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Your Face Tomorrow, Vol. 3: Poison, Shadow, and Farewell (Your Face Tomorrow #3)

4.52 of 5 stars 4.52  ·  rating details  ·  535 ratings  ·  66 reviews
Poison, Shadow, and Farewell, with its heightened tensions between meditations and noir narrative, with its wit and and ever deeper forays into the mysteries of consciousness, brings to a stunning finale Marías’s three-part Your Face Tomorrow. Already this novel has been acclaimed “exquisite“ (Publishers Weekly), “gorgeous” (Kirkus), and “outstanding: another work of urgen ...more
Paperback, 554 pages
Published June 8th 2009 by New Directions (first published 2007)
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Poison, Shadow and Farewell is the valedictory volume of Javier Marías's spy novel whose prose style represents a calcification of the novelist's poetic images, lines, phrases, and symbols, all unfolding in slow motion in the pedantic mind of its narrator. In the 1,200-page opus Your Face Tomorrow, we find Jacques Deza, recently separated from his wife Luisa in Spain and employed in London as an interpreter and as a kind of behavioral consultant under the tutelage of his boss Bertram Tupra, an e ...more
Allow me to be cinematic. Imagine me with a Montepulciano handy; my right leg could be pistoning (but I am not the type); my soul is on fire ( I am that type). Have you been there, after you close the book, but before you shelve it: wanting everyone to read it right now; wanting to start again from the very first page; not wanting to let go?

tis, tis, tis

This is an old man's story, and a younger man's life. There was a drop of blood in Vol. 1. There was a drop of blood in Vol. 2. In Vol. 3, the
Justin Evans
There's a select group of novels in my reading history: the first time I read them, I would occasionally become deeply envious of people who hadn't started them, because that meant they had something amazing to look forward to. The first time it happened was with War & Peace. It also happened with The Magic Mountain, Gravity's Rainbow (although I was sick when I read it, so it might have just been a fever), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and Gerard Woodward's sort of memoir trilogy. That's not ...more
I FOUND THIS TODAY AT THE ALBANY, CA LIBRARY BOOK SALE! Amazing! They didn't have the first, or the second, but THIS ONE, the third, a gorgeous hardcover in perfect condition and only $1!

The reality is this: if you are lucky as a reader, you will find that writer who is a mirror of yourself, who pens the sentences and stories you would pen, had you the nerve, the time. Marias, for me, is that writer, so it is with great narcissism that I award him five stars and recommend any and all to read him. Of course, many won't, and the pity is that he has such a long eye reaching both back and forward...he understands our sins, and he casts both aspersions and patience on them. I put thi ...more
Mike Puma
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Your Face Tomorrow--which is not to say it's a title easily recommended. I had the luxury of reading all three volumes one after the other and over a relatively short period of time (I think my enjoyment was enhanced by this opportunity). The individual volumes are not episodic or self-contained. I suspect readers who picked up these volumes as they were translated/published were probably left wondering what what they had got themselves into. The books are not volume ...more
Ilona Cieniuch-Lonardo
Imagínate que vas a estar unas cuantas semanas en una isla desierta. ¿Qué libro llevarías contigo? Piensa en un libro que ha sido muy importante para tí, un libro que ha dejado una huella, ha cambiado tu manera de pensar, te ha hecho soñar, reír, llorar, un libro esencial.

No debería uno contar nunca nada, ni dar datos ni aportar historias ni hacer que la gente recuerde a seres que jamás han existido ni pisado la tierra o cruzado el mundo, o que si pasaron pero estaban ya medio a salvo en el tuer
I was initially excited by the structure of Your Face Tomorrow, seeing in it something like the inverse of Paul Auster's foray into detective fiction in The New York Trilogy: instead of starting with a distinctly framed genre story and then dissolving its conventions, Marías seems to begin in a fog of abstraction and obsession through which the alluring outlines of a spy novel occasionally coalesce (before again being obscured by the narrator's ruminations).

I was also interested to see how the
This three-volume series just blew me away. I read the second and third volumes back to back – and what a joy it was. The first volume was heavy on introspection and reflection. The plot gets going in the second volume (one incident in one night) and thickens in the third which is the largest volume. As I said in the review of the first one, you shouldn’t read Marias for the plot, even though this turns out to be not a bad story. The writing (props to Margaret Costa for a superb translation) is ...more
Should one never tell anyone anything? How responsible are we for the consequences of our actions, our words, our thoughts? Do we really know ourselves, and, if we think we do, how long will this self-knowledge last? Are we ever the same tomorrow as are today?

