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A Heart So White

by Javier Marías, Margaret Jull Costa (Translator)

4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 · rating details · 1,683 ratings · 154 reviews

Javier Marías's A Heart So White chronicles with unnerving insistence the relentless power of the past. Juan knows little of the interior life of his father Ranz; but when Juan marries, he begins to consider the past anew, and begins to ponder what he doesn't really want to know. Secrecy—its possible convenience, its price, and even its civility—hovers throughout the novel...more

Paperback, 280 pages

Published May 17th 2002 by New Directions (first published 1991)

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Mar 09, 2013 Garima rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My hands are of your color; but I shame
To wear a heart so white.

My hands are of your color; but I shame
To wear a heart so white.

William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Time keeps on moving at an indifferent pace and yet it keeps on changing; every second, every day, and every year. Since we all are busy living, we attach little importance to the things happened and the words spoken in the past as most of the times we are under the impression that it doesn’t hold the power to change our present or affect our future (not devastatingly at least). Certainly there are poetic terms like nostalgia, longing, regrets, et al, which we all cherish despite the happiness or sadness they cause, but then there is ‘truth’ of the past, which is not exactly cherished. The definitions of ‘truth’ we associate with the past usually arise from the following two sources: that we’ve witnessed that truth or we’ve been ‘told’ that truth. We hardly question the truth behind that truth which we’ve been told because we see no reason for doing so and primarily we don’t see any reason as to why somebody would lie to us or keep any ‘secrets’. And one day, without any warning we’re forced to confront all these questions we thought were limited to the lives of ‘others’ as for us, we were always ‘normal’. Time slows down and is no longer indifferent. It longs to tell us ‘something’, something different or something more, something that would change our lives forever. Past is no longer inconsequential as we hit upon the fact that it holds the key to the moments which shaped the identities of those we claimed to have known but in retrospect they are nothing more than a stranger to us and subsequently we realize that there is a sub-conscious part of our personality which we ignored deliberately as the words it contain are not worthy listening to or we make no effort in interpreting their true meaning but in all this, we betray not anybody but ourselves because we have chosen a pretty version of truth around which we want to live our life, forgetting in the process that there are other lives which would turn out to be a lie because of some choices we make.

So, is A Heart So White about everything I just said? Yes and No. A book like this is so deeply communicative that it not only conveys what it contains but also what it has left unsaid, leaving the task of interpreting the words for its readers and everyone has the right to come up with their own version of the message or moral of the story. At the beginning only, we’re presented with the scene of a suicide committed by one of the characters at a family lunch, and the reader is immediately gets deceived into thinking that this shall serve as an ideal trigger to set the pace of the narrative. Now let’s see why she committed suicide? was a natural reaction I gave but what followed left me humbled by the time I reached the last page.

Javier Marías has interwoven a carefully intricate and compelling novel that tells the story of a married couple, Juan and Luisa, both working as translators and interpreters serving various Government bodies. This profession makes them, particularly Juan, very sensitive to words.

I have a tendency to want to understand everything people say and everything I hear, both at work and outside, even at a distance, even if it’s one of the innumerable languages I don’t know, even if it’s in an indistinguishable murmur or imperceptible whisper, even if it would be better that I didn’t understand and what’s said is not intended for my ears or is said precisely so I won’t understand it.

This tendency made him encounter a situation where the translation of few words made him examine the lives of those he’s closely related to. Sometimes a single person or a single incident sets the benchmark not only for most of the future happenings but some of the past events too. As the story moves further, it follows the discourse of all such events in Juan’s life which gives us a brilliant idea about the talent of Marías as a writer. They present an impeccable commentary at both philosophical and psychological level accompanied with humor and profound seriousness about human experience, the myriad relations it constitutes, especially those of married couples and how words play one of the most significant parts in forming the course of our actions and reactions. Whether those words are spoken or listen to, we need to choose them carefully.

Listening is the most dangerous thing of all..listening means knowing, finding out, knowing everything there is to know, ears don’t have lids that can close against the words uttered, they can’t hide from what they sense they’re about to hear, it’s always too late..it may well stain our hearts so white or are our hearts merely pale, or fearful or cowardly?

Many would argue that there’s nothing new in that lesson and that can be one reason why some of the readers would find themselves struggling with this novel. It’s demanding, verbose and for an impatient mind the long discourses would have difficulty in justifying themselves. It has various repetitions and is highly subjective, which again, can annoy the readers but if approached with rationality, the result can prove to be an immensely rewarding one. In the introduction by Jonathan Coe, Marías is aptly being compared with Proust and Bernhard, but as I say about most of the great writers, that Marías gives us something original and evocative. In A Heart so White, the way he has examined the nature of secrets, lies, their revelation or their concealment and its subsequent effect on our lives is a reading experience worth relishing for. And although I'm not an aspiring writer, I can safely say that Marías writing technique is something that can prove as a valuable study for all those who want to learn fiction writing.

