El día de mañana (review)

Ignacio Martínez de Pisón's latest novel, El día de mañana, does not disappoint the reader and maintains the same high standards of excellence as his prior novels, such as Dientes de leche (2008), El tiempo de las mujeres (2003), María Bonito (2000), and Carreteras secundarias (1996). Martínez de Pisón depicts every character with all of their psychological nuances so that the reader is curious about what happens to each one and why. The portrayals are very realistic and the reader is able to identify with the protagonists' positive and negative aspects, which add to the strength of the psychological development of each character. Another of the novel's assets is that the history of Spain during the1960s to the end of Franco's dictatorship is skillfully recounted in a series of narrations of different characters and their relationship to Justo Gil. Each chapter, told in first person, describes different reactions and the impact of Justo Gil on the character's life. There is no narration from Justo Gil; rather, the reader learns all about him through the others' stories. Justo Gil is the artistic device used to keep the narration together and to link the different characters.

Justo Gil, a recent immigrant to Barcelona from a small town, arrives penniless with his invalid mother. His most salient characteristics are his shortness of stature and his stuttering, which surprisingly enough do not deter him from pursuing the most beautiful women with great accomplishment. Upon meeting these women, Justo convinces them that he is madly in love with them, although he is fickle and capricious in his tastes and soon dissolves these relationships, but not before getting the women to part with substantial sums of money. His talent lies in his ability to convince people of his grandiose dreams and to invest funds in his hair-brained, get-rich-quick schemes. Part of Justo's charm, and the reason for his success, is his ability to convert himself into what the victims of his ruses need in that moment. The fact that the reader feels they know Justo intimately without ever hearing or reading his narrative voice is a testament to the talent of Martínez de Pisón.

Barcelona in a period of transition open to outside influences serves as the novel's setting. Although it takes place in Barcelona, the Catalonian capital is representative of all of Spain during the transition to democracy, especially the large cities. Unfortunately, the resistance to Franco's regime existed almost exclusively in industrialized cities while rural Spain remained somewhat immune to the process. The characters, who are exposed to external influences, discuss their exposure to movies with the American actress Jean Seberg, the English rock band The Rolling Stones, and Living Theatre. Nevertheless, it is of note that the religious and cultural influences of Franco still permeate everyday living, and the transition to a democracy after his death in 1975 is not an easy one. Martínez de Pisón does a wonderful job of narrating the historical events without any bias. One of the narrators is Marc Jordana, a staunch communist who plots to overthrow Franco's regime; another is Manuel Pérez, who belongs to various right wing Catalonian parties: CEDADE, Fuerza Joven, and Juventud Española en Pie. Both characters are presented in an objective way and the reader is able to better understand Spain and its great diversity in the political spectrum during the 1960s and 70s. Spain during these years, in contrast to the first two decades with Franco, is affected by outside historical events of that era such as the Vietnam War, Nixon's visit to Spain, the formation of US military bases in Spain, etc. The novel's success is that it depicts important historical and political events without becoming a treatise on either. 1976 is recounted with the presence of general strikes, protests, and assemblies to mark Spain's entrance into...