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While The Women Are Sleeping (1990)

by Javier Marías(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0811216632 (ISBN13: 9780811216630)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

New Directions

review 1: Javier Marias is not primarily known as a writer of gothic fiction. This slender collection brings together a number of “dark tales” which he wrote over the past decades, including a number of fine ghost stories. Marias is a noted Anglophile and he tends to avoid shock and horror in favour of an elegant and understated style of narration more typical of the English ghost story tradition. The fear which haunts many of the (male) protagonists is a very “human” sense of insecurity, especially in their relationship with women – tellingly, the narrators of two of the stories face an identity crisis after they meet their doppelganger. In this light, the title of the book assumes a metaphorical significance. An interesting modern take on an established g... moreenre.
review 2: Suppose someone twisted their back at work. Sure, it hurt but it was the end of the day. Going home, suppose some guy noshed on bread and hummus and watched some of the Arsenal/West Brom match. Discomfort was on the rise. Adjourning to the bedroom, the sad sack aquiesced to the attentions of his Mrs -- Ibuprfin and icy hot topical patches ensued. Cracking the cover of this garish hardcover, escape and relief were foremost on the menu. What followed was a seasonal array of doppelgängers and mirrored existences, almost Borgesian but still mired in the sarortial vortexes of Marias' Madrid. There is alwasy an air of slight and social pugilism at play: perhaps this collection could be noted as Pride and Paradox or, maybe, When to Wear Socks? I do not know. It was read to the end and merciful sleep arrived. less

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