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| Juan Marsé |
JUAN MARSÉ
Marsé was born in Barcelona in 1933. Self-taught, he left his studies at the age of 13 to work as a labourer in a jewellery workshop. His first stories were published in the magazines “Insula” and “El Ciervo”. After a short stay in Paris, he published “Last Evenings with Theresa” in 1966, which won him the Library Short Novel Prize. The theme of the Catalan Bourgeoisie appears again in “The Dark Story of Cousin Montse”. In 1973, the censorship banned publication of his work “If They Tell You I Fell” about Anarchist activism in the forties. He collaborates with various magazines and newspapers, including “El País”, for which he wrote a weekly column between 1988 and 1989. He was awarded the Cervantes Award in 2008. He died in Barcelona, in 2020.
Awards
National Narrative Literature Award (2001)
Cervantes Award (2008)
Cervantes Award (2008)
ESSENTIAL WORKS
LA OSCURA HISTORIA DE LA PRIMIA MONTSE
This is Juan Marsé's fourth novel, one in which he recounts the love conflict between an educated and religious woman and an atheist convict.
First published in 1970, the book presents us with the literary universe that characterises Marsé's subsequent works.
La oscura historia de la prima Montse has a similar plot to the author's previous work, the successful Ultimas tardes con Teresa, namely, the relationship between two characters who come from diametrically opposed worlds, thus implicitly giving rise to conflict. This time around, the main character is an educated, religious woman and her lover, an atheist convict.
One of the novel aspects of the book is the first-person narrator. Consequently, sometimes the narrator is a witness to the events, while at other times the narrator relates happenings that have taken place at some remove in time, or turns into the author's alter ego intervening at particular junctures in the plot.
La oscura historia de la prima Montse has a similar plot to the author's previous work, the successful Ultimas tardes con Teresa, namely, the relationship between two characters who come from diametrically opposed worlds, thus implicitly giving rise to conflict. This time around, the main character is an educated, religious woman and her lover, an atheist convict.
One of the novel aspects of the book is the first-person narrator. Consequently, sometimes the narrator is a witness to the events, while at other times the narrator relates happenings that have taken place at some remove in time, or turns into the author's alter ego intervening at particular junctures in the plot.
LIZARD TAILS
A best-selling novel by Juan Marsé that makes a profound exploration of the limits of style and expression.
The novel is entirely in keeping with Marsé’s previous output, the story being set in the Guinardó district of Barcelona, which is always present in his works. The same is true of the subject matter, which again on this occasion alludes to the thin line between love and hate, good and bad, and truth and lies.
The work seeks to test the limits of the author’s narrative style and expressivity, which explains why the author gives voice to a dog, an unborn child and even to a character on a poster.
The work seeks to test the limits of the author’s narrative style and expressivity, which explains why the author gives voice to a dog, an unborn child and even to a character on a poster.
Awards
IF THEY TELL YOU I FELL
Juan Marsé tells a heartrending, down-to-earth story of post-war Barcelona.
Si te dicen que caí was first published in Mexico in 1973, owing to the fact that the book was censored in Spain. Its first national edition dates from 1976.
The book tells the sordid story of daily life in the Barcelona neighbourhood of Guinardó in post-Civil War Spain. Marsé confronts the reader with the crudity of this national event by way of several stories seen through the eyes of children. The author pursued two objectives on writing the book: to get his own back on the Franco period and to bid farewell to his childhood.
In spite of the censorship, the novel was a great success and has been subject to several revisions and reprints. The book was awarded the International Novel Award (Mexico) in 1973 and was adapted into a film of the same name by Vicente Aranda in 1989.
The book tells the sordid story of daily life in the Barcelona neighbourhood of Guinardó in post-Civil War Spain. Marsé confronts the reader with the crudity of this national event by way of several stories seen through the eyes of children. The author pursued two objectives on writing the book: to get his own back on the Franco period and to bid farewell to his childhood.
In spite of the censorship, the novel was a great success and has been subject to several revisions and reprints. The book was awarded the International Novel Award (Mexico) in 1973 and was adapted into a film of the same name by Vicente Aranda in 1989.
Awards
LAST EVENING WITH TERESA
Juan Marsé's best work, it tells the story of young love between a Catalan bourgeois girl and a young low-life from Murcia.
Published in 1966, Marsé's third novel received international acclaim. Deemed to be his best work, Últimas tardes con Teresa, a period novel set in Barcelona, revolves around an impossible love story between the daughter of a well-to-do family, Teresa, and a young working-class, motorbike thief, Manolo, from Murcia. The choice of main characters reveals the author's wish to confront two opposing worlds, that of the Catalan bourgeoisie and the marginalised world of predominantly, Andalusian immigration. The main male character, called ‘Pijoaparte’, shall enter into the annals of 20th century literary history as the archetype of the low-life immigrant.
The novel was an outstanding success. It won the Library Short Novel Prize in 1966 and was made into a film of the same name in 1984, directed by Herralde.
The novel was an outstanding success. It won the Library Short Novel Prize in 1966 and was made into a film of the same name in 1984, directed by Herralde.
Awards
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