“Javier Marías is the most important intellectual figure that you’ve probably never heard of.”
Flavorpill: A lot of literature tackles unanswerable questions and subjects — what is the purpose of writing for you?
Javier Marías: I think it was Faulkner who once said that when you strike a match in a dark wilderness it is not in order to see anything better lighted, but just in order to see how much more darkness there is around. I think that literature does mainly that. It is not really supposed to “answer” things, not even to make them clearer, but rather to explore — often blindly — the huge areas of darkness, and show them better. So in my opinion it does not really matter if subjects are unanswerable (all of them are, possibly), as literature is not expected to solve riddles or mysteries, but just to show them — perhaps putting them in a slightly new light, perhaps calling attention to overlooked aspects of them.
Marías will be at 92Y this evening with Paul Auster. Tickets can be purchased here, and are just $10 for those 35 and under.
