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Summary
Summary
In this magical story of love and art, life and death, Carlos Fuentes entwines two narratives- one tells of the passion of orchestra conductor Gabriel Atlan-Ferrara for red-haired Mexican diva, Inez Prada; the other of the first encounter in human history between a man and a woman. Berlioz s music for The Damnation of Faust brings Atlan-Ferrara and Inez together, and continues to resound on every page of this haunting work. At the same time, the emergent love of neh-el and ah-nel; the original lovers; reminds us of the Faustian pact of love and death. The link between these two stories is a beautiful crystal seal that belongs to Atlan-Ferrara, who is obsessed by its meaning. Maybe this ancient and seductive object gives its bearer the ability to read unknown languages and hear music of impossible beauty.
Author Notes
Carlos Fuentes was born in Panama on November 11, 1928. He studied law at the National University of Mexico and did graduate work at the Institute des Hautes Etudes in Switzerland. He entered Mexico's diplomatic service and wrote in his spare time. His first novel, Where the Air Is Clear, was published in 1958. His other works include The Death of Artemio Cruz, Destiny and Desire, and Vlad. The Old Gringo was later adapted as a film starring Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda in 1989. He won numerous awards including the Fuentes the Romulo Gallegos Prize in Venezuela for Terra Nostra, the National Order of Merit in France, the Cervantes Prize in 1987, and Spain's Prince of Asturias Award for literature in 1994.
He also wrote essays, short stories, screenplays, and political nonfiction. In addition to writing, he taught at numerous universities, including Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, and Brown. He served as the ambassador of Mexico to France. He died on May 15, 2012 at the age of 83.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
This brief novel, unlike the historical epic The Years with Laura DIaz, tells two simple stories in a manner that rises to great heights of narrative improvisation without overstepping its bounds. Gabriel Atlan-Ferrara, a symphony conductor renowned for his brio, falls in love with Inez Rosenzweig, an opera singer. Gabriel's love blossoms from initial outrage, when Inez upsets Gabriel by singing too loudly, to survive many years, many performances (including one rehearsal in London 1940, during the blitz), and even an assault from a hotheaded rival. Finally, the only thing that binds the conductor to his love is a shimmering glass seal, which inspires visions of his past, his present and his future. Running parallel to this story is a tale from Inez's dreams, a poetic, elegantly spare love story from a time before recorded history: an ancient couple falls in love as their primitive race migrates across still-forming landscapes. The integral tale counterbalances the conductor's wild, dramatic thoughts, broad generalizations suiting the Berlioz he conducts most successfully"reaching his professional apex in a production of The Damnation of Faust, in which Marguerite enters the performance hall naked and then strips Inez naked as well, a transcendent moment for the conductor but shocking for the audience. Gabriel becomes a poignant symbol of all artists, taming the conflicting forces within their own work, even as love itself develops symbiotically. Even if some of the flamboyant observations about memory and art bouncing around in the conductor's tempestuous psyche seem overblown or too easily earned, this novel is still a worthy addition to Fuentes' varied but persistently exciting oeuvre. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
There's no questioning the influence of distinguished Mexican writer Fuentes, from his popular novel The Old Gringo (1985) to the powerful and politically resonant The Crystal Frontier (1997), The Years with Laura Diaz (2000), and various essays and cultural inquiries. Fuentes is a humanist and passionate in his calling, but the awkward truth is that his fiction is often stiff and brittle. Many of his characters are merely iconographic, and his broad and undeveloped ideas are often applied to creaky story lines like thick plaster. Vivid descriptions and vigorous philosophy usually temper these flaws, but unhappily they're glaringly evident in this sketchy, frequently ludicrous tale. Gabriel Atlan-Ferrara, a celebrated Italian French conductor unbowed at 93, has dedicated himself to his musical masters, especially Berlioz, whose opera The Damnation of Faust is his signature work. He conducted it under siege in London during World War II, which is where he first encountered the enigmatic redheaded Mexican singer Inez, who ends up haunting his life. There's an attraction between these two glamorous creatures, but something repels them with an even stronger force. Ultimately, their tediously episodic and cryptic tale features a photograph of an unidentified young man, an ancient crystal seal, and, in sporadic flashbacks involving an Ice Age family, incest and a brutal reprisal. Fuentes' reflections on the power of music do offer some bright moments in an otherwise regrettable performance, and surely die-hard admirers will want to experience his latest firsthand. Donna Seaman
Library Journal Review
It is astonishing that in such a short novel Fuentes can pack such complex reflections on human connectedness, the dynamics (and dangers) of love, and the power of art and particularly music in articulating what ordinary conversation cannot. The central story concerns the abiding tie between charismatic conductor Gabriel Atlan-Ferrara and lustrous singer Inez Prada. They first meet while rehearsing Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust, even as the Germans bomb London and damnation seems a real possibility. They separate, only to meet years later for another performance of Faust in Mexico City, where they finally consummate their passion, and then remain apart until a last cataclysmic performance that seems literally to obliterate Inez. Shadowing their story is that of a primeval man and woman reaching across an abyss as they learning simultaneously to love and to speak. Much of the action, as it were, takes place in intensive dialog between Gabriel and Inez, whose penetrating exchanges on love and art sometimes seem a bit more oblique than they need to be. This is not an easy novel, despite its brevity, but then one expects the celebrated Mexican novelist to set the bar high, and he doesn't disappoint. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/02.] Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal" Garcia-Aguilera, Carolina. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.