Highly Recommended!
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Jan 26, 2012 Noce rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: narrativa-spagnola

Ode agli stoici genitori dell’infante Javier.

Certo è, che Marìas da piccolo, non l’avrei voluto conoscere.

Mettiamo il caso che sia possibile usufruire di 5 minuti e prendere la macchina del tempo per tornare all’infanzia del piccolo Javier.

Eccolo lì, coi calzoncini corti, che vi aspetta sulla porta di casa perché voi lo portiate al parco.

Osservatelo mentre fiducioso vi dà la mano e vi incamminate assieme. Il tragitto scorre lento e sereno (il piccolo Javier è taciturno, ma questo vi assicuro, no...more

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Dec 11, 2011 Simona Bartolotta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: narrativa-contemporanea

In Marìas ho trovato uno scrittore eccellente, con la rara capacità di ipnotizzare il suo lettore sin dalle prime pagine, di convogliarne tutta l'attenzione solo sulla sua storia, e su nient'altro. Nel periodo in cui leggevo Un cuore così bianco non avevo davvero testa per pensare a nulla, solo al libro. E ci pensavo e ripensavo, ci ragionavo, ci riflettevo, non so neanch'io bene su cosa. E' anche un libro che lascia senza parole, infatti ad ogni parola che scrivo mi viene da prendermi a cazzott...more

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Oct 23, 2010 Donato rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

[Note: Italian translation]
While reading this I was trying to figure out 2 things: 1) what was it that I didn't like about it, and 2) why I liked it so much. And that, in a nutshell, is a description of Marías's paradoxical style (and method).
One of the things that bothered me was the way all the characters seemed to talk in the same way, with the same style. In his other books, I found good excuses (see my other reviews of Marías) , and in this one the narrator out-and-out says it: This is the...more [Note: Italian translation]
While reading this I was trying to figure out 2 things: 1) what was it that I didn't like about it, and 2) why I liked it so much. And that, in a nutshell, is a description of Marías's paradoxical style (and method).
One of the things that bothered me was the way all the characters seemed to talk in the same way, with the same style. In his other books, I found good excuses (see my other reviews of Marías) , and in this one the narrator out-and-out says it: This is the way I remember it, which may not be the way it actually was. But that's all minor, inconsequential stuff.
The real discovery here is Marías's method, which is outlined in an appendix, but which I was unconsciously aware of (I think). In this book in particular (of the 3 now I have read), there's a distinct lack of plot, and instead a collection of seemingly random set pieces. In fact, I was going to write something similar to what I wrote re: 2666 -- chance events that somehow fit and don't fit at the same time, through some sort of magic, and yet the "fitness" doesn't matter anyway. And then I read what Marías himself says about his working method: he has no idea what he's going to write when he sets down to write. (OK, yeah, I'm sure he has _some_ idea.) But the rest he leaves to ... flow, magic, inspiration, the spirit of the Gift?, does it matter?
But for all the supposed randomness, there's a definite structure here. As usual with Marías, the book ends where it starts (usually with a death or the mention of a death, much like with Marquez). In this one there's a lot of repetition, of entire phrases, especially at the end, like a crescendo (that make it almost musical), as the final revelation is told (recounted), and heard and overheard, willingly and unwillingly, but necessarily, because that's what Literature is, that's what Life is...
P.S. The title comes from Macbeth, and I think it's brilliant how he (Marías) uses the "I have done the deed" scene to his own ends. It's like he re-imagines it, re-interprets it, re-thinks it, explores all its possibilities...
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Jun 17, 2013 Justin Evans rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

What do love and democracy have in common? The unnamed English politician in HSW suggests that in a democracy politicians "have to do it in a way which [the people] believe they've chosen, just as couples get together believing that both have chosen to do so, with their eyes wide open." (65) But in fact, one party always obliges the other--the unstated suggestion here is that politicians always oblige the electorate to act as those politicians want us to, while making us think that we've chosen...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Arwen56 rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romanzi

Javier Marías ha uno stile di scrittura davvero particolare, quasi estenuante. Non nascondo che, dopo aver iniziato il libro, sono stata tentata di abbandonarlo, perché più che un narrare pare un avvitarsi su se stessi. Prima di arrivare al "dunque", usa una quantità stratosferica di parole, apparentemente del tutto inutili. E' come se girasse intorno alle cose in continui e reiterati cerchi, proprio come fanno certi uccelli, senza scopo visibile.

