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Javier Marías

Biography

Javier Marías was born in Madrid in 1951. His father was a well-known philosopher. As he had supported the Republicans during the Civil War, he found it difficult to get teaching assignments in Spain and spent much time in the United States, so that his son Javier learned English at a young age. While they were at Wellesley, they lived in the same house as Jorge Guillén and Nabokov. Javier was educated at the Colegio Estudio and then studied philosophy and literature at the Universidad de Complutense. By this time he had started writing, having written a novel (still unpublished) while aged fifteen and had a story published. He had also done translations for his uncle, Jesús (Jess) Franco, the film director and written the screenplay for Gospel, a short film directed by his cousin, Ricardo Franco.

During his first year at university, he started work on Los dominios del lobo [The Domains of the Wolf], a novel based on the USA as seen in Hollywood films. Much of it was written in Paris, while staying in Jesús (Jess) Franco‘s apartment there and while watching a huge number of American films at the Cinémathèque Française and busking on the Champs-Elysées in the evening to earn money for food. On returning to Spain he continued his studies but was persuaded by Juan Benet to publish Los dominios del lobo [The Domains of the Wolf]. He published a second novel, finished his studies and then went to work for Alfaguara, the publishing house. He was writing articles for newspapers and magazines, as well as translating writers such as Thomas Hardy and Laurence Sterne (for which he received the national translation prize). He continued writing novels and translating English works, before going to Oxford in 1983 as a lecturer. In 1987 he started teaching translation at his alma mater, Universidad de Complutense. He continued teaching there till 1992 by which time he had published Todas las almas (All Souls) and Corazón tan blanco (A Heart So White), which brought him both literary and commercial success, both in Spain and elsewhere. He has continued to publish novels, article and stories, which have brought him considerable fame. He has even been named King of Redonda! He died in 2022.

Other sites

Javier Marías
The Spanish Mien
Looking for Luisa (profile)
Questionnaire / Sports
From Fu Manchu to Vampyros Lesbos: Javier Marías on his uncle, the B-movie film-maker
Javier Marías: ‘I gave up on Karl Ove Knausgaard after 300 pages’
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
javiermarias.es (unofficial but detailed website – in Spanish)
His blog (in Spanish)
Javier Marías (in Spanish)
Javier Marías (in Spanish)
Javier Marías, todas las voces (in Spanish)
Interview (in Spanish)
Interview (in Spanish)
Interview (in Spanish)
Interview (in Spanish)
Interview (in Spanish)
Obituary (in Spanish)
Obituary (in Spanish)
Obituary (in Spanish)
Obituary (in Spanish)


Bibliography

1971 Los dominios del lobo (novel)
1972 Travesía del horizonte (Voyage Along the Horizon) (novel)
1978 El monarca del tiempo (novel)
1982 El siglo [The Century] (novel)
1986 El hombre sentimental (The Man of Feeling) (novel)
1989 Todas las almas (All Souls) (novel)
1990 Mientras ellas duermen (While the Women Are Sleeping) (stories)
1991 Pasiones pasadas (articles)
1992 Corazón tan blanco (A Heart So White) (novel)
1992 Vidas escritas (Written Lives) (essays)
1993 Literatura y fantama (articles)
1994 Mañana en la batalla piensa en mí (Tomorrow in the Battle Think On Me) (novel)
1995 Vida del fantasma (articles)
1996 Cuando fui mortal (When I Was Mortal) (stories)
1996 El hombre que parecía no querer nada (essays with a travel theme)
1997 Mano de sombra (articles)
1997 Miramientos (essays)
1997 Si yo amaneciera otra vez (on Faulkner)
1998 Mala índole (Bad Nature or With Elvis in Mexico) (stories)
1998 Negra espalda del tiempo (Dark Back of Time) (novel)
1999 Desde que te ví morir (on Nabokov)
1999 Seré amado cuando falte (articles)
2000 Salvajes y sentimentales (articles on football)
2001 A veces un caballero (articles)
2002 Tu rostro mañana 1: Fiebre y lanza (Your Face Tomorrow 1: Fever and Spear) (novel)
2003 Harán de mí un criminal (articles)
2004 Tu rostro mañana 2: Baile y sueño (Your Face Tomorrow 2: Dance and Dream) (novel)
2005 Donde todo ha sucedido: al salir del cine (articles)
2005 El oficio de oír llover (articles)
2007 Tu rostro mañana 3. Veneno y sombra y adios (Your Face Tomorrow 3: Poison, Shadow and Farewell) (novel)
2007 Demasiada nieve alrededor (articles)
2008 Aquella mitad de mi tiempo: al mirar atrás (memoirs)
2009 Lo que no vengo a decir (articles)
2010 Los villanos de la nación: letras de política y sociedad (essays)
2011 Los enamoramientos (The Infatuations) (novel)
2011 Ven a buscarme (children’s)
2011 Ni se les ocurra disparar (articles)
2012 Lección pasada de moda, Letras de lengua (articles)
2014 Así empieza lo malo (Thus Bad Begins) (novel)
2015 Juro no decir nunca la verdad (articles)
2017 Berta Isla (Berta Isla) (novel)
2017 Between Eternities and Other Writings
2018 Cuando Los Tontos Mandan (journalism)
2019 Cuando la sociedad es el tirano (articles)
2021 Tomás Nevinson (Tomás Nevinson) (novel)