Javier Marias: The Infatuations

Well a MOST unusual fascinating and original book that has two great initial qualities:

It's unlike anything I have read before

It is not the sort of book I would have picked up to read so many thanks to Michael Pettet and Joannna Leach from whom it was a birthday gift.

It's the story of two obsessions, a woman and a man as well as being something of a meditation on truth and what and how we know it...and if we in fact tend to 'choose' the truths we believe. There is a marvellous slow burn of develop in terms of plot and I was remarkably involved as I read it.

The style is particularly unique and took some getting used to. The bulk of the novel is in the form of either long conversations between characters where both are remarkably speculative and exploratory, looking at all and every possibility of a situation or a remark...and the narrator frequently puts herself in the position of the person to whom she is talking and speculates and wonders in that way and style from that characters possible pint of view as well as her own. It's as if she is looking at a jewel very carefully and from every possible angle...if that makes sense.

At the end matters/the situation/truth is far less clear than it apparently was at the start.

Loved the way one Macbeth line (she should have died hereafter) runs as a thread through the story.

And must mention one more 'technical' matter. Both the discussions ( well answering monologues really) and inner dialogues, as well as being incredibly lengthy and thorough are characterised by very long sentences and paragraphs which to me effectively conveyed the subtlety of thought being shown. Must have been a challenge to translate!

Would love to hear from anyone else who has read this.