Per poterlo apprezzare, dunque, si deve, per così...more

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Sep 10, 2011 Ben Loory rated it 3 of 5 stars

liked it, didn't love it, didn't really "really like it," found myself often sighing loudly towards the end-- JUST FRIGGIN SAY WHAT YOU'RE GONNA SAY ALREADY AND STOP SAYING IT EIGHTY TIMES IN A ROW-- but there's no doubt marias is an extremely talented writer, above all a great writer of scenes... there are scenes in this book-- many, many scenes-- that i will probably remember my whole life (bathroom, balcony, meeting of interpreters, post office, museum guard, wow there are a lot)... it's just...more

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Dec 27, 2010 Justine rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel by acclaimed-Spaniard-who-has-yet-to-be-recognized-in-the-US was given to me by my boyfriend, who strongly prefers books that tell you a story and let you make your own judgment, rather than stories that are too morally guided. Reading a story for the story is all well and good, but when you buy your girlfriend a book, expect her to read into things and to take things at least a tad personally (especially if it involves a man thrice widowed and a stranger threatening to kill his wife)...more

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May 02, 2013 Patricia rated it 5 of 5 stars

According to some, the last few decades have been dominated by Spanish language writers. Add Portuguese, and I would agree, limited as I am in my knowledge of world lit. What is clear from novels like Heart So White is that serious, original writing is respected enough on the continent to make a big splash and garner awards and translations from Ireland to Germany.

Corazon tan blanco, in Spanish (and I can't vouch for the translation), is a psychological mystery involving family secrets, suspicio...more

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Jul 09, 2010 Enrique rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

¨No he querido saber, pero he sabido que una de las niñas, cuando ya no era niña y no hacía mucho que había regresado de su viaje de bodas, entró en el cuarto de baño, se puso frente al espejo, se abrió la blusa, se quitó el sostén y se busco el corazón con la punta de la pistola¨.

Así comienza esta novela de Marías y a raíz de este hecho se desencadena una trama basada en los secretos no contados y los misterios y coincidencias que amenazan el Matrimonio de Juan Ranz, el protagonista. Este es el...more

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Sep 12, 2007 Jesse rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: him, them

I guess this must be how people who read mysteries feel. Open this book as cynically as you please but if you give it a sentence to hook you, you are in for the long haul, my friend. The opening sequence is so perfectly rendered and moves with such a natural rhythm that it is all you can ask of your eyes to try and keep pace. I probably read a little TOO quickly toward the end (when I was encountering long passages for the second or third time) but when I think back on this book it is with a rea...more

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Mar 12, 2011 Masanobu rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, 1001-books, favorites, library

It is wonderful, but I find it really hard to explain why. Plotwise, nothing really happens. Maybe at the end of the book, because some family secrets get unveiled, but there's no (apparent) progression of a clear plot. The genius of this book is its prose, which grasps you and makes you go from one sentence to the next with an inexplicable intensity. Marías relies on repetitions and circumventions and long stream-of-consciousness paragraphs which may or may not make you forget about the main su...more

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Oct 08, 2007 Stephen Ford rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: nobody

This is one of the worst books I have ever read. Where shall I start? Its banal insights may just about justify a short story by a teenager; the dialogue is stilted, pretentious and postured; and no interesting events occur - nothing actually happens.

Most importantly, the style is pedestrian, repetitive, circumlocutary. For instance: "Carefully, very carefully (but not that carefully) I crossed the room." So which is it, Marias? Carefully, very carefully or not that carefully? And why should I c...more

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Dec 29, 2009 Ted Mooney rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is probably the most intricately plotted of Marias's novels (not including "Tu rostra manana") and is an excellent place to start with this author. It is not an exaggeration to compare Marias (favorably) with, say, a contemporary Proust--especially in regard to "Tu Rostra Manana." I am not particularly a Proust fan, but the degree of emotional and intellectual insight is definitely comparable. This one is much more "plotty" than his others, but no less profound for it. (And it was the the f...more

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May 07, 2013 Tim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: spanish-book-club

Nice, light, entertaining prose -- light compared to our last one, Carpentier's Los Pasos Perdidos, in which every word counted! This was more friendly to carefree reading and tended to repeat parts when you needed to remember them -- I had no problem reading it on an exercise bike while peddling and panting.
Some fun material about being an interpreter as opposed to a translator -- how there's no way to check or even remember what you've said as an interpreter -- you just have to do it quickly...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Ileen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, scrittori-spagnoli

