Every once in a while, I get the urge to read a book in a foreign language. Thus, I read this book. By no means, this is this author’s best foot forward, but it feels as if he set out to examine the different forms of relationships among the Spanish as well as the vacationing foreigners.

Mostly, the stories take place when the characters are on vacation on beautiful settings of Spain, such as Malaga and other sites close to Barcelona, and they examine the understated discord among the characters who, without wanting to, grow apart during their vacationing.

What is so breathtaking is the author’s use of the language and the exquisite descriptions of both the settings and the actions, especially the reactions of his characters.

The book stages four different stories with different characters, but most of those address the same problems from different viewpoints.

The first story is narrated by a young man, a simple fisherman on the coast of Malaga, who is drawn to a Swedish couple of wealth and somewhat different ways of being, as the husband ignores the wife’s affair with the young fisherman. Yet, the fisherman ends up alienating his best friend Ramon because of his enchantment with this couple.

In the second story, the narrator is a husband with whom a young girl has fallen in love with; however, his relationship with his wife has become somewhat stale, and not because of the young girl, either.

In the third story, the story-teller is a wife whose jealous husband cannot get over her earlier infidelity.

The fourth and the longest story is told by Bruno, a handsome playboy friend of a couple, Miguel and Mara. Miguel is Bruno’s old best friend whom he has come to seek after living out of the country. Bruno, however, without wanting to, ends up straining the marital relationship although there is no real infidelity between him and Mara, as Mara has asked for his help with Miguel’s low moods.

the author's use of the language

that the stories weren't really linked, even though this was considered one novel.

Juan Goytisolo Gay (6 January 1931 – 4 June 2017) was a Spanish poet, essayist, and novelist. He was born in Barcelona and lived in Paris from 1956 then in Marrakesh from 1997 until his death in 2017. He was considered Spain's greatest living writer.

The book has been translated into English as The Party's Over, but I suspect the translation will not bear witness to the beauty of Goytisolo's use of his language.

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Created Jul 08, 2021 at 3:52pm • Submit your own review...