An impressive message and concept, but with a somewhat boring delivery. Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me by Javier Marías takes place in Madrid, Spain.
Location: set in Madrid, Spain
Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me Synopsis
“No one ever suspects,” begins Tomorrow in the Battle Think On Me, “that they might one day find themselves with a dead woman in their arms….” Marta has just met Victor when she invites him to dinner at her Madrid apartment while her husband is away on business. When her two-year-old son finally falls asleep, Marta and Victor retreat to the bedroom. Undressing, she suddenly feels ill; and in his arms, inexplicably, she dies.
What should Victor do? Remove the compromising tape from the phone machine? Leave food for the child, for breakfast? These are just his first steps, but he soon takes matters further; unable to bear the shadows and the unknowing, Victor plunges into dark waters. And Javier Marías, Europe’s master of secrets, of what lies reveal and truth may conceal, is on sure ground in this profound, quirky, and marvelous novel.
Book review
I read Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me in preparation for my trip to Madrid. The story takes place in Madrid and the author, Javier Marías, is a Madrilenian. Most of the sites mentioned (like Calle de Conde de la Cimera, crossing at Reina Victoria and Hospital de la Luz) are in or near the Vallehermoso neighborhood north of the city center of Madrid.
Just like this quote on page 49: “I can tell the story and I can therefore explain the transition from life to death, which is a way of both prolonging that life and of accepting that death”, the long monologue of the main character, Victor, prolongs my reading time. That doesn’t take away the from fact that the quote itself is beautiful, well-timed and delivered as an ode to Marta.
Victor goes on and on about the night that is at the center of the whole story. He describes all the objects in the room, using long sentences and many lingering thoughts. You almost forget something serious is going on. His thoughts turn to morbid analogies as Marta nears death and her dead body joins his fantasies after she dies.
The guy obviously likes to think things through. So much that he seems undecided and almost incapable of taking action. Don’t expect him to inspire you. If you follow his example you’ll feel as immobile as the main character. As I was looking for inspiration for my trip, this was not the right book for me at that time. I do respect the author’s skill in making me feel the character’s indecision and lack of action and inspiration.
I found the whole story rather boring because of the huge amount of details. The author takes ten pages to describe guests at a funeral. I did find his use of concepts in the story very interesting: he would mention the word ‘haunted’ and then keeps hinting at it with a variety of analogies pages later.
The movie on the television in the bedroom and toy planes in the bedroom of the son also remind you of the word ‘haunted’. The title of the book is often quoted, referring to the Spanish Civil War. “Tomorrow in the battle think on me, when I was mortal; and let fall thy lance.”
Later in the book, the author suddenly grabbed my attention by discussing the Anglo-Saxon origins of words. This is where my passion for linguistics surfaced. But then the main character rambled on about being made a double co-fornicator because he shared a bed partner with someone else. And how the untimely death of Marta took the possibility of forming a bond from him. Yes, I got it after the first ten pages you spoke about it.
We also learn more about the main character’s history and when he finally sheds some light on what he experienced, this book finally became a story. The main character’s transition from feeling relaxed to jealous and eventually to feeling trapped was well-done.
I ended up being impressed with the message and concept but bored by the delivery. If you appreciate detailed descriptions and enjoy meandering thoughts, then you might like this book better than I did.
Translated from Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa.
Interested?
You can get your copy of Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me from Amazon.
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