milenky na 100 sposobov, vrahovia a bodyguardi, ktori sa tak rozne prelinaju z poviedky na poviedku, a ak Mariasovi zachybal experiment, tak - duchovia. Zapletky su vrazdy z vasne, ci vrazdy pre peniaze, vo svete Javiera Mariasa sa proste vela vrazdi, ved kto nemal kedy chut 'stlacit krk' niekomu, koho najviac lubime. Vierohodne nie je podane nic - ani manzelstvo (vzdy lepsie situovana stredna vrstva, co chodi na konske zapasy a vrazdi jedom), ani variacia na lesbicke vztahy (bolo ich treba zapasovat do objednavky), ani na dusevnu chorobu (hysterka, co jednoducho musi nejakym sposobom spachat samovrazdu). A do vsetkeho komentare vsadepritomneho rozpravaca.. Opomenut sa neda ani velmi rozsireny problematicky vztah k zenam, zavislym na muzskom pohlade - ''napriek svojim nedokonalostiam vyzerala krasna, aspon v lete'', ''okrem dvorcov okolo bradaviek, pritmavych na moj vkus, clovek casom na prvy pohlad vie, co sa mu paci a co nie'', ''Venezuelcanky nemavaju zvadnute prsia, alebo sa aspon hovori opak'' , ''Ak je stetka, tym lepsie: zaplatim, pekne zblizka si ju poobzeram, mozno sa chvilu pozhovarame, a basta'', ''Muz povolil tlak, pustil ju, postlacal si hanky na prstoch, az mu zapukali, nieco zamrmlal a ustupil o par krokov, mozno o nic neslo, mozno to mala byt pripomienka niektorych muzov niektorym zenam, ze ak sa im zachce, mozu im ublizit.'', ''prelietave, lahko nahraditelne krasavice''. Bolestive citanie, asi to neprezeniem, ak poviem, ze ma odradilo od akehokolvek dalsieho pokusu citat tohto 'celozivotneho feministu'. Ceresnicka na torte: ''Dorta bol homosexual - ako to povedat - stopercentny homosexual'', najdeme v poviedke Krv na kopiji, a zaradujem do svojho repertoaru literarnych kuriozit, spolu s ''Mladu zenu, z ktorej uz bola takmer starena, prenikol spociatku materinsky strach.'' (Nijake dalsie lasky; jedna z postav je - duch).
December 24, 2018
Una interesante colección de relatos de calidades similares y extensiones variadas. Marías es un narrador talentosísimo que sabe muy bien cómo despertar y mantener la atención del lector, lo que se vuelve aun más evidente en sus novelas (único género que había leído hasta ahora del autor).
April 26, 2017
A stylish and quirky collection of short stories, all quite enjoyable, but I'm starting to find Marías's range of subject matter a bit limited.
January 17, 2023
Genial libro de relatos.
August 14, 2015
My actual rating would be 3.5 but since Goodreads doesn't welcome half star ratings.
This was the first thing I read by Marías and it has been an entertaining read. The majority of this short stories in this collection were born out of commissioned work which does somewhat cage Marías skills. Nevertheless, When I Was Mortal is a gripping collection full of short stories evincing precise narration and at times, dazzling prose.
I was disappointed by some of the stories in this collection because a few of them hinge on a similar use of the plot twist. However, there is enough variation here to be devoured.
A special mention for the titular short story which shows how great a writer Marías is. I was simply enthralled by the style and subject of this short story. This is where it seems that Marías has been let loose and allowed to shine. If you're in a fix about buying this, this short story is worth it.
Other favourites from the collection, which I have read more than once include "Unfinished Figures" (only 4 pages long), "Everything Bad Comes Back" (reminded me of Bolaño and Borges), "Fewer Scruples" (simply for the subject) and "Blood on a Spear" (crime or thriller told in a flamboyant style).
I think this has served as a very good introduction to Marías writings and I simply can't wait to read a novel by him - there are so many and I know how difficult it is for me to not buy a copy.
