{"id":129997,"date":"2018-10-12T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T13:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=129997"},"modified":"2018-10-11T16:30:39","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T20:30:39","slug":"ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/","title":{"rendered":"Ave Mar\u00edas: An Interview with Javier Mar\u00edas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It has been said of Anthony Trollope that as soon as he finished a novel, he turned to a fresh page and started on the next, and it\u2019s tempting to think that Javier Mar\u00edas enjoys a similarly unstoppable flow of invention. The Spanish author has published more than a dozen novels\u2014one of which<\/em>,\u00a0Your Face Tomorrow,<\/em>\u00a0comprises three volumes\u2014plus a book of stories, countless translations, a work of literary biography, and a weekly column for <\/em>El Pa\u00eds. Because his digressive, intellectual, and liquid style is among the most consistent in contemporary literature, and because his fiction shares characters and thematic concerns, it sometimes seems as if Mar\u00edas has been writing one very long book for his entire career. But in fact, as he told me in our recent conversation, his process of writing is far from preordained. \u201cI always feel as insecure as if it were the first book I\u2019d written,\u201d he said.<\/em><\/p>\n

His most recent novel is <\/em>Berta Isla, which will be published in an English translation by his longtime collaborator, Margaret Jull Costa, in the UK this fall and in the U.S. next spring. Partly narrated by its eponymous heroine, <\/em>Berta Isla\u00a0returns to the milieu of espionage from <\/em>Your Face Tomorrow. Mar\u00edas has a persistent fascination with those who renounce their lives in order to work in the shadowy wings. As in several of his recent novels\u2014<\/em>The Infatuations\u00a0and <\/em>Thus Bad Begins\u2014<\/em>Berta Isla\u00a0probes the nature of historical memory, asking what should be remembered, and what forgotten. Those questions are ultimately unanswerable, but as in the best of Mar\u00edas\u2019s fiction, it\u2019s captivating to watch the minds of <\/em>Berta Isla\u2019s characters work them over.<\/em><\/p>\n

I reached Mar\u00edas by phone at home in Madrid on the eve of his sixty-seventh birthday. His characters can speak at length on virtually any topic, and while this is a literary effect he achieves painstakingly, it\u2019s true that I had no difficulty in prompting him. Our conversation wandered from Brexit to Balzac, from his apartment\u2019s balconies to the distant kingdom of Redonda, a barren island off the coast of Antigua that through a series of bizarre events (catalogued in his <\/em>Dark Back of Time), Mar\u00edas rules over as \u201cking\u201d (\u201cwith inverted commas, of course\u201d).<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

I always enjoy birthdays because they\u2019re like holidays that only you can observe.<\/p>\n

MAR\u00cdAS<\/p>\n

I\u2019m getting old enough not to enjoy them so much, but at the same time, I suppose I\u2019m turning the age where I should be glad that I can still celebrate them. My mother died when she was a week from sixty-five, and one of my best friends, Juan Benet, an author whom I admired very much and who was my literary master in some respects, died when he was sixty-five. And so I think, I\u2019m older than my mother now ever was, and, I\u2019m older than Benet. Sixty-seven for me is maybe like seventy-seven for other people, on account of those two deaths.\u00a0<\/p>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

The last time you spoke to The Paris Review<\/em>, you said you\u2019d never write from a female perspective.<\/p>\n

MAR\u00cdAS<\/p>\n

And in fact I\u2019ve done it twice since then. I remember having said that, as I was reminded of it by Spanish journalists when I published my novel The Infatuations<\/em>\u00a0in 2011. That was the first time I contradicted myself, and I used a female voice. It was very clear to me that the story should be told by a woman, it couldn\u2019t be told by a man, and so I decided I would try, I would dare. I remember, on that occasion, I started with some hesitation, and I felt a bit insecure about it. It wasn\u2019t until I\u2019d written thirty or forty pages that I realized, of course there are many differences between men and women, but not when it comes to storytelling. I don\u2019t think there is a big difference in the way a woman or a man tells a story. In my latest novel, Berta Isla<\/em>, there are two voices\u2014one is in third-person and the other is in the first-person\u2014and again, it is a female narrator, Berta Isla herself. On this second occasion, I must say that it was easier.<\/p>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

I suppose you can always rely upon the authorial voice you\u2019ve established over your career, regardless of the specific perspective.<\/p>\n

MAR\u00cdAS<\/p>\n

In a way, that authorial voice, if I understand what you mean by that, is a sort of safeguard. I\u2019ve never been interested in what some people call naturalism or some people call realism. I don\u2019t worry very much about something that occasionally has been pointed out to me as a possible flaw\u2014many of the narrators and characters speak in a very similar way, even in dialogue. I\u2019m not interested in using differentiated voices, not even in dialogue. It must be believable, but that\u2019s all. I think, on the contrary, that it is a courtesy on the part of the author to give the reader something which is interesting and, if possible, intelligent. I can\u2019t bear, very much, the kind of dialogue you often find in many novels in which two nonintelligent people are saying nonintelligent things for pages on end.<\/p>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

