Eduardo Mendoza

Second adventure of Mendoza's anonymous "detective", who is once again busted out of the lunatic asylum by Inspector Flores to help the police in some extracurricular activities. This time it's an apparently simple courier job, delivering a briefcase full of ransom money, but needless to say it all goes horribly wrong, and our protagonist, acting throughout in the best traditions of the thriller genre, manages to make an already murky situation hopelessly confused, aided and abetted by a show more beautiful-but-unemployed actress and an elderly man in pyjamas. Along the way he has to adopt multiple disguises and deal with a corrupt theatrical agency and a sinister multinational olive-stuffing cartel, whilst the grand finale is a superbly over-the-top Ian Fleming parody.

Don't look for any logic in the plot: it's all tied together with nothing more than the power of narrative inevitability, and we are even less sure at the end of the book than we were at the beginning whether there was ever a mystery to be solved. But that's not the point: it's all gloriously entertaining, and the freedom it gives Mendoza to invent ridiculous situations pays off. show less

The first adventure of Mendoza's unnamed protagonist, who finds himself temporarily released from the asylum to investigate a series of disappearances from Barcelona's most distinguished girls' boarding school. Lots of entertaining spoof gothic fun with secret passages and fainting young women in nightgowns, and a satirical undercurrent in which we are shown how little things have changed with the recent transition from Francoism to democracy. The pace is rather manic, with all the show more traditional elements of the noir detective story - turned on their heads, naturally - packed into two or three hectic days. Mendoza says in his foreword to the recent reprints that he wrote the book on a whim and without any real plan, in the space of a single week of effort that must have been almost as hectic as the action of the story. And he clearly had a lot of fun doing it! show less

To declare a love of books is to say only half of a thing - there are books that you read because you have started reading them, and then there are books that so rekindle your love of literature that you yearn to read more, even when you reach the final page. This short novel, 'The Year of the Flood' by Eduardo Mendoza, definitely belongs in the latter category. Perfectly written - and impeccably translated by Nick Caistor, who also performed a remarkable job with 'Traveler of the Century' - show more it tells the story of Sister Consuelo and her discovery of her own innocence and naivete.

I am reluctant to reveal more of the plot, since the novel can be consumed in a day, and since the plot is only one part of the book's immeasurable charm. The language here, both in the descriptions and the dialogue, is masterful; now for me the choice is a stark one - should I pick up the next book and read some more, given how motivated to read I currently am; or should I sit at my computer and attempt to write a piece of my own? show less

I love a good historical mystery that really gives me new insights into the period in which it’s set. Eduardo Mendoza’s An Englishman in Madrid is just such a volume. Set on the cusp of the Spanish Civil War, An Englishman in Madrid follows the experiences of Anthony Whiltelands, a British art historian, who’s been sent to Madrid to value a nobleman’s collection of paintings—a collection the nobleman may have to liquidate quickly if the war’s onset forces him to flee the country. show more The collection is a disappointment, but then Whitelands discovers the nobleman own have a previously unknown Velázquez. The discovery could ignite Whiteland’s stagnant scholarly career—and give him a chance to outshine his main professional rival.

At the same time that Whitelands races to authenticate the painting, he also finds himself coming into contact with a variety of characters who will be involved in the Spanish Civil War. There’s the leader of Spain’s reactionary Falange movement; British diplomats and at least one spy; a mysterious Russian agent; Spain’s soon-to-be-deposed president; General Francisco Franco, who will become the leader of fascist Spain; and Spanish security forces. Mendoza’s novel caputres the chaos of the time, particularly the many motives—personal, altruistic, and mistaken—that drive pre-war Spanish politics.

This is a novel that’s doubly worth reading, both for its story line and for its context. The prose of Caistor’s translation is sleek, helping to propel the chaotic events of the novel forward. Mendoza writes with a mix of cynicism and insight that is both heart-breaking and, at moments, hilarious. show less