
Lejos de Veracruz
Anagrama, 1995; PRH/DeBolsillo, 2011
Translations
(France, Bourgois, 2000); (Portugal, Assírio & Alvim, 1995)
Press
«A metanovel, possibly the best published in this country in recent years...And with excellent results. Read it and pass it on.» Rafael Conte, Abc
«With this latest work, Vila-Matas has reached such a notable maturity and made such obvious progress that it might be difficult to perceive in the rest of our contemporary writers. A shining novel without a doubt.» Santos Alonso, Reseña
«Writing that borders on perfection.» Luis de la Peña, Quimera
«He digs like never before into his experience to set out, under the exaggerated moon of Veracruz, on his personal journey to the end of the night.» Ignacio Echevarría, El País
Synopsis
(A Long Way from Veracruz) What is left for us when we are already far from Veracruz, far from the volcano of last year’s passion, and, in short, already far away from life? For the youngest of the three Tenorio brothers, the narrator of this original and fascinating novel, all that is left is literature as a last refuge, as he is in a situation where almost the only thing he can do is write. Destroyed in life, this young layabout of 27 feels very old and tired, and on seeing that he has nothing better to do and nowhere better to drop down dead, at the end of the world, he sets about remembering and writing the story of his hatred for his family home, and also his failed attempts to be loved in different countries, which are distant from the monotony of repetitive days.
A battered hero of the novel of his own life, the last Tenorio writes, between the daily experience of his unrest and the memory of his descent to hell, a novel that wisely embraces both the figure of the unlucky modern guy and the rumour of an underlying essence that behind so much refuge and literature in the port of Veracruz: that tragic secret, already a tradition, which those who taste great and all embracing novels always end up discovering.
In the novel Lejos de Veracruz, Vila-Matas proceeds along the original path of his most recent narrative. In Una casa para siempre (1988) is a novelesque structure that is fragmented thematically. In Suicidios ejemplares (1991), on the other hand, a single theme – suicide – is fragmented structurally. In Hijos sin hijos (1993) we find a book of stories that is at the same time a novel. And now we have Lejos de Veracruz which, above all else, is a novel.
(Spain, Anagrama, 1995 / Pocket, Compactos, 2004)
- Cabinet d’amateur, an oblique novel
- Esta bruma insensata
- Impón tu suerte
- Doctor Pasavento + Bastian Schneider
- Mac y su contratiempo
- Marienbad eléctrico
- Bartleby y compañía
- Dietario Voluble
- Suicidios ejemplares
- Historia abreviada de la literatura portátil
- Kassel no invita a la lógica
- París no se acaba nunca
- Niña
- Fuera de aquí
- Extraña forma de vida
- El mal de Montano
- Aire de Dylan
- Hijos sin hijos
- Una vida absolutamente maravillosa. Ensayos selectos
- El viajero más lento. El arte de no terminar nada
- Chet Baker piensa en su arte. Relatos selectos
- En un lugar solitario. Narrativa 1973-1984
- Dublinesca
- Perder teorías
- Ella era Hemingway / No soy Auster
- El viento ligero en Parma
- Exploradores del abismo
- Desde la ciudad nerviosa
- El viaje vertical
- Para acabar con los números redondos
- Recuerdos inventados
- Una casa para siempre
- Impostura
- La asesina ilustrada
MB Authors Fiction
- Pablo ARANDA
- Juan Luis ARSUAGA
- Joan BARRIL
- Nuria BARRIOS
- Felipe BENÍTEZ REYES
- Max BESORA
- Joan-Daniel BEZSONOFF
- Juan BONILLA
- Emilio BUESO
- Leonardo CANO
- Martín CASARIEGO
- Nicolás CASARIEGO
- Paula CIFUENTES
- Juan CUADRA
- Cristina FALLARÁS
- Laura FERRERO
- Josep Maria FONALLERAS
- Albert FORNS CANAL
- Ignacio GARCÍA-VALIÑO
- José A. GARRIGA VELA
- Albert GASSULL
- David B. GIL
- Marcos GIRALT TORRENTE
- Ismael GRASA
- Javier GUTIÉRREZ
- Najat El HACHMI
- Alicia KOPF
- Use LAHOZ
- Lucía LIJTMAER
- Ignacio MARTÍNEZ DE PISóN
- Ana MERINO
- Luna MIGUEL
- Miquel OBIOLS
- Bruno ORO
- Miqui OTERO
- Vicenç PAGÈS JORDÀ
- Enric PARDO
- Concepción PEREA
- Juan Manuel DE PRADA
- Jordi PUNTÍ
- Llucia RAMIS
- Antonio J. RODRÍGUEZ
- Félix ROMEO
- Gemma RUIZ
- Màrius SERRA
- Aránzazu SERRANO LORENZO
- Ramon SOLSONA
- David TRUEBA
- Juan VICO
- Enrique VILA-MATAS
- Rolando VILLAZÓN
- Pedro ZARRALUKI