"A Heart So White", "All Souls" and "Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me" seem all fascinating novels to start with. I really love his prose, sadly which only shined, as I said before and risking verbosity, in the eponymous story When I Was Mortal.
Recommended for everyone.
This was the first thing I read by Marías and it has been an entertaining read. The majority of this short stories in this collection were born out of commissioned work which does somewhat cage Marías skills. Nevertheless, When I Was Mortal is a gripping collection full of short stories evincing precise narration and at times, dazzling prose.
I was disappointed by some of the stories in this collection because a few of them hinge on a similar use of the plot twist. However, there is enough variation here to be devoured.
A special mention for the titular short story which shows how great a writer Marías is. I was simply enthralled by the style and subject of this short story. This is where it seems that Marías has been let loose and allowed to shine. If you're in a fix about buying this, this short story is worth it.
Other favourites from the collection, which I have read more than once include "Unfinished Figures" (only 4 pages long), "Everything Bad Comes Back" (reminded me of Bolaño and Borges), "Fewer Scruples" (simply for the subject) and "Blood on a Spear" (crime or thriller told in a flamboyant style).
I think this has served as a very good introduction to Marías writings and I simply can't wait to read a novel by him - there are so many and I know how difficult it is for me to not buy a copy.
"A Heart So White", "All Souls" and "Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me" seem all fascinating novels to start with. I really love his prose, sadly which only shined, as I said before and risking verbosity, in the eponymous story When I Was Mortal.
Recommended for everyone.
June 10, 2019
Un niño que recuerda las visitas que un médico realiza a su madre, mientras su papá se hace el despistado; una envejecida dama de compañía, cuya melodiosa voz ha dejado de cautivar a un fantasmagórico ser; una aspirante a actriz porno aguarda la sesión de rodaje mientras deja volar su imaginación; un guardaespaldas en el hipódromo, quien desea que no se presente su protegido, pues deberá asesinarlo, son solo algunas de las premisas que conforman “Cuando fui mortal”, una antología que recupera doce cuentos de Javier Marías, que aparecieron en diversas publicaciones entre 1991 y 1995.
Lo más notable de la antología (sin menospreciar los textos, aclaro) es la aseveración que hace el autor en el prólogo del libro: los cuentos fueron escritos “por encargo”; algunos tenían diversas imposiciones, temáticas o de extensión… deberían ser “un relato veraniego” o “que aparezca el mar”. Algunos podrían pensar incluso que el oficio de Marías se prostituía al trabajar así, pero él nos recuerda que muchas grandes obras artísticas fueron materializadas de tal forma: quizá el caso más sonado es el de Miguel Ángel, quien pintó, por encargo del papa Julio II, la decoración de la Capilla Sixtina. Grandes cosas pueden ser fruto de un trabajo remunerado, ¿no?
“Estos relatos nos ofrecen la oportunidad de saborear, de manera concentrada, el encanto único de la prosa de Javier Marías”, escribieron en “La Quinzaine Littéraire”, y concuerdo: la manufactura de la tensión narrativa, del humor y la ironía, la penetración psicológica de los personajes –que nos puede llevar al horror o a la piedad– denotan las grandes virtudes que, como narrador, tiene Marías.
Lo más notable de la antología (sin menospreciar los textos, aclaro) es la aseveración que hace el autor en el prólogo del libro: los cuentos fueron escritos “por encargo”; algunos tenían diversas imposiciones, temáticas o de extensión… deberían ser “un relato veraniego” o “que aparezca el mar”. Algunos podrían pensar incluso que el oficio de Marías se prostituía al trabajar así, pero él nos recuerda que muchas grandes obras artísticas fueron materializadas de tal forma: quizá el caso más sonado es el de Miguel Ángel, quien pintó, por encargo del papa Julio II, la decoración de la Capilla Sixtina. Grandes cosas pueden ser fruto de un trabajo remunerado, ¿no?
“Estos relatos nos ofrecen la oportunidad de saborear, de manera concentrada, el encanto único de la prosa de Javier Marías”, escribieron en “La Quinzaine Littéraire”, y concuerdo: la manufactura de la tensión narrativa, del humor y la ironía, la penetración psicológica de los personajes –que nos puede llevar al horror o a la piedad– denotan las grandes virtudes que, como narrador, tiene Marías.
