The Infatuations (Vintage International)

With THE INFATUATIONS, Javier Marías finally hit publishing pay dirt in the United States, with a big-time publisher (Alfred A. Knopf), as opposed to little old New Directions Publishing, which had done the invaluable but little-compensated service of publishing English translations of Marías's earlier works - until, that is, Marías became a sufficiently big name that New Directions no longer could afford him. (Vintage has recently begun re-issuing the English translations of Marías's earlier novels.) Well, more power to Javier Marías -- he certainly deserves the money -- but in a sense it is unfortunate that THE INFATUATIONS is the novel by which he is introduced to mainstream American readers. Because THE INFATUATIONS is certainly not the best introduction to this idiosyncratic and highly literary author; nor, for that matter, is it his best novel, at least in my estimation, and I have now read all his works available in English translation, with the exception of two minor ones.In other Marías novels, a mystery or dilemma is posed at the outset, and the suspense propels the novel through Marías's lengthy digressions. (I am thinking principally of "Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me" and "A Heart So White"). Here, what mystery there is is not posed until halfway through the novel, so that until that point the reader must have faith that the novel is going somewhere - something that it is reasonable to expect from a veteran Marías reader but is asking a lot, perhaps too much, from a newcomer. Also missing from THE INFATUATIONS is any high comedy; most other Marías novels contain one or more comedic set pieces that approach or even achieve being "laugh out loud" funny.Precious little happens in THE INFATUATIONS. The first-person narrator María Dolz once again observes a couple - to her, "The Perfect Couple" - eating breakfast at the café in Madrid she customarily frequents. Shortly thereafter, she learns that that was the last breakfast the couple had had together, because that very same day the man, Miguel Desvern, had been stabbed to death by a crazy fellow who lived in an abandoned car. Sometime later she sees Miguel's widow, Luisa, dining at that same café and María introduces herself and offers her condolences. At Luisa's invitation, María visits her at her apartment, where she meets Javier Díaz-Varela, who had been the best friend of the deceased Miguel and now is periodically looking in on Luisa. The next event is when Javier Díaz-Varela bumps into María at a museum and they have lunch. We learn that María begins an affair of sorts with Javier, always meeting at Javier's apartment but never staying overnight. The next event is during one of those assignations, when, with Maria in a post-coital slumber, a man named Ruibérriz pays a surprise visit to Javier, and María awakens to overhear their conversation, which implicates both men in the stabbing death of Miguel Desvern. There are three more events: a conversation two weeks later between María and Javier; a conversation about a week after that between María and Ruibérriz; and finally, about two years later, an accidental encounter at a restaurant where María sees Javier and Luisa happily dining together.That's it - eight meetings, conversations, or encounters between María, on the one hand, and one or more of Luisa, Javier, and Ruibérriz. Nothing dramatic, or cinematic, happens on any of those occasions. Instead, the novel consists almost entirely of what María thinks about what she observes or has learned and some extended conversations between her and the other three characters. She obsessively analyzes even the smallest gestures and the most trivial comments, as well as what was NOT said or done - a characteristic she shares with Javier Díaz-Varela.Marías's prose is a waterfall of phrases, subordinate clauses, and run-on sentences that makes demands, though not inordinate, upon the reader. There are numerous literary references, principally to Shakespeare's "Macbeth", Balzac's novella "Colonel Chabert", "The Three Musketeers" by Dumas, and the first Spanish dictionary from 1611 by Sebastián de Covarrubias. And there are themes characteristic of Marias, such as death, the randomness of life and death, the weight of the past on the present (and how, conversely, we often wish to be free of the past), and the notion expressed in the sentence quoted as the title to this review.One of the delights of Javier Marías is that from novel to novel he reprises not only themes but characters as well. "Luisa" is the name of one of the principal female figures in several of Marías's other novels. Is she the same person? I don't think so, but I am starting to think of Luisa as Marías's Beatrice. When Ruibérriz came on the scene, a faint bell sounded in the depths of my memory, but the name did not bubble up into active consciousness. But less than twenty pages from the end of the novel, Ruibérriz reveals to the knowledgeable reader that he had been the protagonist and first-person narrator of the delightful novella, "Bad Nature, or with Elvis in Mexico", set during the filming of "Fun in Acapulco", starring Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress. Those kinds of coincidences or interrelationships among novels thrill the experienced reader of Marías.Bottom line? I enjoyed the novel, but then it is fair to say that I am a votary of Javier Marias, which may mark me as something of an oddball. Whatever, I recognize that Marías is not for everyone. If, however, you are inclined to give him a whirl, you may do well to begin with either "Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me" or "A Heart So White". I believe both of them are better than THE INFATUATIONS (as too is "The Dark Back of Time"), and both are more accessible. If you don't like them, you almost certainly will not like THE INFATUATIONS. If, however, they captivate you, there is a good chance that you will also be infatuated with THE INFATUATIONS.

