Sunday, August 5, 2012

"Dublinesque" by Enrique Vila-Matas


Enrique Vila-Matas can't do wrong in my book.  "Dublinesque"  starts off with a publisher on his last publishing days, approaching 60, and an ex-drunk.  How can I not like this book?   There is a strong narrative in this novel, but like his other books its a full length literary criticism as well as its history told in a novel form.   The focus on "Dublinesque" is the world of James Joyce via the eyes of Samuel Beckett and other Irish writers.   Riba, the main character, is aware of the beginning of the dying days of literature - and is compelled to visit Dublin, a city that he never been to -in a sense pay his lasting respects to a certain type of literature.   It is also a picture of a marriage disappearing in the cracks of indifference, literature, and drink.   A wonderful book.

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