Balzac\u2019s novella Colonel Chabert <\/em>seems to be a key work of art for you. It appears in several of your recent books. What has resonated with you about it?<\/p>\n

MAR\u00cdAS<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a masterpiece at all. As happens very often with Balzac, he was probably tired or had some debts to settle and he abandoned things or became careless. I think the ending of that novella is not as good as the beginning. But I think it\u2019s an excellent representation of an idea that has haunted me\u2014maybe that\u2019s too strong a word\u2014for years and years. The idea of someone who leaves and comes back and is not recognized entirely. Who becomes a sort of ghost.<\/p>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

What seems to attract you is the ambivalence. The person is recovered, which at first seems good, but maybe their returning isn\u2019t actually for the best.<\/p>\n

MAR\u00cdAS<\/p>\n

There is a quote mentioned in Berta Isla <\/em>by Berta Isla herself that says something like, \u201cReturning is the most profound infidelity.\u201d In a sense, things should be left the way they are. Usually, when we think of the people who were dear to us and who died, we miss them and think, I wish they could come back. But if they did\u2014of course that\u2019s an impossibility, but suppose they did\u2014it would be a problem. My father died thirteen years ago. If, for instance, he returned, it would be a problem for my brothers and me. Where would he live now? What would he live on? We inherited his money. He didn\u2019t have a lot of money but he had some, and we spent it. In a way, we should leave things as they are. I think that sometimes. Sometimes I think the contrary, of course.<\/p>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

Has smoking been important to your writing practice?<\/p>\n

MAR\u00cdAS<\/p>\n

In a certain sense, I guess it has. It\u2019s very likely that if I didn\u2019t smoke, I wouldn\u2019t write at all, because I\u2019m used to having a cigarette in my hand while I write. But to tell the truth, the cigarettes I smoke while writing are probably the ones I smoke the least. They consume in my hand rather than in my mouth or in my lungs. But I usually have a cigarette in my hand while writing, to the point that it\u2019s becoming a problem. I\u2019m even having to reject offers and jobs and invitations because of it. A few years ago, I was invited by the University of Oxford to give the so-called Weidenfeld Lectures, a very important thing, apparently, at least for academics. Of course, it would be nice to go to Oxford for a few weeks, but I said to the person who invited me, There is a problem, because I probably won\u2019t be able to smoke in the college where I\u2019m staying. They said, You can smoke outdoors. And I said, Yes, but the problem is that I smoke while I\u2019m writing, I smoke while I\u2019m reading, if I\u2019m sleepless I tend to light a cigarette, and I\u2019m not going to go outdoors. So I said no, finally, on account of that\u2014can you believe it?<\/p>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

Are you smoking right now?<\/p>\n

MAR\u00cdAS<\/p>\n

Right now, no, but since we started to talk I\u2019ve smoked one cigarette, yes. Now that we\u2019re talking about it, you\u2019re prompting me to light another one. Anyway, I suppose I should quit, but at the same time, I think, If I didn\u2019t quit before, maybe this is not the time, either.<\/p>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

I\u2019m curious about the role of balconies in your novels.<\/p>\n

MAR\u00cdAS<\/p>\n

I have one, two, three, four, five, six balconies at home, which is a nice thing to have, by the way. It\u2019s a good metaphor for being a bit inside and a bit outside\u2014that is, taking a look at the outside without leaving the inside. Looking at the world, but from outside the world, is something my narrators do very often. They peep from their corners, as it were. I live in front of a square, and it\u2019s a very old square. The oldest civil buildings in Madrid, which are from the fifteenth century, are in this square, so it\u2019s visited by many tourists. If I go to my balcony, I am exposed. They can see me. I am out, but not totally out.<\/p>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

Your characters are often fluent in multiple languages and comfortable in multiple countries, and there\u2019s a particular emphasis on the cultural interchange between Spain and Britain. How have you felt observing the animosity in the European Union toward this kind of cross-cultural exchange?<\/p>\n

