1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Still Pleasant to Read", August 5, 2010
This review is from: Voyage Along the Horizon: A Novel (Paperback)
Javier Marias' second novel, published in 1972, is a story within a story within a story; an unnamed narrator is invited to listen to a novel written by an unnamed author, since deceased, who had become obsessed with yet another author named Victor Arledge, and who had written the novel as a way of conjecturing Arledge's final years. Arledge had died mysteriously, and though the novel-within-the-novel doesn't address his fate directly, it does concern a voyage that Arledge began and which may have precipitated his strange decline when he should have been at the height of his literary powers. So the original, uber-narrator is subtly drawn into the story of this voyage, originally bound for Antarctica - a voyage that never reached its conclusion due mostly to the erratic behavior of its organizer and Arledge's friend, Capt. Kerrigan. Mid-way through, Capt. Kerrigan's background takes center stage, though eventually Marias does return us to the ship's voyage, and to that setting's other plotlines.
However, Marias neglects to resolve any of these loose threads before the end of the novel, including one involving the original narrator - a fact that will probably bug the heck out of some readers. If resolution is a mandatory part of the experience, then doubtless 'A Voyage' will prove unsatisfying. If not, there's a lot of fun here - even if the summary sounds confusing. Marias is too competent to let the material get out of hand. Set in the early 1900's, 'Voyage' is written in the style of the late Victorian adventure tale - a parody, but not an unkind one - with Marias noting Conrad and James as his inspirations. The nested storyline and the style-appropriate conventions are reminiscent of some other post-modern writers who might use this method for satire meant to skewer traditions, but Marias' youthful effort is more straightforward - if it has any pretensions, it has more to do with exactly what narration can and might mean within a novel. (Marias addresses some of these ideas in an eight-question interview included in the back of this edition.)
There is little to compare between this novel and Marias later work, such as 'Tomorrow on the Battle Think on Me' - the older man outshines his younger self not in his technical accomplishment but in his ambition (in fact, there is little if anything apparent within 'Voyage' that indicates it is written by a twenty-year-old, except when comparing it to Marias' other novels). Whereas 'Battle' is a contemplative novel that covers almost everything under the sun, 'Voyage' is narrow in its goals - and where in 'Battle' little of anything happens outside of the first chapter, in 'Voyage' there are gunfights, duels, tribal raiders, mysterious letters, kidnappings...in other words, it is highly effective in its imitation of the adventure novel. Yet 'Battle' speaks volumes about life, and death too - 'Voyage' is content to stay within simpler boundaries. All of which suggests that some will prefer the author's later work over his earlier, or vice versa. I'm no exception, yet in answer to Marias' unspoken question in the back of the book interview, I also find 'Voyage' charming and fun, and above all, "still pleasant to read".
Because the Publishers Weekly review on the product page was one of the principle reasons I bought this book, I wanted to mention that returning to it now, it strikes me as misleading. While 'Voyage' is enjoyable and well-written, there is really little here that might indicate what the author proved he was capable of with his later works, and which put him on the 'shortlist' for the Nobel. Neither does the style of 'Voyage' match up very well with how he writes now. This early novel is a purposeful imitation, done well, but in no way similar to the long, rambling prose of a book like 'Battle' (whether that is a relief or a disappointment will be up to the individual). In the end, the PW column sounds more like someone who was familiar with Marias' current work, and who had perhaps skimmed this one, or read the dust jacket for specific information. Much of the description seems disingenuous at best, but the last clause, "Marias' joy in folly is everywhere evident" makes the novel sound like a sly, snarky satire, which it is not; it is more straightforward than that, and better for it.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
An early, short and enjoyable work, January 24, 2010
This review is from: Voyage Along the Horizon: A Novel (Paperback)
This is an early, short work by the renowned Spanish writer Javier Marias. It is an easy read, and an intriguing story, though not one of the books on which his reputation rests. A short question-and-answer section in an appendix, with an unnamed interviewer and the writer, puts it in perspective, and also gives valuable insight into Marias as a writer and a thinker (he seems a great conversationalist and modest too). Specifically, what he says is that the metanarrative aspects of the book -- it is a book about a book about a story in which a character becomes obsessed with another character's story -- were intended as ironic emulation of the nineteenth-century novel, and a reflection of Marias's influences at the time (he was 21 when he finished it), namely Conrad and James. To offer just a little more detail on the storyline, it is narrated by an unnamed man who meets someone at a party who holds the manuscript of a friend. The manuscript is about the story of one Victor Arledge, an English novelist who takes a long sailing trip mainly in an attempt to discover the story behind another passenger's alleged kidnapping. Along the way Arledge discovers and retells another fairly long story about one of the ship's officers. It's all interesting and an easy read -- at 160 pages or so, you could probably read straight through it in a long afternoon -- and definitely worth it if you want to get to know Marias.
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1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun to read, March 20, 2008
This review is from: Voyage Along the Horizon: A Novel (Paperback)
Spoiler warning.
I'm not sure how to write this. I'll just say that it was a fun read. Once I picked it up I found that I read the entire book in two short sittings. It's just so . . . weird. It's very interesting and odd. The entire book is a narrative but I never found out who the narrator was. Theres also this weird letter. Its a book within a book but its still pretty interesting. It gets dull at times, especially with the captain but I still liked it. The only thing that really bothered me about the book was it's refusal to resolve. I don't want to be too specific because that may ruin the story for you. Still, it's a fun read overall.
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