February 16, 2024
An excellent collection of twelve short stories. A few of the stories that I thought were the best are:
The Night Doctor, about a man who has come back, after a late night out, to the apartment of a friend he is staying with. When he gets there she tells him she isn't feeling well and has called a doctor. The doctors visit is very strange.
Flesh Sunday, about a man who sees a neighbor looking out his window with binoculars at a small group of people.
When I Was Mortal, a strange story about a man who is dead telling us about the events of his life and, also, then about his own murder.
Marias is a fantastic writer who includes a lot of psychological twists in his stories
The Night Doctor, about a man who has come back, after a late night out, to the apartment of a friend he is staying with. When he gets there she tells him she isn't feeling well and has called a doctor. The doctors visit is very strange.
Flesh Sunday, about a man who sees a neighbor looking out his window with binoculars at a small group of people.
When I Was Mortal, a strange story about a man who is dead telling us about the events of his life and, also, then about his own murder.
Marias is a fantastic writer who includes a lot of psychological twists in his stories
February 8, 2017
No hay caso! Me gusta como escribe Javier Marías y estos cuentos no son la excepción. Puede que hayan sido escritos por encargo, pero eso no les quita calidad. En pocas páginas nos cuenta una historia y nos deja con la doble sensación de que queremos seguir sabiendo más, pero con lo que vimos ya sabemos lo necesario; podríamos construir toda una historia a partir de lo que nos cuenta, o... quedarnos sólo con eso... Me gusta.
February 2, 2020
2,5 * Autor co sa rad pocuva. Poviedkovy narcis 😊 Proste ma to nebavilo a poviedky mam velmi rada. Nezaujali ma ani hrdinami, ani atmosferou, ani pointou. Iba pri dvoch poviedkach som necakala utrpne na koniec. Sice alibisticky na zaciatku pise autor o tom, ze to boli poviedky na objednavku, ale aj to by malo mat nejaku uroven. Jazyk vie pouzivat, vety plynu jedna za druhou, ale nevycaruju tu spravnu atmosferu a ponorenie sa.
January 22, 2024
Qué correcto y amable ha sido este encuentro!! Ya echaba en falta leer a Marías y pese no haya sido de los mejores, ha sido curioso este reencuentro.
Diversos relatos pequeños independientes pero siempre guardando su línea. Mi preferido ha sido cuando fui mortal; no hace falta estar muerto para sentirse fantasma en algunas ocasiones.
“se cansó como nos cansamos todos de todo, si nos dejan tiempo”
Diversos relatos pequeños independientes pero siempre guardando su línea. Mi preferido ha sido cuando fui mortal; no hace falta estar muerto para sentirse fantasma en algunas ocasiones.
“se cansó como nos cansamos todos de todo, si nos dejan tiempo”
February 13, 2021
De fapt mi-a plăcut de 3.5 ☆
Oricum Javier Marías rămâne printre scriitorii preferați.
Oricum Javier Marías rămâne printre scriitorii preferați.
May 11, 2015
I only picked this book up from the library when the title caught my eye...oh and it was a Penguin Modern Classics as well - but I'd never heard of the author before.
This short collection contains twelve stories ranging from a few pages to about fifty pages. I won't go into detail about each story but I only want to say that I was impressed with them. They reminded me of the early Ian McEwan collections, such as First Love, Last Rites and others. They're all set in modern Spain, or sometimes Paris; they're urban; there's a subdued sense of menace in nearly all of the stories; and in many of the stories a plot twist or revelation at the end of the story.
My own real complaint or query is that the first three stories are probably the weakest - why do this when many people will abandon it before they get to the better stories? Incidentally, the better stories also seem to be the longer stories so I'll have to check out some of his novels - A Heart So White looks as if it's a good one to start with.
This short collection contains twelve stories ranging from a few pages to about fifty pages. I won't go into detail about each story but I only want to say that I was impressed with them. They reminded me of the early Ian McEwan collections, such as First Love, Last Rites and others. They're all set in modern Spain, or sometimes Paris; they're urban; there's a subdued sense of menace in nearly all of the stories; and in many of the stories a plot twist or revelation at the end of the story.
