Ilse’s Reviews > Berta Isla > Status Update
Ilse
is on page 10 of 576
When she believed that her husband was her husband, she felt less at ease and found it harder to get out of bed and begin the day, she felt a prisoner of what she had so long been waiting for and which had now happened and for which she no longer waited, because anyone who has grown used to waiting never entirely consents to that waiting coming to a close, it’s like having half the air you breathe snatched from you.
— Apr 16, 2026 02:07AM
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Ilse’s Previous Updates
Ilse
is on page 289 of 576
All ages feel that their conflicts are equally serious, a matter of life and death. They consider that their circumstances justify extreme measures. Every age believes itself to be exposed to great dangers , and every age is prepared o break its own established rules and regulations , to feel constrained by its own restrictions and to find ways of ignoring them or getting round them .
— May 01, 2026 10:32AM
Ilse
is on page 263 of 576
That night I genuinely didn’t know what to do, but I did, of course, stay with Tomas. You would need to have lost an awful lot before you’d be willing to renounce what you have. You curb your impetuous urges , your expectations , you accept the somewhat tarnished version of what you were hoping to achieve or thought you had achieved , and besides, there are disappointments and imperfections at all stages of life .
— Apr 29, 2026 07:44AM
Ilse
is on page 164 of 576
As all we know, imagination is often far wilder than reality, even if it lacks the latter's precision and terrible force, so you can always dismiss what it tells you and say to yourself: 'That might well not have happened, and since I have no idea what really happened, nor ever will, why torment myself with conjectures?’
— Apr 27, 2026 06:22AM
Ilse
is on page 72 of 576
Peace,alas,is only ever apparent and transitory,a pretense.War is the natural state of the world.Often it’s open warfare,but when it’s not,war is always there in latent or indirect form or is merely a war-in-waiting.There are large portions of humanity who are always trying to harm others,or to take something from them,and rancour and discord reign at all times, if not, then they’re in the wings, watching and waiting
— Apr 20, 2026 08:25AM
Ilse
is on page 52 of 576
Those were the days of the so-called sexual liberation,which was permeated by the idea that there was barely any difference between having sex with someone and having a cup of coffee with them,as they were equivalent activities, &as if neither should leave behind any trace or sense of unease.(Even if no memory remains,the event does at least leave a trace, perhaps only in our knowledge &awareness that it did occur)
— Apr 18, 2026 04:41AM
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Apr 16, 2026 04:04AM
I am so happy you reading this, dear Ilse!
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Ilse I like that you are offering story potions that draw us into your reading journey so specifically 🌿
Katia wrote: "I am so happy you reading this, dear Ilse!"It were you and Laura commenting on spy novels and pointing to Marias when talking about Le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy who encouraged me to treat myself on this one, thank you very much, dear Katia! Only a couple of pages in this morning at breakfast, this feels a feast (I found it so hard to put down that I missed a couple of urgent phone calls and mails from work this morning because my eyes were glued to the pages😊) I had hold back to read him again because I wanted to read him when I am free from work, to be able to fully savour his writing, but that would mean waiting another three months for the first occasion - and in this case I happily second Wilde, the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it 😉.
Murray wrote: "Ilse I like that you are offering story potions that draw us into your reading journey so specifically 🌿"Murray, thank you so much! Likely I will not post many quotes from this novel, the sentences of Javie Marias are often too lenghty to fit in this update box 😊). This reminded me of a time I was also familiar with waiting patiently - and waiting seems one of the themes of the novel...let's wait and see 😉.
Your updates are such a treat, Ilse! Wasn’t this one of the rare Marías novels largely told from a female first-person narrator? 👀 Really excited to hear your thoughts! I hope you enjoy it!
Maryana wrote: "Your updates are such a treat, Ilse! Wasn’t this one of the rare Marías novels largely told from a female first-person narrator? 👀 Really excited to hear your thoughts! I hope you enjoy it! "Thank you very much, Maryana! This was about the last time I could scramble together an entire sentence in the English translation (reading it in Dutch), but there were so many arresting turns of phrases I could have go on posting updates :). I hope to continue with Tomas Nevison soon. As far as I remember, it might be the first time I encountered Marias speaking through a female narrator, but I have only read five of his novels so far. Berta Isla's voice comes through convincingly, maybe he would have chosen that female perspective again in future novels if he wouldn't have died so suddenly...