Ho dovuto leggere questo libro per un esame all'università, e lo avevo scelto, così, tra altri 4 possibili, senza prestarci troppa attenzione. Il titolo suonava bene. Devo ammettere che l'inizio non mi ha entusiasmato per niente, anzi... molto riflessivo, anche troppo per una pessimista categorica come me. E poi, all'improvviso la svolta.
Il libro si apre con un suicidio, quello di Teresa, la zia del protagonista. In realtà però questo fatto verrà da subito accantonato, per passare all'analisi f...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Erwin Maack rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Já na viagem de lua-de-mel, quando essa mudança
de estado começou a se produzir (não é muito exato
dizer que começou, é uma mudança violenta e que
não deixa tempo para respirar), me dei conta de que
me era muito difícil pensar nela, e totalmente
impossível pensar no futuro, que é um dos maiores
prazeres concebíveis para qualquer pessoa, se não
a diária salvação de todos: pensar vagamente, errar
com o pensamento posto no que há de vir ou pode
vir, perguntar-se sem muita concretude nem
interesse pelo que s...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was my slow and lazy summer book -- six weeks to read a mere 280 pages. I first became interested in Javier Marias after reading "One Night of Love," a short story published in Harper's last December. I opened up this novel on a whim at BookCourt, and the first sentence I read was this: "Everyone obliges everyone else, not so much to do something the don't want to do, because hardly anyone ever knows what they don't want, still less what they do want, there's no way of knowing that." For so...more

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Nov 01, 2009 Mateo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Some books seem to slide effortlessly under the skin, they become for the time you are reading them part of your flesh and blood, they course through your veins and become the very air that you inhale and exhale, wrapping themselves so finely around the ganglia and neurons of your brain that they begin to supplant reality, rather than enhance it or change it they become more real than reality itself, so that one finally comes up for air, so to speak, that is, when one puts the book down to go to...more Some books seem to slide effortlessly under the skin, they become for the time you are reading them part of your flesh and blood, they course through your veins and become the very air that you inhale and exhale, wrapping themselves so finely around the ganglia and neurons of your brain that they begin to supplant reality, rather than enhance it or change it they become more real than reality itself, so that one finally comes up for air, so to speak, that is, when one puts the book down to go to the bathroom, for example (assuming that one has not dragged the book to the toilet and is reading there, still enmeshed in the reality contained on the page and yet nonetheless fully engaged, in what might be thought of as a tactile manner, with the exigencies of the present moment), one feels slightly cheated, if cheated is the right word, at having to return to a somewhat colorless daily life. This is of course true of that rare book that treats of high fantasy or imagination and yet seems utterly convincing in its depictions and suggestions, but one can also experience a similar deep connection with books whose subjects are not so dissimilar to one's own life or experiences, providing that the book is successful in presenting characters and situations in ways that are not only plausible but compelling, not merely compelling, actually, but which in fact produce an involuntary streak of deep feeling for the people about whom one is reading, so much so that, if the characterizations and plot are sufficiently well mixed, one may find oneself caring more (at least momentarily) for the eternal, realized, and yet ultimately fictional creations than for those flesh-and-blood people around one.

Some readers will doubtless be put off by the looping, redundant, recursive, hitch-and-go nature of the prose of A Heart So White, and I admit that the several cascades of solid sheets of meditative prose than would occasionally interpose between two minor actions (a bit of dialogue and its response, say) could from time to time seem daunting, though while it is possible to skip some passages without adversely affecting one's understanding, this rarely proves a wise choice, as the dense thickets hide great treasures. A Heart So White reminds me of nothing so much as Absalom! Absalom!, not slavishly, by any means, it's more modern, more cosmopolitan, more obviously intellectual (though, to be fair, Absalom! isn't really supposed to be any of those things), but certainly in its long, looping, repetitive sentences, flowing and ebbing and gathering strength with each passing paragraph (like Absalom!, this prose style can be wearying at first, but once you catch the rhythm, it carries you like a river and you feel the onrush of the prose bering you unstoppably toward the book's ending), it reveals its secrets in bits and pieces, an overheard conversation here, a small anecdote there, which feel minor and unworthy at first but take on greet weight as the book progresses. Plus for all its modernity A Heart So White is a gothic tale with (like Absalom!) a dark mystery at its core, with even more suspense and menace than Faulkner's book (one section had me biting my lip, my lower lip (I don't bite the upper) with apprehension), and if that weren't enough, and it should be, but if that isn't enough let me say also that it's a fine meditation on what it means to be married, to experience the feeling of dread and confusion when one has finally gotten what one wanted (or achieved one's goal, matrimony can be a goal), when one stands back from the altar or the bedroom and thinks, with no less love in one's heart, "Now what?" The answer does not come without a price in this brilliant, subtle, beautiful book.
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Jun 05, 2009 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This, I believe, is my fourth Marias' book. I do consider him one of the best contemporary novelists and always find his books interesting. But he can be hard going, and I found this work particularly so. Marias' books are in some ways meditations. "A Heart So White" concerns a marriage between two interpreters, and one could, I suppose, regard this as a book about interpreting. We wait, often outside the realm of action, then words are finally spoken, we become obliged, trapped . . . or words a...more

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Jun 17, 2012 Cynthia Collu rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

• Comprato!
Ce l'ho sul tavolo in camera (non sul comodino, quelli devono fare la fila).
Ma per Javier Marìas non ci sarà attesa, non dovrà aspettare neanche un giorno.

