Martutene

by Ramon Saizarbitoria, Aritz Branton (Translator)

Winner of the Basque Country’s Fiction Prize, Martutene is a unique novel destined to become an essential reference of Contemporary World Literature.

Abaitua and Pilar, a gynecologist and a neurosurgeon, and Martin and Julia, a writer and a translator, are two couples worn down by years of marriage who have slid off into a kind of bored decadence. Their group of friends and family complete an insightful portrait of post-independence movement Basque life in which the arrival of Lynn, a refreshing young American sociologist, will trigger unexpected events.

Martutene is a truly outstanding work of fiction in which life and art weave and tangle. An exploration of those thoughts and feelings that expose our miseries and our deepest fears as human beings.

Genres: Fiction, Spain

816 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2012

About the author

Ramon Saizarbitoria (Donostia, 1944). Soziologoa eta idazlea. 60ko urteetatik aurrera euskal hedabide gehienetan hartu du parte. 1967an LUR argitaletxea sortu zuen beste idazle batzuekin batera, eta 70eko urteetan Oh Euzkadi Literatur aldizkaria. 1992an IV. Rikardo Arregi kazetaritza saria irabazi zuen. 1971n “Kapitaina” ipuin aipagarria argitaratu zuen Hegatsez liburuan. Nobelagile handia da egilea: Egunero hasten delako (1969), Ehun metro (1976), Ene Jesus (1982) Kritika Saria, Hamaika pauso (1995) Kritika Saria eta Bihotz bi (1996) Kritika Saria. Aberriaren alde (aberriaren kontra) saio aipagarria 1999koa da. Gorde nazazu lurpean (2000) Kritika Saria eta Euskadi Literatura Saria 2001 (jatorrian Gorde nazazu lurpean liburukoak izanik, argitarapen berri bat izan zuten: Gudari zaharraren gerra galdua [2000], Rossetti-ren obsesioa [2001] eta Bi bihotz, hilobi bat [2001]), Kandinskyren tradizioa (2003), Martutene (2012) Euskadi Literatura Saria 2013, Kritika Saria 2012 Euskarazko Narratiba Saria, 2012ko 111 Akademiaren Saria eta finalista 2013ko Espainiako Sari Nazionalean eta, Martutene (2013), gaztelerazko bertsioa da, egilearen azken liburua.

Reviews

[Justin Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Late period Henry James thinks too little happens in this book. Late period Dickens thinks this book might be just a tad too long. Hemingway is a bit uncomfortable with the way women are depicted, even though half the book is told from a woman's perspective.

So, put it in the "I wanted to like this way more than I did" pile. This is enormous--800+ pages, but they're some long pages. I would guess in word count it gets up towards the big Russians. Nothing happens, and when something does happen, it's either ludicrous melodrama or dull love story.

To give Saizarbitoria his due, it's technically impressive at times: using the present tense for that many pages, without it feeling ridiculous, is a unique feat; the weaving of history and present is very well done; there's just enough meta-commentary to keep it from sinking into a Eugenides'-Marriage-Plot, Franzen's-Freedom level of faux-naive tedium. But the best things about the book are its lineation of character (which shouldn't take this long) and its sense of Basque identity and that region's and people's history, which is perversely ignored in favor of a doctor who gets it on with a hot American girl. Someone could write a solid grad school paper about the book's intertextuality, both explicit (Frisch's equally dull Montauk) and implicit (as the doctor and girl suggest, there's a lot of James in here). Someone could write a good essay about Basque history, using the novel's characters. But I can't imagine anyone wanting to read a book this long, and this uninteresting.

With one exception: there are, of course, people who love a good disappointing love story, and this is for them. If you only read one book about disappointing love in 2017, make it this one, because it'll take you most of the year.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel torn because I admired this as a piece of literature, but it dragged for me. It feels like nothing is happening for a long time, but then every previously boring detail turns out to have significance, and I liked the way it was all woven together. This was the reverse of suspense, instead of wondering what was going to happen, I only realized anything had happened until afterwards.
I liked how it taught non-Basque readers about the ETA (Basque independence movement) yet straddled a line between being written for Basque people and educating the rest of the world. The translator did an amazing job juggling the multiple languages that the characters spoke, often providing both the original words and the English translation so that we could both get the flavor of what was said and also see how the Basque language plays a role in national identity. The extensive references to the novel Montauk sort of confused me - they were overdone and yet I still didn't get what they added to the book.

[Richard Derus]

This book is available on Edelweiss. Hispabooks approved my request to review it, thanks!

[Barbara Zeller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the greats. Skillfully written, it held my interest to the very last word on page 813. So many hidden nuggets in the weaving of Basque history, art, and personal complications. All the characters are well-developed, flawed, and heroic. Truly, a masterpiece.

