Marks of Identity

Now the 1001 Books list has its critics. But quite honestly, it's books like Marks of Identity that reinforce my commitment to it. I've never heard of the title or the author and check out that front cover in the photo. Frankly, on the strength of a photo of a stuffed rabbit, some straw, a bit of rusty corrugated iron and a blue torso, I would never have picked this up. I did so simply because it was on the list. Boy, I'm glad I did pick it up though. Goytisolo's novel is the first one that has moved me with its writing in so many ways for a long time. The 'story' takes place while Alvaro Mendiola drinks in the night air in his apartment in Cuban exile. From beginning to end, this event must last no more than a couple of hours at the most. But as he drinks, Alvaro starts to recall his life from his childhood to his student days, to the Spanish Civil War and afterwards with self-imposed exile to Paris and, eventually, Cuba. But these flashbacks are amazing. For each one, Goytisolo adopts some remarkable styles of writing. I was never sure what was coming next. Some of his sentences stretch on for pages and pages. But they're not tough to read. I never had morbid fear as I turned a page like I have had with some books that just seem to go on and on and on. I was engaged throughout. Goytisolo's depiction of the messy war is very moving and intimate. He uses some great prose to conjure up vivid images and metaphors which reinforce this. And there's a large cast of characters who play his associates and friends, his enemies and, above all, his lover who appears from time to time always with a tinge of melancholy. This novel, as all good ones should, opened up a world to me and engaged me in it. Highly recommended.

This book is complex and interesting like the review states. Goytisolo is a great writer and lets you see the depth of his anger towards Catholicism, politics, and the anguish he endured during his childhood in all his works. He is an accomplished writer from Spain and it's too bad he is not read and possibly unheard of by many people here in the United States. More people should be exposed to literature from other countries. P.S. the editorial reviewer is very wrong on one thing... Goytisolo is NOT a Latin American writer. He is not from Latin America, he his from Spain. Spain is no where in the America's. However, he can be called Hispanic because Spain and the countries that were once colonized by Spain were once Hispanola, hence Hispanic.