Dark Back of TimeFrom one of Spain's greatest writers—and the international bestselling, award-winning author of The Infatuations—comes an odyssey into the nature of identity and of time that weaves together fact and fiction into a completely original and unforgettable hybrid. "Stylish, cerebral...Marías is a startling talent...His prose is ambitious, ironic, philosophical, and ultimately compassionate." —The New York Times Called by its author a "false novel," Dark Back of Time begins with the tale of the odd effects of publishing All Souls, his witty and sardonic 1989 Oxford novel. All Souls is a book Marías swears to be fiction, but which its "characters"—the real-life dons and professors and bookshop owners who have "recognized themselves"—fiercely maintain to be a roman à clef. With the sleepy world of Oxford set into fretful motion by a world that never "existed," Dark Back of Time begins an odyssey into the nature of identity and of time. Marías weaves together autobiography, a legendary kingdom, strange ghostly literary figures, halls of mirrors, a one-eyed pilot, a curse in Havana, and a bullet lost in Mexico. |
Contents
| 7 | |
Section 2 | 12 |
Section 3 | 23 |
Section 4 | 31 |
Section 5 | 47 |
Section 6 | 58 |
Section 7 | 63 |
Section 8 | 76 |
Section 15 | 179 |
Section 16 | 183 |
Section 17 | 186 |
Section 18 | 208 |
Section 19 | 227 |
Section 20 | 234 |
Section 21 | 240 |
Section 22 | 247 |
Section 9 | 90 |
Section 10 | 118 |
Section 11 | 124 |
Section 12 | 142 |
Section 13 | 157 |
Section 14 | 171 |
Section 23 | 266 |
Section 24 | 285 |
Section 25 | 286 |
Section 26 | 322 |
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Common terms and phrases
Alabasters already appear Arthur Machen asked balcony believe born British brother bullet called Cardboard Crucifix character copy dead death Deuxième Bureau died Diestro Edkins English Eric Southworth everything eyes fact father fear fiction final Franco hand happened Hotel Isabel I’ve Ian Michael imagine Javier Marías John Gawsworth Juan Benet King of Redonda knew known later least letter literary lived longer look Madrid Manera Mexico City mother narrator never night novel novelist Oloff de Wet once Oxford passed perhaps person professor published Querejeta Redonda remember Rico roman à clef Scots Guards Señor Shiel someone Souls Spain Spanish Spanish Civil War speaking Stephen Graham Stone story strange tell there's thing thought tion Toby Rylands told took voice Völkischer Beobachter waiting wife Wilfrid Ewart woman word writing wrote