Having spent a couple of years with *Your Face Tomorrow* (I read each volume pretty much as they were released), I’m still not sure I know the answer to any of these questions, which permeate the whole of the text. But therein lies the won
Hard to describe such a monumetal work of literature ( am talking about whole trilogy, not just part III ). Truly, truly a magnificent achivement. Impressions are still strong. For sure an all-time classic. Every single sentance has a meaning, is powerful and sticks to you. Reading Marias, one gets a feeling that the story itself can be just about anything, for he puts in his thinking and discovering of human relations and (allready mentioned in the review of Part I, which is actually meaningles ...more
Michael Fraser
The last 250 pages almost make the entire slog through the trilogy worthwhile. The philosophical ruminations in the first half don't really stray beyond the ground covered in the compelling first or slow poorly edited and paced second book. But then things get interesting, the editor seemingly returns from long absence, and Marias largely delivers on the potential established in the first two volumes. The writing in the second half was a actually good enough it wiped away my regret at having inv ...more
Sep 08, 2008 Enrique rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: Everybody
Esta es la última entrega de la Trilogía "Tu rostro mañana" de Marías, la cuál cierra con broche de oro. Tanto la historia como la forma de escribir de Marías es muy original e interesante, realmente este libro entrelaza todos los hecho de los dos anteriores de esta trilogía, en realidad es un gran libro en tres entregas el cual tiene un final totalmente impredecible y muestra la transformación de el personaje de María de un solitario ex catedrático de Oxford a un hombre sin escrúpulos. En lo pe ...more
Editorial Alfaguara
�Uno no lo desea, pero prefiere siempre que muera el que est� a su lado, en una misi�n o una batalla, en una escuadrilla a�rea o bajo un bombardeo o en la trinchera cuando las hab�a, en un asalto callejero o en un atraco a una tienda o en un secuestro de turistas, en un terremoto, una explosi�n, un atentado, un incendio, da lo mismo: el compa�ero, el hermano, el padre o incluso el hijo, aunque sea ni�o. Y tambi�n la amada, tambi�n la amada, antes que uno mismo.� As� arranca Veneno y sombra y adi ...more
The third volume of a single novel (NOT a trilogy), this one moved at a breakneck pace compared to Part 2, which took place largely in one night in a disabled persons' bathroom stall at a disco. I'm not going to get into that, or the plot, because I'm lazy, but all three volumes of Your Face Tomorrow are an amazing, sardonic read. The main character, Deza, returns to Madrid and his estranged wife in this final installment, and finds out more about her, himself, and those at the shadowy secret ag ...more
alle 3 bände zusammen betrachtet war das eine durchwegs fesselnde und faszinierende lektüre. hatte marias, nachdem ich in den 90er jahren drei seiner romane gelesen hatte, schon ganz aus den augen verloren - und es hat sich definitiv geloht, zu ihm zurückzukehren (sogar für insgesamt 1600 seiten). der dritte band ist der stärkste, die unterschiede sind hier aber nicht wirklich dramatisch. geringfügige längen gibts höchstens am ende der ersten bzw. zu beginn des zweiten bandes. seinen themen, sch ...more
Oh what a long strange poisonous fever dream it's been, oh what a shadowy dance with death (and war and violence). And still is, because it's like my head's all foggy and I'm having trouble gathering my thoughts. It's as if they're caught in Marías's intricate web of interrupted stories and conversations, citations (and self-citations) and repetitions.

