A married woman, whose husband is in London, invites another man, whom she hardly knows, for dinner. In her house a two-year-old boy is sleeping. Finally, when the man approaches her after dinner, the woman is feeling ill. She dies before ever becoming his lover. What to do with the corpse, the boy, the absent husband? What is the difference between life and death? This is one of the most passionate and emotional novels of recent times and surely the most lauded.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Javier Marias writes with elegance, with wit and with masterful suspense, and yet for all this assurance, it is the profound ontological uncertainty at the heart of his work which makes it at once so unsettling and so true. -- Michael Kerrigan, The Times Literary Supplement
Language Notes
Text: Spanish
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
Javier Marías is an award-winning Spanish novelist. He is also a translator and columnist, as well as the current king of Redonda. He was born in Madrid in 1951 and published his first novel at the age of nineteen. He has held academic posts in Spain, the US (he was a visiting professor at Wellesley College) and Britain, as a lecturer in Spanish Literature at Oxford University. He has been translated into 34 languages, and more than six million copies of his books have been sold worldwide. In 1997 he won the Nelly Sachs Award; the Comunidad de Madrid award in 1998; in 2000 the Grinzane Cavour Award, the Alberto Moravia Prize, and the Dublin IMPAC Award. He also won the Spanish National Translation Award in 1979 for his translation of Tristram Shandy in 1979. He was a professor at Oxford University and the Complutense of Madrid. He currently lives in Madrid.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificent book by one of the best current Spanish writers,
By Cristina de Avila (Belgium) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Manana en la batalla piensa en mi (Alfaguara de Bolsillo) (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)
The book is a magnificent piece of literature, an outstanding sample of the combination of styles and rhythms that makes of Marias one of the best current Spanish writers. Although frequently criticised in Spanish literary cliques, the very particular sense of humour and recurring style of Marias is captivating. Having a kind of film noir story background, Marias creates a set of curiously charming characters that develop through a catching story line. Special mention to a superb scene that features the king of Spain, Juan Carlos I, unfortunately not at the reach of non-Spaniard readers. Do not miss it, especially if you can read the original Spanish prose.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Me faltan estrellas,
By Manola Sommerfeld (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Manana en la batalla piensa en mi (Alfaguara de Bolsillo) (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)
Al principio, este libro me pareció difícil de seguir, y hasta un poco aburrido. Mi primera impresión es que el autor se iba por la tangente que daba gusto. Pero seguí leyendo y al poco me di cuenta de que de tangentes nada. Este libro es como un gran concierto de pensamientos, los cuales todos se centran en un punto común. Esas tangencias o periferias están diseñadas con tal habilidad que complementan la historia sin parecer superfluas: Ruibérriz, Celia/Victoria, el Único, todos caracteres bien perfilados, con mucho color, y las citas entremezcladas en el texto, las escenas de películas, todos contribuyendo a realzar una trama ya de por sí apasionante. El protagonista se debate entre decisiones tomadas y asumidas, y sus diálogos consigo mismo son de lo mejor que he leido en la literatura española en mucho tiempo. El final es imprevisible. Cuando ya pensaba que sabía por dónde iban los tiros, en el último momento me llevé una sorpresa. Qué irónica puede ser la vida, qué carcajadas se pega a nuestra costa (o en este caso a costa de Deán). Las notas adicionales (otra sorpresa que no descubrí hasta el final) son muy interesantes, y si ya por entonces me cabía alguna duda del pedazo de escritor que es Javier Marías, ahí se me borraron por completo. Esta novela es para no perdérsela.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best books I've ever read,
This review is from: Manana en la batalla piensa en mi (Alfaguara de Bolsillo) (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)
I have read four novels by Marías so far, all of them are great, but this one is the best by far. I wouldn't call it a "mystery/thriller", it is a novel about decisions one's takes and it's implications, about unevitable things and about death. The technique is impressive, recurring phrases that seem trivial at first and make more sense every time they are mentioned. Shakespeare's quotes applied to the situations. If you would read only one book by Marías, read this one.
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