[Christopher Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could say a lot about this novel, but I really don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll opt to keep it brief and general. Indeed, I went into Martutene knowing almost nothing of its plot and I’m very grateful for that, as the surprise factor made this an absolutely thrilling reading experience. This is a long book, but an extremely entertaining, often hilarious, well-written/translated one (despite a number of typos, which were really my only gripe with this novel, and therefore a flaw I can easily forgive because it isn’t necessarily the author’s/translator’s fault). The characters were vividly rendered, very likable and very, very flawed, which naturally only made them all the more fascinating. Being something of a translation nerd, I loved how so much of the story concerned the translation of great literature, and the peculiarities and problems inherent in doing so. I also learned a lot about the politics and history of the Basque Country, subjects I was (somewhat embarrassingly) previously almost totally ignorant about. I loved it from start to finish and it made me thirsty for much more Basque literature in translation. No doubt this will be one of my very favorite reads of 2019.

P.S. - a little advice: read Montauk by Max Frisch before you take on Martutene. I read Montauk for the first time right before starting in on this one, and it greatly enhanced/enriched the reading experience. I would have missed out on A LOT had I skipped Montauk and just read Martutene.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you take away the Basque context (which was interesting and well-done), this is a cliched mid-life crisis experienced by two middle-class men, interspersed with misogyny and fat-shaming, and an unexplained over-reliance on a book by Max Frisch.

[Patxi Pagasarri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read, long but very intelligent, tender and ruthless at the same time.

[Mara Mer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very long but I found it very beautiful at times (extremely sad at others), although I did not like the ending. Great perceptions of the good and bad bits of love.

[Inigogg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literatura y realidad (leído en euskera original)
Entiendo a quienes les pueda parecer un libro el que no parece pasar casi nada. Precisamente, es con ello con lo que el autor dota a su obra de un carácter hiperrealista para contraponerlo a la ficción. Su valor reside en ese contraste, el estancamiento y la lentitud del ritmo narrativo con el que operan los cambios frente al elemento disruptivo de la llegada de Lynn a las vidas de los personajes locales. De esa misma forma se analiza Montauk. En primer lugar el libro físico que desencadena en trama entre Harri y Kepa. Segundo, en el análisis de las traducciones en inglés, castellano y francés para interpretar que es lo que realmente quiso decir Frisch en el original alemán que desembocan en la traducción al euskera por Julia, la iniciativa de dar su propia versión de ha historia y abandonar a Martin. Por último, la resolución de la verdadera historia entre Frisch y aquella Lynn cuando Julia y Kepa coinciden en el festival.

Lynn representa la ficción; genera efectos dispares en los protagonistas y con ello termina su función en la novela, en ningún sentido pertenecía a ese mundo; Abaitua y Pilar salen vencedores. Martin, escribe sobre su relación con Julia con elementos de ficción. Esto acaba volviéndose en su contra rompiendo su relación con Julia, es decir, es la ficción quien ahora se entromete y transforma su realidad. Lynn muere con Martin a su lado, solo puede ser así. A su vez, ya sabemos que Martin tiene una enfermedad terminal y abandona la escritura. La realidad y los elementos y personajes que se sostienen en ella son quienes se abren paso. Y pese a todo ello, al acabar el libro lo más real que me queda a mi como lector, es la emoción del recuerdo de Lynn.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. I learned a lot about the Basque people and their history and the city of Donostia. A big book, very slow at first until I became used to the style of writing. Somewhere I read that you should read the book "Montauk" by Max Frisch before reading this book, so I did, and it really helped.

This is a difficult book in many ways, but I loved it, and it will stay with me for a long time.

[Nancy Zubiri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with those who say too long and not enough happens in 800 pages. I also did not like the ending. Too contrived. Very unlikely that a good doctor would have such a outcome. I read it because I am Basque and it was called the great Basque novel, but I don't think it is.

[lilinho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Euskarak inoiz eman duen nobelagilerekin onena; gozamen totala. Amaiera bape gustatu ez arren, eta onartu arren patxadaz irakurtzeko liburua dala (760 orrialde, digresio mordoa...) disfrute bat hasi eta buka.

Galdera saihetsezina... Hamaika pauso vs. Martutene???? Ni ez naiz ausartzen...

[Cgonzalezj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un escritor que escribe sobre la realidad y una realidad que reproduce lo que ha escrito otro. Y euskadi ahí de fondo

[EliasA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ritmo pausado, personajes muy bien perfilados, experiencias de vida descritas a través de los ojos de los personajes. Profundo pero directo y claro. Literatura con mayúsculas.

[!Tæmbuŝu]

Reviewed by Words Without Borders and Open Letters Monthly

[World Literature Today]

"The couples at the center of the book personify contrasting sides of human nature—Martin and Julia represent the artistic, Abaitua and Pilar the scientific—at the confluence of multiple currents of Basque life: culture, love, politics, law, religion, government, medicine, business, economics, history, geography, and language meet in the two relationships as they change over Martutene’s eight hundred pages." - Erik Noonan

This book was reviewed in the May 2017 issue of World Literature Today magazine. Read the full review by visiting our website: https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/...