Juan Marsé (1933–2020)

This clever and strangely beautiful novel is set in Barcelona in 1945, as World War II draws to a close and Generalísimo Francisco Franco is slowly and brutally gaining control over the remaining opposition to his fascist rule of Spain. The book is narrated by the unborn child of Rosa, a beautiful redhead whose husband has disappeared after he is sought by police on the suspicion that he is participating in subversive political activities. The unnamed fetus communicates with his brother show more David, a 14 year old who unabashedly loves, supports and protects his mother while blaming the fetus for her failing health. David also engages in surreal conversations with his missing father, a British fighter pilot whose poster hangs on the wall of his room, and his older brother. At the same time he befriends Paulino, an equally troubled boy of his age, and attempts to protect his mother from Inspector Galván, a widower who is investigating his father's disappearance while he showers Rosa with attention and gifts.

David's internal conversations and external relationships are the central feature of the novel, and although the characters are vividly drawn the reader is never completely sure where truth ends and fantasy begins, which creates a growing sense of uncertainty, tension and menace, as the lives of David, Rosa and Paulino spin like wobbly tops at the edge of a table.

Lizard Tails is a gripping story about post-Civil War Spain and the psychological effects that the Franco regime had on ordinary citizens and their oppressors, which was quite unique in its narration and humorous despite its grim setting. Juan Marsé is one of the most respected and decorated Catalan novelists, and this book, which won two major literary awards in Spain, served as an excellent introduction to his work. show less

Rabos de lagartija
Juan Marsé
Publicado: 2000 | 246 páginas
Novela Drama

Los inolvidables personajes de esta novela, como la entrañable y desgarrada pareja formada por el adolescente David y su perro Chispa, el enamorado inspector Galván, o Rosa Bartra, la hermosa pelirroja embarazada, obedecen a una tristeza y una estafa histórica muy concretas, pero también a la estafa eterna de los sueños, encarnada aquí por las fantasmales apariciones de un padre libertario fugitivo y de un show more arrogante piloto de la RAF que, desde la vieja fotografía de una revista colgada en la pared, actúa como confidente del fantasioso David. Con estos personajes, con un lenguaje directo y translúcido que contrasta con la honda carga emotiva y moral que discurre por debajo de la trama, Rabos de lagartija, dotada de una estructura narrativa tan sabia como imaginativa, y mostrando cuán frágiles y ambiguos son los límites entre la realidad y la ficción, la verdad y la mentira, el Bien y el Mal, el amor y el desamor, corrobora la condición de Juan Marsé como uno de los novelistas mayores, no sólo de las Letras Hispanas, sino de las actuales narrativas europeas. show less

Ringo is an adolescent boy, growing up in the politically charged era just after the 2nd world war, in Barcelona. The town has many people on the cusp of poverty, including his family. In addition, the aftermath of the Spanish civil war means various draconian laws and arrests. Barcelona also has to cope with the question of Catalonian independence. This is the backdrop to the story, but it's also about vibrant, almost magical realist, characters.

Ringo himself is growing up with grand show more delusional ambitions to be a concert pianist, until he carelessly loses a finger as a jewellery apprentice. He often lives in a fantasy world in his head, which he readily enthralls his friend with, when spinning his stories. His hormones, like many adolescent boys, are also in full swing, and he seems to fall in love - or rather lust - in almost every chapter.

The fulcrum of the story, and how it begins, is via Senora Mir, whose daughter Ringo has a huge crush on. She melodramatically attempts suicide by lying across tram tracks - that haven't seen a tram pass them in years. The reason is that her lover has spurned her. Later on it seems as if he's still interested and will send her some letter of import very soon. Every day she goes to the local bar to check if it's arrived.

One day, by chance, Ringo meets up with this lover, quite a charlatan, who gives Ringo the letter to deliver.

SPOILER WARNING: Ringo loses the letter, and is haunted by this mistake for half the book. Eventually he writes an incredibly ham-fisted attempt at a substitute when Senora Mir falls ill, he assumes partly of a broken heart. But the letter was never meant for her, but her teenage daughter, that this man had fallen in love with. This raises many questions that the book doesn't answer. Is this lover deluded too in how much of a relationship he had with this daughter? How much did Senora Mir know about this? Was she trying to cover for or protect her daughter? It's hard to tell, but what's clear is that there's a general mood of resigned desparation to everything in the novel. And the whole idea of fantasy imposed on reality pervades the novel, again making it verge on magic realism at times.

This is a much richer novel than it first appears. It's not just a well observed teen boy coming of age novel. It's not just a delicate portrait of a turbulent time in Barcelona history. There is also a deep undercurrent of how loosely we can be connected to reality, driven by the troubled, unhappy lives we can lead. show less

El Pijoaparte, protagonista de esta novela, es uno de esos raros y afortunados personajes de ficción que han venido a incorporarse a la imaginación colectiva y al lenguaje común, como representación magistral de un tipo de la clase baja y marginada que posee, con los atractivos de la juventud, el descaro y la aspiración de realizar un sueño de prestigio social concretado en Teresa, la hermosa muchacha rubia, estudiante e hija de la burguesía. La historia de amor de la niña de buena show more familia y el joven charnego enlazará todo un mundo de hampones y burgueses, criadas e hijos de papá progresistas que configuran esta novela a la vez romántica y sarcástica, dura e ideal, galardonada con el Premio Biblioteca Breve en 1965. show less