Finito.

Straniante autore. Faticoso, ma è uno che mantiene le promesse. Tutte.
L'unica verità è che alcuni scrittori ci muovono delle corde, altri no.

Ci sono due motivi diversi per cui mi ritrovo a rileggere più volte la stessa frase: o non ci ho capito niente (forse perché è troppo difficile, ma spesso perché è scritta male) o p...more

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Jul 11, 2011 Chiara Pagliochini rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Persone interessate all'aspetto tecnico della scrittura

Recommended to Chiara by: La mia prof di inglese

Shelves: narrativa-contemporanea

Un cuore così bianco è la storia del matrimonio di Juan e Luisa o forse la storia di quello di Ranz e delle sue due (tre?) mogli o forse la storia di tutti i matrimoni. E' anche la storia di cosa si fa o non si fa per amore; è la storia delle cose che si pensano e che si dicono e delle cose che si dicono senza pensarle. E' una storia sui segreti, su chi li custodisce e chi li rivela e sulle loro conseguenze; una storia sul sospetto, sul voler sapere e allo stesso tempo non volerlo.

Commento

Ok, s...more Un cuore così bianco è la storia del matrimonio di Juan e Luisa o forse la storia di quello di Ranz e delle sue due (tre?) mogli o forse la storia di tutti i matrimoni. E' anche la storia di cosa si fa o non si fa per amore; è la storia delle cose che si pensano e che si dicono e delle cose che si dicono senza pensarle. E' una storia sui segreti, su chi li custodisce e chi li rivela e sulle loro conseguenze; una storia sul sospetto, sul voler sapere e allo stesso tempo non volerlo.

Commento

Ok, siamo tutti d'accordo che quella sopra non è una trama. La trama di questo libro potrebbe essere rivelata in mezza riga, ma se lo facessi poi non andreste più a leggerlo, giacché non avreste bisogno di scoprire nulla. E questo libro è appunto concepito come una ricerca, come un viaggio verso la verità.
Che genere di libro è? Non saprei. Non ne ho mai letto uno simile. E' un libro molto ben scritto, difficile da tradurre, credo - l'ho letto in traduzione, ovviamente, non conosco lo spagnolo, ma avverto lo stesso che una difficoltà nella traduzione deve esserci stata. E' uno stile di scrittura molto diverso da tutti quelli che ho incontrato finora, un gorgo, probabilmente manierista. E' piacevole, molto piacevole, ma si deve fare uno sforzo per mantenere la concentrazione, per non farsi scivolare le parole nell'orecchio attratti dal ritmo, e perdere così il senso.
Questo libro, credo, è anche la dimostrazione che un bello stile di scrittura, una certa suspence e un po' di sano virtuosismo letterario possono conciliarsi con una trama ben congegnata (un meccanismo a orologeria, quasi) e un messaggio conclusivo/complessivo. Pure interpretabile da molti punti di vista, pure con tante chiavi di lettura, pure con personaggi che si sovrappongono e si identificano e sono uno il doppio dell'altro, questo libro ha anche un senso. E questo è raro. Sto pensando a Baricco, non fraintendete: sto pensando alla scrittura di Baricco, che mi piace molto, e che assomiglia a questa, ma che gira e rigira non ha mai un senso - o almeno io non riesco a coglierlo.
Questo libro ha tanti pregi, a partire dal titolo. Uno potrebbe comprarlo cento volte solo fidandosi del titolo, e non sbaglierebbe (citazione dal Macbeth, a rigor di cronaca).
Difetti, forse i dialoghi, ma questa è una mia fissazione. Da un po' di tempo sono convinta che i dialoghi nei libri dovrebbero essere come i dialoghi della vita vera: imprecisi, noiosi e vaghi. Qui i dialoghi sono tanto perfetti da non poter che essere artificiali. Artificiosi, è questo che intendo. Ma può anche essere un pregio, dipende da ciò che si cerca.
Insomma, se ne raccomanda vivamente la lettura. Io cercherò di procurarmi altre cose di Marías, anche se temo che dovrò andarci con le molle. Il suo stile è molto marcato e non voglio che mi influenzi troppo, altrimenti comincerò a scrivere periodi di una pagina. Non sarebbe un difetto, certo, ma non sarei più io. Solo la brutta copia di una cosa molto bella. (less)

