Point Books Toward A Heart So White
| Original Title: | Corazón tan blanco |
| ISBN: | 0811215059 (ISBN13: 9780811215053) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Custardoy, Juan Ranz, Luisa, Ranz, Berta, Teresa, Professor Villalobos, Miriam, Guillermo |
| Setting: | Madrid(Spain) Havana(Cuba) New York City, New York(United States) |
| Literary Awards: | Premio de la Crítica de narrativa castellana (1992), International Dublin Literary Award (1997) |
Javier Marías
Paperback | Pages: 280 pages Rating: 4.01 | 7880 Users | 765 Reviews
Particularize Containing Books A Heart So White
| Title | : | A Heart So White |
| Author | : | Javier Marías |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 280 pages |
| Published | : | May 17th 2002 by New Directions (first published February 13th 1992) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. European Literature. Spanish Literature. Cultural. Spain. Novels |
Description Conducive To Books A Heart So White
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. A Heart So White becomes a sort of anti-detective story of human nature. Intrigue; the sins of the father; the fraudulent and the genuine; marriage and strange repetitions of violence: Marías elegantly sends shafts of inquisitory light into the shadows and on to the costs of ambivalence. ("My hands are of your colour; but I shame/To wear a heart so white"—Shakespeare's Macbeth.)Rating Containing Books A Heart So White
Ratings: 4.01 From 7880 Users | 765 ReviewsCritique Containing Books A Heart So White
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 hisWhat do I wish to hear? About the present? The past, may be? Or a little tune on the waiting future? Do I wish to eavesdrop on my best friend to find out what she thinks of me when I am not around? Am I tempted to open a letter addressed to my partner with no overt allusion to my name or salutation on the envelope? Am I inclined to return to an unknown place just so I can hear a random conversation complete in my mind? Do I wish to pause a few seconds longer at the traffic so I can hear the
Introduction by Jonathan CoeI think it was Faulkner who once said that when you strike a match in a dark wilderness it is not in order to see anything better lighted, but just in order to see how much more darkness there is around. I think that literature does mainly that. It is not really supposed to answer things, not even to make them clearer, but rather to explore often blindly the huge areas of darkness, and show them better.Among other things, there is a certain rueful world-weariness
Go back to reading E.L James champ
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
I enjoyed this a lot, but it is not an easy book to summarise. Loosely it is a book about family secrets, communication and relationships, with a long-hidden tragedy at its core, and focuses on a son's attempts to understand his father's past and come to terms with the psychological effects of his recent marriage, written in a rich language with a lot of sudden changes of focus, and occasional repetitions. Trying to break it down like that doesn't convey how rewarding the read is.
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
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