From Spain with Love

In the introduction to Narralogues (2000), Ronald Sukenick cites modernists such as Marcel Proust, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, Samuel Beckett, and Henry Miller as examples of writers who effectively merge the strains of mimetic representation in fiction with a rhetorical tradition that dates back to Aristotle. Sukenick claims that the aforementioned "writers combine the two lines of evolution in a variety of ways, and their work may yield fresh insights when regarded from a rhetorical point of view." He later continues by making a distinction between those who read primarily for entertainment and those of us who read fiction as "a way to knowledge rather than a way to goof off" and proposes that "[i]n the fluxy world of Postmodernism, fiction needs to be less representational and more rhetorical." It seems the same trend continues in contemporary fiction in the sense that any work that appears to do little more than entertain, simply imitating old forms and offering little more than watered-down insight, is subject to careful scrutiny by most astute readers of literary fiction. As one sifts through the countless books that are marketed as "literary fiction," the truth of Sukenick's sentiments resounds for readers who long for intellectual stimulation and artistic vigor, not pale imitation and mind-numbing verisimilitude that seldom ventures into the realm of the figurative. The critical reader craves substance, and if such substance is embedded in an entertaining, albeit conventional, plotline, all the better. However, it seems few contemporary authors have willingly or successfully infused the "page-turner" type book with enough philosophical depth and thought-provoking metafictional insight to warrant the attention of postmodern literary types. Of course, such writers do exist, although they are frequently relegated to the classification of modernists trying to keep pace in a post-postmodern world, archaic traditionalists who are trying to find a place in the contemporary literary landscape. Perhaps there is some justification in ignoring those writers who are less experimental from a formal and linguistic standpoint, but there is a danger in simply dismissing writers who continue to both challenge and engage the reader in the vein of Proust, Joyce, Miller, and company. Furthermore, some so-called "experimental writing" results in more technical gimmickry than rhetorical substance, missing the point, as some of its proponents' familiarity with the evolution and traditions of fiction does not extend too far beyond current trends; the result is often interesting in a trendy, superficial manner only, as it blindly imitates true innovators, such as Sukenick, Donald Barthelme, or Barry Hannah.

Marías is a writer who knows language, loves language, and is truly masterful in exploiting form to its fullest extent.

Style and form constantly change as trends come and go, but good writing, over time, is typically characterized by the depth and layers of knowledge it can offer to the reader. One notable example of a writer who effectively provides substantial and insightful statements about contemporary society, manifested through a seemingly conventional and mimetic realism is Javier Marías. With the release of the English translation of Poison, Shadow and Farewell, the third volume of Marías's three part "novel," Your Face Tomorrow, a highly philosophical take on the contemporary world comes to fruition. In Your Face Tomorrow, one encounters a narrative of satiable intellectual value, yet, it is also the type of work that is engaging and quite pleasurable to read. Marías provides enough substance for those who appreciate a good text in the scope of Sukenick's argument, yet the work is highly suspenseful and quite engaging as a "spy novel," although not in the manner in which one might expect. Through Your Face Tomorrow, Marías explores a post-Cold War, post-9/11 world through the perspective of Jacques Deza, an academic turned master of perception and espionage, and an affiliate of the organization made famous by Ian Fleming's James Bond, the M16. There is an attempt in this...