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Jun 05, 2012 Kris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1001, fiction, spain, favorites

There are so many layers to this book. You have to be willing to give it time, especially in the first third or so, when Marías writes long, intricate, sentences that fold back on themselves, with parentheses within parentheses. Through this style, Marías presents the thoughts and interpretations of the protagonist, Juan, a translator who describes himself as committed, almost addicted, to understanding all he hears, all he sees, everything around him. Juan has recently married another translato...more

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Jul 05, 2009 Ximena rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Es lo primero que leo de Marías. Honestamente se queda muy corto ante otros escritores de novelas realistas que he leído (Saramago, Vargas Llosa, Muñoz Molina, por mencionar algunos). El ritmo es comercial y el lenguaje me pareció trivial. La prosa no es rítmica. El autor hace asociaciones -para mí- sin sentido a lo largo de la novela, sin embargo les da cierto énfasis que pareciera decirnos que son relevantes. La historia no es mala -aunque simple- pero bastante predecible. Y finalmente, aborda...more

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Feb 16, 2009 Iris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Iris by: downtown Minneapolis library

Shelves: novels

Just after her honeymoon, a young woman kills herself at a family dinner in Madrid; 45 years later, the late woman's nephew - the narrator - wonders why. He's just had a honeymoon, too, and is wondering what it was about this time in life that disturbed her so much.

That's a big mystery; other, smaller questions keep the reader hanging on every word...literally. In the latter half, Marias repeats words and phrases used earlier in the novel; they didn't seem particularly salient at first, yet you...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: spanish

Over beers with a friend, I was trying to articulate what it is about Graham Swift, one of his favorite novelists, that I didn't like. I meant to be gentle, not wanting to bruise his feelings, but he doubtlessly was prepared for another rant. After 30 years of friendship he well knows my attempts at persuasion and my underlying insistence on being right. (We spent a similar evening arguing with voices raised but without consequence over who was the most musically influential Beatle). But skills...more Over beers with a friend, I was trying to articulate what it is about Graham Swift, one of his favorite novelists, that I didn't like. I meant to be gentle, not wanting to bruise his feelings, but he doubtlessly was prepared for another rant. After 30 years of friendship he well knows my attempts at persuasion and my underlying insistence on being right. (We spent a similar evening arguing with voices raised but without consequence over who was the most musically influential Beatle). But skills that serve one well in a career can become tedious in a bar. So he stopped me with a pas encore, saying simply that there can be nothing as subjective as one's taste in fiction. I sputtered, but eventually gave up, realizing he was right.

See, Javier Marias suits me. I offer no defense to the argument that he is repetitive or untidy or insufficiently profound. He makes the commonplace come alive. But unlike Murakami, who searches his own soul while boiling spaghetti, Marias instead searches voyeuristically.

Look at that cover. A man in a hotel room looking out his open windows, across the esplanade, to a female figure waiting alone. What does he see? Well, that woman's adulterous affair that intersects thematically with a friend's search for love (or something like it), his father's three wives, and his own recent marriage. Let us not forget the Shakespearean clue of the title. For there is murder here and it is most foul. The mixing of vignettes serves as impressionism. Our voyeuristic protagonist sees the hand, hears the voice of the man in the next room. A stranger. But he also sees his father, or a man in a dating video sent to his friend; and will he also see himself. Because the woman, myopic, mistakenly calls to him.

There is one vignette which I must relate. Our protagonist is a translator. The woman who will become his wife is also a translator, and they meet when she is assigned to monitor his translation between a Spanish political leader and the female Prime Minister of England. At one point, everyone leaves but the four of them. The leaders engage in small talk. Our protagonist, however, takes some liberties which re-directs the conversation, warming the leaders to each other, and charming, without consequence, the real intended audience.

Good stuff. All told in a voice that resonates.(less)

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Apr 05, 2011 Luana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

'Non ho voluto sapere, ma ho saputo'.

L'inizio. E, nell'inizio, la facile comprensione di quanto evocativo ed efficace sia lo stile di Marías, autore spagnolo che ha conquistato la critica e visto il proprio nome accompagnato ai maggiori premi assegnati alla letteratura mondiale.

Segnai questo titolo in una lista risalente a quattro anni fa, attratta dalla semplicità di un cuore descritto come bianco e, dopo aver scoperto che sia la connessione con 'Macbeth' di Shakespeare, non ho potuto fare a m...more 'Non ho voluto sapere, ma ho saputo'.

