Javier Marķas
Heart So White
ISBN: 1-86046-339-8
HARVILL PRESS, 1997
Helga says:
Ouch!
The rating of this book is the result of the exaggeratedly high
expectations generated by all the relevant critics in the field. I still
remember Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Germany’s most influential critic, saying
in a voice trembling with emotion and wet eyes that this was THE novel.
Then he read a sentence aloud and declared it contained the essence of
life and couldn't be topped. I admit that this was years ago, but it
stirred my curiosity even though the whole story didn't sound like
something able to thrill me. But you never know.
The first few pages were really amusing. A couple meets while
interpreting incorrectly on purpose. Really a great idea. They marry and
spend their honeymoon in Havana. That's when the story starts dragging. I
swear I tried seriously not to give up, but I couldn't get into it. It was
some kind of literary quicksand. Maybe there was something wrong with my
basic attitude, or perhaps I was too tense or something. I tried to
discuss the book with a friend, but she was also stuck, and so was a
colleague. But I’m not one to give up that quickly. There are books you
have to plough your way through. But in vain. I took the book with me on
holiday, even more than once, where I might be relaxed and well rested
enough to read it. Sometimes a change of scenery works wonders. However, I
can't get past the first days in Havana.
Maybe this is truly a great book. If it is, I didn't get its greatness.
I read somewhere that the strength of Heart So White is its wealth
of details. A scene that only lasts ten seconds in real life can go on for
ten pages in the book. And that's exactly my impression: they fall in
love, they get engaged and marry – end of story. The rest is a
never-ending description of trivia, at least up to the point where I put
the book down. If you ask me, I like to have a bit of plot.
But let's look at the bright side of things: you get a lot for your
money if you consider how long it takes you to read it. Not bad.
I'll keep the book, in case a prolonged illness will strike me or if
I'll have to go to jail. But it really isn't something one must have read.
And sometimes I ask myself if Mr Reich-Ranicki was so deeply moved just
because he wanted to take revenge upon the TV audience. |
Any comments? Write us:
Helga
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