My own real complaint or query is that the first three stories are probably the weakest - why do this when many people will abandon it before they get to the better stories? Incidentally, the better stories also seem to be the longer stories so I'll have to check out some of his novels - A Heart So White looks as if it's a good one to start with.
July 25, 2011
"When I Was Mortal" is a collection of short stories Marias wrote for various publications in the early 90s. These stories all involve murder, assassinations, ghosts, suicide, and other such macabre subject matter. The stories are well-written and enjoyable as fun little thriller/mystery/gothic tales. Those looking, however, for the brilliance and insight of Marias's other works will not find it here, as these stories are all rather slight.
That said Marias can turn a good phrase and every once in awhile a nice thought or description appears. In the two best stories of the collection, "Spear Blood" and "In Uncertain Time," Marias touches upon the subjects of death and time that he later so expertly discusses in his novel "Dark Back of Time." So it was interesting to see earlier forms of ideas that are more fully expounded in his later works. But overall the stories are merely fun exercises in genre writing and rather inconsequential.
That said Marias can turn a good phrase and every once in awhile a nice thought or description appears. In the two best stories of the collection, "Spear Blood" and "In Uncertain Time," Marias touches upon the subjects of death and time that he later so expertly discusses in his novel "Dark Back of Time." So it was interesting to see earlier forms of ideas that are more fully expounded in his later works. But overall the stories are merely fun exercises in genre writing and rather inconsequential.
October 5, 2010
Addictive short stories about "the normally invisible wall that separates life and death," and the residents on either side. Marias is like Keret with a longer attention span, with the same sense of how to frame dark and light so that the contrast makes the light seem rarer, more fleeting, more worth holding on to.
Written and published separately over a four-year period, these stories have been ordered to comment and build on each other, to imply common real-life or psychological threads. The translation reads so well that you know both that it must read wonderfully in Spanish, and that the translator loved the work enough to take special care.
Written and published separately over a four-year period, these stories have been ordered to comment and build on each other, to imply common real-life or psychological threads. The translation reads so well that you know both that it must read wonderfully in Spanish, and that the translator loved the work enough to take special care.
Read
June 10, 2015Doce relatos escritos de forma magistral entre 1991 y 1995 y que van desde la crónica de costumbres contemporáneas a los cuentos de fantasmas.
Lo primero que debe saber un escritor de cuentos es que nunca dispone de mucho tiempo y que el lector no admite que ese poco transcurra en vano. Si Javier Marías no lo sabe, al menos lo disimula, porque sus relatos no sólo complacen e interesan, sino que además turban desde su inicio. Al igual que en sus celebradas novelas, su prosa aquí es capaz de alcanzar en unas páginas una tersura y una tensión que apenas permiten apartar la vista, como si tuviéramos la cara pegada a un cristal y no pudiéramos retirarla con una mezcla de fascinación y zozobra.
En los cuentos de Cuando fui mortal nos encontramos con personajes y situaciones que formarán parte de nuestra imaginación: un médico español que visita de noche las casas parisinas de mujeres casadas; un guardaespaldas aficionado al hipódromo que deseará que haya muerto el hombre a quien protege; un fantasma que padece la maldición máxima de saber ahora cuanto ocurrió en su vida; una aspirante a actriz porno que aguarda la sesión de rodaje junto a su compañero de reparto a quien no conoce; un escritor que experimenta consigo mismo para poder escribir sobre el dolor más tarde; un hombre y una mujer asesinados por una lanza africana en un Madrid veraniego; un futbolista mujeriego, una señorita de compañía que amará a un fantasma a quien lee libros y otros que salen directamente de Corazón tan blanco o Mañana en la batalla piensa en mí, mostrando que los escritores de talento llevan siempre consigo su estilo y su mundo en sus visitas a cualquier género.