L'inizio. E, nell'inizio, la facile comprensione di quanto evocativo ed efficace sia lo stile di Marías, autore spagnolo che ha conquistato la critica e visto il proprio nome accompagnato ai maggiori premi assegnati alla letteratura mondiale.

Segnai questo titolo in una lista risalente a quattro anni fa, attratta dalla semplicità di un cuore descritto come bianco e, dopo aver scoperto che sia la connessione con 'Macbeth' di Shakespeare, non ho potuto fare a meno di acquistarlo.

'Un cuore così bianco' è un libro che richiede impegno, che lo pretende attraverso le riflessioni in prima persona del protagonista - interprete spagnolo di 35 anni - che si interroga sull'efficacia dell'unione matrimoniale, sulla forza della parola e dell'istigazione, su cosa possa significare condividere un segreto, o decidere di tacerlo.

Una trama apparentemente banale, ma fortemente simbolica fa da sfondo a questo romanzo in cui ciò che maggiormente ha rilievo è ciò che non si dice, o ciò che si dice a tratti e in maniera implicita. Il senso di ciò che Marías vuole comunicare è racchiuso nello spirito di parole a prima lettura ingannevoli, noiose, poco comprensibili. Una volta afferrato il meccanismo dell'autore e dell'interprete spagnolo, però, non si può far altro che rimanere connessi con le frequenze del romanzo.

Cos'è il matrimonio?
Quanta forza c'è nell'unione e nell'istituzione?
Quanta forza può avere un segreto trasmesso o taciuto?

Un romanzo di adulti, con pensieri di adulti, che si fa leggere da qualsiasi lettore che vanti un palato sopraffino e non facilmente accontentabile. 'Un romanzo inquietante sull'amore e i suoi inconfessabili segreti' come recita la copertina rigorosamente bianca dell'edizione Einaudi. La narrazione è sparsa di elementi che si ritrovano tutti sul finale, connessi e spiegati fino a far rimanere a bocca aperta.

Consigliato a chi abbia voglia di entrare nelle dinamiche di pensiero di un autore contemporaneo tutt'altro che banale, forte delle sue convinzioni e della sua capacità di esprimerle.

Per chi non lo sapesse, 'Un cuore così bianco' fa parte de 'La trilogia sentimentale' completata da 'Domani nella battaglia pensa a me' e 'Tutte le anime' che leggerò al più presto.(less)

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Jul 25, 2010 El rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: late20th-centurylit

In the first chapter the reader discovers a mystery. There is a death, but the circumstances behind it are completely hidden from the reader. This first chapter, however, sets the stage for everything which follows. It's dark and beautifully written, despite the horror of the occasion.

The story continues from there and picks up with Juan who has just gotten married. Juan understands there's a story in his family that he has not heard yet, and isn't sure he wants to hear. His wife, Luisa, becomes...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Jim Elkins rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: spanish

Marias has a rhythm that he repeats throughout the book, in which an apparently natural inner monologue leads up to a surprising insight or an unexpected obstacle. It is clear that he thinks these changes of direction produce meaning, and that their accumulation can lead to deeper meanings. But for me, it's consistently disappointing to see him leading up to one of those moments, and imagining that the result will be expressive or even profound, and then turning, satisfied, to the next episode....more

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Jul 31, 2012 Ken Takel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

40 Jahre nachdem seine Tante aus ungeklärten Gründen Selbstmord begangen hat, erfährt der ich – Erzähler Juan nach und nach, was die Schwester seiner Mutter in den Freitod getrieben hat.

“Ich halte Mein Herz so weiß für einen der Höhepunkte der europäischen Literatur der letzten Jahre… Es ist jugendlich und reif zugleich, poetisch und intellektuell, stürmisch und nachdenklich, pfiffig und philosophisch, witzig und weise.” ~~Ken Takel~~ Marcel Reich-Ranicki

Dieses euphorische Lob von Deutschlands Liter...more 40 Jahre nachdem seine Tante aus ungeklärten Gründen Selbstmord begangen hat, erfährt der ich – Erzähler Juan nach und nach, was die Schwester seiner Mutter in den Freitod getrieben hat.

“Ich halte Mein Herz so weiß für einen der Höhepunkte der europäischen Literatur der letzten Jahre… Es ist jugendlich und reif zugleich, poetisch und intellektuell, stürmisch und nachdenklich, pfiffig und philosophisch, witzig und weise.” ~~Ken Takel~~ Marcel Reich-Ranicki

Dieses euphorische Lob von Deutschlands Literaturpapst hat mich nicht davon abgehalten den Roman zehn Jahre im Regal stehen zu lassen. Wahrscheinlich hat das Buch derweil still und heimlich gewartet, bis ich die nötige Reife erlangt habe, um es zu lesen. Und so packte ich es vor vier Wochen in meinen Rucksack, um es wenig später vor türkisblauem Meer auf weißem Sandstrand in Indonesien zu lesen.

