Javier Marias´s latest novel has come out in English in March 2013. For the title of this version the translator has chosen
The Infatuations. The original Spanish title is
Los Enamoramientos. It is not quite the same. I suppose that there is not an English word that translates the original with full accuracy. An infatuation is a kind of obsession of some sort or an all-absorbing interest for something, and a rather unusual or uncommon something in most cases. When you are
infatuated you can be totally attracted and engulfed, but love is not usually in the equation. We could describe an
enamoramiento as a sort of infatuation with love within it.
That said: with
The Infatuations, Marías creates another smart novel in a similar style as his 1992
A Heart so White. There is a violent murder here and a riddle, together with the characteristic Marias philosophical stream. Again, here is a page-turning
noir plot filled with reflections on life, love, death, obsession or guilt; and again the author manages to succeed in such a difficult balance.
Here is the
The Guardian review by Robert McCrum.
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