O quizá bastan las palabras del propio autor: «Sólo concibo escribir algo si me divierto, y sólo puedo divertirme si me intereso. No hace falta añadir que ninguno de estos relatos habría sido escrito sin que yo me interesara por ellos».
Lo primero que debe saber un escritor de cuentos es que nunca dispone de mucho tiempo y que el lector no admite que ese poco transcurra en vano. Si Javier Marías no lo sabe, al menos lo disimula, porque sus relatos no sólo complacen e interesan, sino que además turban desde su inicio. Al igual que en sus celebradas novelas, su prosa aquí es capaz de alcanzar en unas páginas una tersura y una tensión que apenas permiten apartar la vista, como si tuviéramos la cara pegada a un cristal y no pudiéramos retirarla con una mezcla de fascinación y zozobra.
En los cuentos de Cuando fui mortal nos encontramos con personajes y situaciones que formarán parte de nuestra imaginación: un médico español que visita de noche las casas parisinas de mujeres casadas; un guardaespaldas aficionado al hipódromo que deseará que haya muerto el hombre a quien protege; un fantasma que padece la maldición máxima de saber ahora cuanto ocurrió en su vida; una aspirante a actriz porno que aguarda la sesión de rodaje junto a su compañero de reparto a quien no conoce; un escritor que experimenta consigo mismo para poder escribir sobre el dolor más tarde; un hombre y una mujer asesinados por una lanza africana en un Madrid veraniego; un futbolista mujeriego, una señorita de compañía que amará a un fantasma a quien lee libros y otros que salen directamente de Corazón tan blanco o Mañana en la batalla piensa en mí, mostrando que los escritores de talento llevan siempre consigo su estilo y su mundo en sus visitas a cualquier género.
O quizá bastan las palabras del propio autor: «Sólo concibo escribir algo si me divierto, y sólo puedo divertirme si me intereso. No hace falta añadir que ninguno de estos relatos habría sido escrito sin que yo me interesara por ellos».
July 17, 2009
Oh man, oh god, oh man, oh god - I'm writing a novel.
I imagine that this is the thought that threatens to choke writers. Some authors' novels can seem stilted compared to their wild and free short stories. Shorter pieces offer more room to play and experiment, often bringing authors to their most vivid and original moments.
An exception: the work of Javier Marías, author of this story collection, "When I Was Mortal." Though delightful, these stories are stilted when compared to his wondrous novels ("All Souls," "A Heart So White"). Like Flaubert or Tolstoy, he is more innovative in long, contemplative works.
In his introduction to "When I Was Mortal", Marías describes his respect for commissioned stories. Indeed, most masterpieces at the Louvre or the Prado were the result of a patron's constraints and rules. There's an art to working through specifications, and Marías had to obey specified subject matters and lengths and even vocabularies when writing these stories for El Mundo and other newspapers.
I agree that creativity flourishes under arbitrary top-down rules. Yet entirely of his own accord, Marías returns to the same fixations in these stories. It's fascinating to watch him work through these obsessions:
- night doctors ("When I Was Mortal," "The Night Doctor")
- Italian women living in Paris ("The Night Doctor," "Italian Legacy")
- dropping a pair of binoculars when noticing that the man standing next to him is a sharpshooter ("Broken Binoculars," "Flesh Sunday")
- the humdrum existence of a ghost ("No More Loves," "When I Was Mortal")
- obscure early 20th-c. British literature ("Everything Bad Comes Back," "No More Loves"
I imagine that this is the thought that threatens to choke writers. Some authors' novels can seem stilted compared to their wild and free short stories. Shorter pieces offer more room to play and experiment, often bringing authors to their most vivid and original moments.
An exception: the work of Javier Marías, author of this story collection, "When I Was Mortal." Though delightful, these stories are stilted when compared to his wondrous novels ("All Souls," "A Heart So White"). Like Flaubert or Tolstoy, he is more innovative in long, contemplative works.
In his introduction to "When I Was Mortal", Marías describes his respect for commissioned stories. Indeed, most masterpieces at the Louvre or the Prado were the result of a patron's constraints and rules. There's an art to working through specifications, and Marías had to obey specified subject matters and lengths and even vocabularies when writing these stories for El Mundo and other newspapers.
