Javier Marias

It was striking how much praise and warmth the Dutch press gave in 2009 to the final part of Marías’ trilogy Your Face Tomorrow (see below for quotes). The Netherlands is not the only country where Marías’ books are so well received — his work has appeared in more than forty languages, and he is increasingly mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Javier Marías (Madrid, 1951) long did not want to be seen as a “Spanish” author, or as a representative of the country where the Franco regime had nearly cost his father, the philosopher and writer Julián Marías, his life. At an early age he moved to Paris, and several of his books are set wholly or partly outside Spain, including All Souls, which grew out of the period when Marías taught Spanish literature at the University of Oxford. That was already his sixth novel, but the first to achieve real success in his home country of Spain, where he had by then returned. International recognition followed with his next novel, A Heart So White, after which he has never left the literary spotlight. Besides being an author, Marías is a columnist for the Spanish newspaper El País, and a highly regarded translator of works by authors such as Yates, Nabokov and Laurence Sterne.

The Infatuations is Marías’ new novel. María Dolz, the narrator and protagonist, becomes fascinated by a couple, Miguel and Luisa, whom she sees every morning in the café where she has breakfast, and who seem to radiate happiness. But then Miguel is stabbed to death in the street. After some time María befriends Luisa, and through her also meets their close friend Javier. She falls deeply in love with him, but begins to wonder whether he may have played a role in Miguel’s death.

The Infatuations will be published at the end of May, and a few days later Javier Marías will be a guest at BorderKitchen. He will be interviewed in English by Maarten Steenmeijer, professor of Spanish Literature and Culture (Radboud University Nijmegen), as well as translator and literary critic for de Volkskrant.

Location: Gemeentemuseum (auditorium), Stadhouderslaan 41, The Hague
Start time: 8:00 PM
Tickets: €7.50
Reservations via: 070-3462355 (Mon–Fri) or info@BorderKitchen.nl

The Infatuations is translated from Spanish by Aline Glastra van Loon and published by Meulenhoff.

Quotes from the Dutch press in 2009 about Your Face Tomorrow III: Poison, Shadow and Farewell:

“No one writes more beautifully than Javier Marías. Letting yourself be slowly carried along in his river of language is an indescribable pleasure.” – Het Parool

“Despite its length, the novel can be read in one breath. Magnificently composed, sharp in its characterisation and above all unavoidable in the questions it raises, Your Face Tomorrow is one of the great novels of our time. Marías proves not only to be the most important Spanish writer of his generation, but also one of the most prominent global authors of the moment.” – NRC Handelsblad

“Javier Marías belongs to those whose books have from the very first sentence a recognisable voice, evoking a world that only they can capture in words.” – Trouw

“The most beautiful books are the ones you don’t want to finish. In the end it happens anyway. Fortunately there is consolation: the most beautiful books never leave your mind. Your Face Tomorrow, the magnum opus of Javier Marías, is one of them.” – Maarten Steenmeijer in de Volkskrant