Javier Marias

A well-executed novel focused on the rarified air of Oxford or Cambridge is always a treat. And Javier Marias's All Souls is no exception. This novel has lots to like: comedy, personality, and a steady dose of sex and sexuality -- to name a few. But more than that, there are genuine insights into how these university towns operate, how their academics interact, and how ancient institutions assume their own momentum. 

Marias, who only recently passed away, has an excellent sense of humor, and each flirtation with the arcane or obscure is accompanied by comedy. This is not, however, to say that Marias mocks the intellectual life: instead, he reveals its loneliness and eccentricities. Below the veneer of an Oxford or Cambridge, Marias seems to suggest, is a cast of characters engaged in a variety of misbehaviors -- chief among them, adultery. 

All Souls does indeed focus on a single adulterous affair; but as the novel progresses, it reaches for more: the sexual relationships which Marias charts are united by a shared sense of loss. Marias is attuned not only to this loss, but also, in equal measure, to repression: it is these two emotional experiences which dominate his "Oxford novel." 

I would not claim that All Souls is a perfect novel, and there are elements of Marias's style which can be grating (including his incessant use of parentheses). But as books of this type go, Marias has achieved something special: memory and loss are interwoven with sexuality and intellectualism. This is a rare breed, but it is one which sparkles at moments. I was surprised to have enjoyed All Souls so much.