I agree that creativity flourishes under arbitrary top-down rules. Yet entirely of his own accord, Marías returns to the same fixations in these stories. It's fascinating to watch him work through these obsessions:
- night doctors ("When I Was Mortal," "The Night Doctor")
- Italian women living in Paris ("The Night Doctor," "Italian Legacy")
- dropping a pair of binoculars when noticing that the man standing next to him is a sharpshooter ("Broken Binoculars," "Flesh Sunday")
- the humdrum existence of a ghost ("No More Loves," "When I Was Mortal")
- obscure early 20th-c. British literature ("Everything Bad Comes Back," "No More Loves"
August 21, 2023
Después de haber leído dos de sus novelas, con buenísimo recuerdo, encontré este libro de relatos cortos de Javier Marías. Una recopilación de 12 escritos, ya publicados en otros formatos entre 1991 y 1995, y que se presentan en orden cronológico.
Tengo que decir que tras los dos primeros no tenía muy buenas expectativas, pero según pasan los años, al igual que me pasa con sus novelas, va mejorando enormemente, y entendiendo mejor el por qué de los anteriores.
Mi top 5 con spoiler
- En el tiempo indeciso: la historia de dos situaciones con un instante donde se consigue parar la inercia y reflexionar sobre el poder en ese instante. Una jugada de fútbol en una final donde llega hasta la línea de gol. Su asesinato a sangre fría. Aún no. Ya está.
- Menos escrúpulos: la conversación de una “debutante” en el cine porno, con su compañero de escena, antes de iniciar la grabación.
- Cuando fui mortal: un fantasma que recuerda toda su vida, y es capaz de ver y escuchar detalles que pasaron por alto en su momento.
- Prismáticos rotos: un guardaespaldas que quiere asesinar a su protegido.
- Domingo de carne: un relato de un asesinato inesperado.
Tengo que decir que tras los dos primeros no tenía muy buenas expectativas, pero según pasan los años, al igual que me pasa con sus novelas, va mejorando enormemente, y entendiendo mejor el por qué de los anteriores.
Mi top 5 con spoiler
- En el tiempo indeciso: la historia de dos situaciones con un instante donde se consigue parar la inercia y reflexionar sobre el poder en ese instante. Una jugada de fútbol en una final donde llega hasta la línea de gol. Su asesinato a sangre fría. Aún no. Ya está.
- Menos escrúpulos: la conversación de una “debutante” en el cine porno, con su compañero de escena, antes de iniciar la grabación.
- Cuando fui mortal: un fantasma que recuerda toda su vida, y es capaz de ver y escuchar detalles que pasaron por alto en su momento.
- Prismáticos rotos: un guardaespaldas que quiere asesinar a su protegido.
- Domingo de carne: un relato de un asesinato inesperado.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 15, 2013
Javier Marias writes exquisitely. And that exquisiteness that at times becomes tiring in his novels, fits perfectly the short tale format. All these tales have in common an intention to disturb the commonplace, to make the reader reflect on the shadows we come across daily, and that at times hide atrocities.
The general quality is high, which is unusual in this kind of compilation, so much that I will only point out the tale that titles the compilation, in that it has the strangest narrator, and it is the longest and yet well rounded.
The kind of tales that do not frighten you, but leave you the urge to look behind you, or to see in a different light your neighbour.
The general quality is high, which is unusual in this kind of compilation, so much that I will only point out the tale that titles the compilation, in that it has the strangest narrator, and it is the longest and yet well rounded.
The kind of tales that do not frighten you, but leave you the urge to look behind you, or to see in a different light your neighbour.
February 2, 2024
Desde mi punto de vista el único cuento memorable es Figuras Inacabadas, los otros son muy olvidables y en algunos casos, excesivamente largos como Sangre de lanza.
Desde otra perspectiva, se puede perdonar que el libro sea así ya que el autor nos advierte que los cuentos le fueron encargados.
Desde otra perspectiva, se puede perdonar que el libro sea así ya que el autor nos advierte que los cuentos le fueron encargados.
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