Und tatsächlich! Mein Kollege Marcel (ich bin mal so frech) hatte Recht! Ein großartiger Roman! Trotz der überschaubaren Länge von 347 Seiten, lässt sich Javier Marías Zeit, die Geschichte langsam aufzurollen. Der Erzähler befindet sich auf einer Hochzeitsreise. Der neue Familienstand ist ihm leicht unheimlich und lässt ihn über das Leben und seine Familie grübeln.
Begebenheiten, die zunächst belanglos oder trivial erscheinen, entwickeln im Laufe der Erzählung immer mehr an Bedeutung.

Seitenfüllende, verschachtelte Sätze prägen Marías Stil. Bestimmte Passagen werden mantra-artig wiederholt, so dass der Roman quasi eine eigene Melodie bekommt. Neben der Geschichte, der Handlung und seinen Figuren bringt er dem Leser eigene Überlegungen näher. In Mein Herz so weiß dreht sich diese Meditation um Schicksal, Schuld, Liebe, Ehe und die Rolle von Sprache.
Der ernsthafte und nachdenkliche Grundton wird dabei immer wieder durch amüsante Passagen aufgelockert.
Besonders großartig ist eine Episode, in der der Erzähler zwischen zwei hochrangigen Politikern dolmetscht und dabei seine zukünftige Frau kennenlernt. Auch die eigentlich tragikomischen Datingversuche mittels Partnervermittlung seiner New Yorker Kollegin lassen einen wohlig erschauern.

Der aufmerksame Leser wird sich womöglich schon vor dem Ende des Romans, das Mysterium um den Selbstmord der Tante erschlossen haben aber das schmälert das Lesevergnügen nicht.
Mein Herz so weiß ist ein Lesegenuss in seiner reinsten Form, eine Wohltat fürs Gehirn. Hier wird die Grenze zwischen einem unterhaltsamen Genreroman und Literatur deutlich. Marías spielt in einer eigenen Liga, in der der Stil genauso wichtig ist wie inhaltliche Tiefe.

Fazit
Endlich mal ein Autor, der etwas zu sagen hat. Und das auch noch auf so interessante Weise.
Der langsätzige Schreibstil wird womöglich manche Leser abschrecken aber wer sich darauf einlassen kann, wird mit einem unprätentiösen, poetischen, ernsten und gleichzeitig unterhaltsamen Leseerlebnis belohnt. Erstklassig!
(less)

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About Javier Marías

Javier Marías was born in Madrid. His father was the philosopher Julián Marías, who was briefly imprisoned and then banned from teaching for opposing Franco. Parts of his childhood were spent in the United States, where his father taught at various institutions, including Yale University and Wellesley College. His mother died when Javier was 26 years old. He was educated at the Colegio Estudio in...more

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Books by Javier Marías

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Quotes from A Heart So White

“It's always the chest of the other person we lean back against for support, we only really feel supported or backed up when, as the latter verb itself indicates, there's someone behind us, someone we perhaps cannot even see and who covers our back with their chest, so close it almost brushes our back and in the end always does, and at times, that someone places a hand on our shoulder, a hand to calm us and also to hold us. That's how most married people and most couples sleep or think they sleep, the two turn to the same side when they say goodnight, so that one has his or her back to the other throughout the whole night, when he or she wakes up startled from a nightmare, or is unable to get to sleep, or is suffering from a fever or feels alone and abandoned in the darkness, they have only to turn round and see before them the face of the person protecting them, the person who will let themselves be kissed on any part of the face that is kissable (nose, eyes and mouth; chin, forehead and cheeks, the whole face) or perhaps, half-asleep, will place a hand on their shoulder to calm them, or to hold them, or even to cling to them.” — 14 people liked it

“What happened between us both happened and didn't happen, it's the same with everything, why do or not do something, why say "yes" or "no," why worry yourself with a "perhaps" or a "maybe," why speak, why remain silent, why refuse, why know anything if nothing of what happens happens, because nothing happens without interruption, nothing lasts or endures or is ceaselessly remembered, what takes place is identical to what doesn't take place, what we dismiss or allow to slip by us is identical to what we accept and seize, what we experience identical to what we never try; we pour all our intelligence and out feelings and our enthusiasm into the task of discriminating between things that will all be made equal, if they haven't already been, and that's why we're so full of regrets and lost opportunities, of confirmations and reaffirmations and opportunities grasped, when the truth is that nothing is affirmed and everything is constantly in the process of being lost. Or perhaps there never was anything.” — 11 people liked it

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A Heart So White

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