MAR\u00cdAS<\/p>\n

Brexit is appalling. Britain has been part of my life ever since I was a child and I watched all the World War II films that were made in the fifties and early sixties. One of my first books, of course, was Treasure Island<\/em>. Richmal Crompton\u2014someone probably not known in Canada or the United States\u2014had a series of books for children, the Just William stories, and I read them passionately. In fact, I think that one of the reasons why I became a writer was on account of her and her Just William books. I can\u2019t understand how the British voted the way they did, and I think it\u2019s quite a tragedy, mainly for Britain but also for the rest of Europe. I\u2019m a great defender of the European Union, even if it has many flaws and too much bureaucracy. I think it\u2019s one of the great inventions of history. There were always wars between the European countries, but since 1945, with the exception of the Balkan Wars, we have had no wars between ourselves. That\u2019s quite extraordinary, considering the bloody history of this continent. It\u2019s unbelievable that a country as important as Britain thinks of torpedoing that project, which is one of the best and wisest things ever done, I think. Whenever I see young people longing for an epic, telling the people of my generation, You had an epic fight against Francoism, I always say, Well, it\u2019s not something to be envied, to tell the truth. I suppose it\u2019s normal for young people to long for the epic. \u00a0I tell them, You have an epic here\u2014defend the European Union.<\/p>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

Speaking of politics, will you brief me on the current situation in Redonda?<\/p>\n

MAR\u00cdAS<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very calm there. That\u2019s one of the advantages of a fictional kingdom. And as I always said since I received that title, there are no subjects, everything is acceptable, even conspiracies, even treachery. Someone in England wrote a letter to the\u00a0Times<\/em> saying lies about how I\u2019d gotten the title, and it was not very nice. But I didn\u2019t dismiss him\u2014he had a post\u2014and so there are no problems. The only thing is that sometimes people write to me and ask for political asylum in Redonda because they can\u2019t bear Spain anymore, and I say, Well, I wish I had a territory, but I don\u2019t, because the territory itself belongs to Antigua.<\/p>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

You translated John Ashbery\u2019s poetry into Spanish, and Ashbery always championed your work in the English-speaking world.<\/p>\n

MAR\u00cdAS<\/p>\n

I translated just one long poem, many years ago, the poem titled \u201cSelf-Portrait in a Convex Mirror,\u201d which was the first time his poetry had been translated into Spanish. He was very kind. He came to Madrid and we had dinner, even though I was just someone who had translated his very long poem. Many years after that, I can\u2019t remember why, he started reading my novels, and then he wrote to me saying he was very enthusiastic about them, and we started a correspondence. In fact, I received an email from him two or three days before he died, and I was planning to reply to him. He\u2019d talked about Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and I had something to say about them, and I was preparing myself to answer that email when the news came that he had died. So I didn\u2019t reply to that one. He was very old, but still, you\u2019re not less sorry for somebody\u2019s death just because he or she is old.<\/p>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