Brief summary and review, no spoilers.This action in this novel takes place in Spain (this is a translation) and is narrated by a woman in her late 30's named Maria. She works for the publishing business and she eats breakfast at the same cafe almost every day. While there she notices a couple who alway seem to eat there; and they always seem very happy and never bored with each other.Maria loves to watch the couple because she fantasizes about them and their idealized relationship. The man's name turns out to be Miguel and the woman is his wife, Luisa. Miquel is 50 years old and Luisa about a decade younger.While briefly away from town for a few weeks, Maria returns and see that the couple have not returned to the cafe. She subsequently finds out that Miquel has been brutally murdered by a mentally ill homeless man who may have intended to kill Miguel's driver over an imaginary slight.Shortly thereafter Maria sees Luisa at the cafe with her children and she introduces herself and they talk and she is invited back to Luisa's house. She comes to see how devastated Luisa is after Miguel's death. Luisa goes on to meet Miguel's best friend Javier and ends up having an affair with him. The affair is one-sided as Maria seems much in love and Javier not-so-much.And with that I don't want to give away any more of the plot, because I think it's important for the reader to experience the chain of events and revelations as the author intended.There is a lot to recommend with this book. I often have problems with translations (and I admit to a few here.) The writing is beautiful and this book is much more than just a mystery novel - it is a full of philosophical insights having to do with love and relationships, and about death and the human condition. Big stuff, and it's handled beautifully. I have dog-eared several pages of the book because I have some of the insights articulated so profoundly.Unfortunately for me, I also found myself lagging at times and tried not to skim some of the multi-page long paragraphs. This book took me days to read whereas normally I would've finished this in much less time; there were just slow bits for me and there were times I put the book down and wasn't all that eager to pick it up again. That's a problem.I know this book has gotten lots of accolades and deservedly so. Just know that if you are reading this a mystery novel it does have twists and turns, but they seem secondary and the book's pacing and storyline are not the usual fare.

I rather enjoyed this novel in the beginning, and Javier Marias has some interesting things to say about relationships. But towards the middle, the story completely runs out of steam, lengthy dialogues (or more like monologues) taking the place of narrative. I struggled to finish it and will not rush to read another book by the author.

I'm in the minority, looking at the international plaudits for this author; but, for me, Javier Marias is a bit of a one-trick pony, concerned above all else with demonstrating his own literary cleverness. In particular, I found his depiction of female characters unconvincing, trite and patronising, while his rambling philosophical pontifications had me struggling to resist hurling the book into my 'bag for charity' before finishing it. (Only did finish it out of duty, as it was a Book Club Suggestion!) A really interesting premise, which could make a fascinating film - if the director edits out most of the author's cod philosophising and makes the female lead a convincing character with depth, in whom we can believe and about whom we can care - which the author in my view signally fails to achieve.

I found it impossible to read more than 3 chapters at one sitting. And the chapters are not long. A unique style of long looping monologues via which the plot advances at a snails pace. I’m not saying it was bad. Maybe he is a genius.

Not enough story and far too much prevarication and digression. The characters are weird and alien. Far from his best.

I like to read books outside my comfort zone and this one gradually draws the reader in; first describing in detail the thoughts of a woman regarding a devoted married couple she sees every day in a breakfast bar and then turning into a story of infatuation and murder, but murder story like no other I have read. It is unsettling to be reading the stream-of-consciousness thoughts and philosophy, with many references to Balzac's 'Colonel Chabert', and then being jarred into actual events such as murder and talk of assisted suicide clinics. Not one for whodunit fans but riveting nonetheless.