The fact that it took my a while to finish the book doesn't help either. In fact, it took me a really long time to finish the trilogy as a whole,
This book, which is the third part of the trilogy which is in fact one long (1500-page) book by Marias, took me 18 months to finish, as I read 100 pages then lost interest and left it on the shelf of partly-read/to-read books which has pride of place on any decent bookshelf. The book(s) have been widely praised for being 'Proustian', which I cannot corroborate as I have only got to p. 37 of ARDTP (another casualty of my policy of bibliographic promiscuity), but which may allude, one can only gue ...more
I took a long time to read this book - the most time of the three - despite the fact it had the most "action" (which is not a lot, although action is not something I care much about). It is good. I don't think I love this book (obviously - just gave it 3 stars), but I do think it is good and it echoes around in my head, and I think reading it is important for understanding the contemporary world, as told in literature. This book is about consequences, but I didn't find the ending very convincing ...more
Llevaba un par de meses buscando el momento adecuado para ponerme con este libro, quería terminar la trilogía antes de que se me empezaran a olvidar los detalles de las dos primeras entregas, pero me daba muchísima pereza por ser el volumen más gordo de los tres y porque la prosa de Javier Marías es bastante lenta (escribe de maravilla pero al principio cuesta acostumbrarse a su estilo). Al final ha sido el que más he disfrutado y sus 700 páginas han pasado casi sin que me diera cuenta; esperaré ...more
Finally made it! So little time to read recently... But now I feel fullfilled, I was waiting for the Polish edition about a year or more. And when the whole 'your face tomorrow' adventure is over, I am full of doubts. The only thing I'm sure is the genius of Javier Marias's writing. The main question is: how much of the story is true? How many facts did he use or borrow from his father's and his friend's biographies? Have to figure it out. Although it's a pity that the story of Tupra and Perez-N ...more
Gerald Camp
This is among the five best books I have read in more than 60 years as a reader. Though it runs 1250 pages, divided into three volumes,I raced through it as if it were a thriller. And in a way it is: a James Bond novel minus the bad guys as if written by James Joyce in the style of Ulysses. Everything in all three volumes pulls the reader toward the climax in Vol.3, so if it seems nothing is happening in Vol. 1, keep going for the payoff. But don't forget anything you read in Vol. 1 or Vol.2 bec ...more
Vol.3 completes the story and the style -- the volumes are a single work and amazing separately as well as as a whole. Here's a quote from an interview w/J.Marias: "I have used, in my books - within the same book and also from book to book - what I have sometimes called a system of echoes," he explains, and goes on to liken this to the way certain details are threaded through a piece of music. "In music it's often very moving to recognise something that you listened to before." And here's a revi ...more
Mat Sletten
I've praised the previous 2 volumes of this book, and this cemented what I already suspected while reading the first volume - this is one of the best books I've read. It is not action forward, but the writing is filled with obsessive detail and fantastic insight that I looked forward to every moment I had with the story. It's best to indulge long sits with these volumes as that is how they work best for a reader. I can't get over much Marias writing has changed how I read character. At it's hear ...more
Finally finished the whole thing! Not an easy read but worth the effort - Marias really is THE writer of our age.

Reading Your Face Tomorrow reminded me of struggling through Thomas Mann longer works - Magic Mountain and Joseph and His Brothers - when I was young.

Volume 2 has some heavy violence so this is not everyone's cup of tea. And no, you cannot read just some of the books and or start with Volume 3, despite the repetition. It is really one novel in three volumes, not a trilogy.

Not particu
¿Y qué dice uno finalmente cuando la historia se concluye, cuando aparentemente todo se resuelve? Porque una de las lecciones más insistentes es que decir cualquier cosa puede traer consecuencias nefastas (paralelo a la idea que alguna vez tuve que hagase lo que se haga alguien saldrá perjudicado con nuestros actos). Me parece que no hay cierres tan definitivos como se creería, pero esto es bastante coherente con el nebuloso contenido de la novela, en la que nada está tan demarcado como podría. ...more
This book is a symphony of betrayal.

The three volumes are really one long novel. As with other books by Marias, it is packed with ideas and carefully crafted to focus on ideas and themes that act as a multiplier to the relatively straight forward plot. Stories and ideas drop off, only to resurface later...even after it appears that a particular episode is completed.

This book is not a fast read and will frustrate many readers, but ultimately it is an accomplishment of letters that is worth the e
Volumen tres. Llegar hasta acá hace que todo haya valido la pena. Jaime ya sabe de qué se trata su trabajo. Todos entendemos de qué se trata. Aquí los dos tomos pasados se unen magistralmente y dan forma al presente del personaje, que se enfrenta a un nuevo rostro más complicado de leer: el suyo. ¿No a todos nos pasa? Nuevas reacciones, nuevas herramientas, nuevas formas de usar nuestro pasado, nuestra historia, y nuevo equipaje con el que habremos de cargar.
Dit derde deel van de trilogie leest veel prettiger dan de andere. Er wordt nog steeds heel veel gefilosofeerd, maar er zit wat meer verhaal in. De eindjes worden a.h.w. aan elkaar geknoopt. Weer veel terugblikken op de Spaanse Burgeroorlog en de 2de wereldoorlog. De belangrijkste vraag lijkt of we allemaal in staat zijn tot geweld, als dat nodig mocht zijn. Het antwoord is duidelijk ja, vooral voor de hoofdpersoon, die dat niet van zichzelf had gedacht.
  • Montano's Malady
  • How I Became a Nun
  • Soldados de Salamina
  • Nocilla Dream
  • Dos mujeres en Praga
  • Everything and Nothing
  • El embrujo de Shanghai
  • Tyrant Memory
  • Amulet
  • Count Julian
  • The Planets
  • Buenos Aires Quintet (Pepe Carvalho, #20)
  • Lands of Memory
  • La noche de los tiempos
Javier Marías was born in Madrid. His father was the philosopher Julián Marías, who was briefly imprisoned and then banned from teaching for opposing Franco. Parts of his childhood were spent in the United States, where his father taught at various institutions, including Yale University and Wellesley College. His mother died when Javier was 26 years old. He was educated at the Colegio Estudio in ...more
More about Javier Marías...
A Heart So White Los enamoramientos Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me Your Face Tomorrow, Vol. 1: Fever and Spear All Souls

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