Can you share anything about your new project?<\/p>\n

MAR\u00cdAS<\/p>\n

Not for the moment, it\u2019s too early for that. Even I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing until I have finished, and so it would be premature. Right now, I think it\u2019s silly. I always think my novels are silly when I\u2019m writing them, and sometimes after I have written them, too. I think, This is stupid, this is not going to be of any interest to anyone, and so now I am in the process of thinking, Well, probably this time, this is going to be really stupid. The people who know me very well and have been around me for many years say, But you always say the same thing whenever you\u2019re writing a new novel, and I say, Yes, but this time it\u2019s true, this time I mean it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Michael LaPointe is a writer in Toronto.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Javier Mar\u00edas on celebrating birthdays, smoking cigarettes, and dining with John Ashbery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1093,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[907],"tags":[3082,1623,9120,38651,9158,22948,1464,29607,24300,38656,5456,38655,1204,3975,26164,5234,38654,1240,504,4920,2960,5245,2165,112,3137,271,38657,38652,30093,261,6695,17722,38650,38649,530,38653,38648],"class_list":["post-129997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-at-work","tag-alfred-a-knopf","tag-anthony-trollope","tag-balzac","tag-berta-isla","tag-birthdays","tag-brexit","tag-cigarettes","tag-colonel-chabert","tag-column","tag-dark-back-of-time","tag-dean-martin","tag-el-pais","tag-honore-de-balzac","tag-javier-marias","tag-jerry-lewis","tag-john-ashbery","tag-just-william","tag-knopf","tag-literature","tag-madrid","tag-margaret-jull-costa","tag-new-directions","tag-nonfiction","tag-novel","tag-oxford","tag-penguin","tag-redonda","tag-richmal-crompton","tag-self-portrait-in-a-convex-mirror","tag-short-story","tag-smoking","tag-spanish-literature","tag-the-infatuations","tag-thus-bad-begins","tag-translation","tag-treasuse-island","tag-your-face-tomorrow"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAve Mar\u00edas: An Interview with Javier Mar\u00edas by Michael LaPointe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Javier Mar\u00edas on celebrating birthdays, smoking cigarettes, and dining with John Ashbery.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ave Mar\u00edas: An Interview with Javier Mar\u00edas by Michael LaPointe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"October 12, 2018 \u2013 Javier Mar\u00edas on celebrating birthdays, smoking cigarettes, and dining with John Ashbery.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-12T13:00:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/javier-marias-cordon.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1950\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1101\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael LaPointe\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael LaPointe\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael LaPointe\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/45627fbfd7c5e77671e6a5598b1a2d12\"},\"headline\":\"Ave Mar\u00edas: An Interview with Javier Mar\u00edas\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-12T13:00:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/\"},\"wordCount\":2480,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/javier-marias-cordon.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alfred A. Knopf\",\"Anthony Trollope\",\"Balzac\",\"Berta Isla\",\"birthdays\",\"Brexit\",\"cigarettes\",\"Colonel Chabert\",\"column\",\"Dark Back of Time\",\"Dean Martin\",\"El Pa\u00eds\",\"Honor\u00e9 de Balzac\",\"Javier Marias\",\"Jerry Lewis\",\"John Ashbery\",\"Just William\",\"Knopf\",\"literature\",\"Madrid\",\"Margaret Jull Costa\",\"New Directions\",\"nonfiction\",\"novel\",\"Oxford\",\"Penguin\",\"Redonda\",\"Richmal Crompton\",\"Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror\",\"short story\",\"smoking\",\"Spanish literature\",\"The Infatuations\",\"Thus Bad Begins\",\"translation\",\"Treasuse Island\",\"Your Face Tomorrow\"],\"articleSection\":[\"At Work\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/\",\"name\":\"Ave Mar\u00edas: An Interview with Javier Mar\u00edas by Michael LaPointe\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/javier-marias-cordon.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-12T13:00:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"Javier Mar\u00edas on celebrating birthdays, smoking cigarettes, and dining with John Ashbery.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/javier-marias-cordon.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/javier-marias-cordon.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ave Mar\u00edas: An Interview with Javier Mar\u00edas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/45627fbfd7c5e77671e6a5598b1a2d12\",\"name\":\"Michael LaPointe\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0669d815165998d7ca7e6926a60e3b5e755b065c5132d8f7ed3b487e479c0a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0669d815165998d7ca7e6926a60e3b5e755b065c5132d8f7ed3b487e479c0a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Michael LaPointe\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/michael-lapointe\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ave Mar\u00edas: An Interview with Javier Mar\u00edas by Michael LaPointe","description":"Javier Mar\u00edas on celebrating birthdays, smoking cigarettes, and dining with John Ashbery.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ave Mar\u00edas: An Interview with Javier Mar\u00edas by Michael LaPointe","og_description":"October 12, 2018 \u2013 Javier Mar\u00edas on celebrating birthdays, smoking cigarettes, and dining with John Ashbery.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2018-10-12T13:00:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1950,"height":1101,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/javier-marias-cordon.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michael LaPointe","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael LaPointe","Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael LaPointe","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/45627fbfd7c5e77671e6a5598b1a2d12"},"headline":"Ave Mar\u00edas: An Interview with Javier Mar\u00edas","datePublished":"2018-10-12T13:00:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/"},"wordCount":2480,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/javier-marias-cordon.jpg","keywords":["Alfred A. Knopf","Anthony Trollope","Balzac","Berta Isla","birthdays","Brexit","cigarettes","Colonel Chabert","column","Dark Back of Time","Dean Martin","El Pa\u00eds","Honor\u00e9 de Balzac","Javier Marias","Jerry Lewis","John Ashbery","Just William","Knopf","literature","Madrid","Margaret Jull Costa","New Directions","nonfiction","novel","Oxford","Penguin","Redonda","Richmal Crompton","Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror","short story","smoking","Spanish literature","The Infatuations","Thus Bad Begins","translation","Treasuse Island","Your Face Tomorrow"],"articleSection":["At Work"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/","name":"Ave Mar\u00edas: An Interview with Javier Mar\u00edas by Michael LaPointe","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/javier-marias-cordon.jpg","datePublished":"2018-10-12T13:00:58+00:00","description":"Javier Mar\u00edas on celebrating birthdays, smoking cigarettes, and dining with John Ashbery.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/javier-marias-cordon.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/javier-marias-cordon.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/12\/ave-marias-an-interview-with-javier-marias\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ave Mar\u00edas: An Interview with Javier Mar\u00edas"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/45627fbfd7c5e77671e6a5598b1a2d12","name":"Michael LaPointe","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0669d815165998d7ca7e6926a60e3b5e755b065c5132d8f7ed3b487e479c0a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0669d815165998d7ca7e6926a60e3b5e755b065c5132d8f7ed3b487e479c0a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Michael LaPointe"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/michael-lapointe\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1093"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129997"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130014,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129997\/revisions\/130014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}