Customer Reviews

Loves That Bind

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Mr. Rios' tour de force performance reminded me of the defunct TV show "The Copy Cats" (subtitled "The Impressionist"). Although I must admit, there were a few heroines/authors I drew blanks on, this did not keep me from enjoying Rios' delightful play on words! If his aim was to dazzle his reader with the broadness of his literary knowledge and wit, he has succeeded superbly ... at least with this reader. I kept wishing my Spanish was good enough so I could read this in the original version, perhaps read both versions in tandem for a double shot of delight!

This novel is insane and strange, yet fulfilling. Rios painted a masterpiece, containing everything from sexual orgies to love, betrayal, friendship, hate, and murder; providing the reader with a sense of `experience'.
The narrator, Emil, is filled with despair and disillusion when he realizes that the woman he loves has abandoned him. The novel consists of chapters that begin alphabetically as Emil wanders around the city of London in search of his lost love. He hopes that one day she will receive these letters.
As the novel progresses, he encounters several affairs; increasingly scandalous events that will change the way you view life.

It is beyond me why so many people thinks this book is so inventive and entertaining. To me it is nothing but a literary trick, and the trick is on the reader. The style is precious. The story (or what loose fragments there are) is hard to follow, and the subject is not sufficiently interesting to make it worth the considerable effort Rios demands from the reader.

If you are interested in contemporary Spanish fiction, forget Rios and read Javier Marias who, before long, will surely win -- and deserve -- the Nobel Prize. Julian Rios is a pretender. Javier Marias is the real thing.