The Spanish novelist Enrique Vila-Matas is magnetised by the possibilities of misdirection. Over the past 40 years and more, he has produced a body of work that routinely disrupts and teases the expectations of not just the characters of its pages, but of the readers. He equips both with shreds of certainty, wisps of desire, then sends them spinning into a world of blurred categories, strange tempos, multiplying selves, confused identities. His are lands in which everything is contested, and where absences – whether in the form of romantic loss, thwarted hopes, memory, failure or death – are pervasive, patient, often inevitable.
Readers who have been revelling in this peculiar terrain by way of English translations of Vila-Matas's major novels (these have now been appearing for more than a decade) might be relieved to hear that his short stories, as they come to us in this selection (newly translated by Margaret Jull Costa), transport us to the same kinds of environment. The tales of which Vampire in Love is composed are full of fragmented identities, potent dreams, monstrous humans and human monsters.
In the opening story of the collection, A Permanent Home, a young man recalls being summoned to his father's deathbed to be apprised of the circumstances that led, two days after his birth, to his mother's murder. It transpires that his father had wanted to make the narrator's mother (Diana) his third wife because of her naivety and docility, and because she "had the most sensual lower lip in the entire universe".
On marrying her, however, he became unsettled by the discovery that she was an assiduous collector of an assortment of bread rolls; that she would issue him with military orders in her sleep; that she would come to treat him, while waking, as a male general might treat his troops. In order to free himself from this confounding of boundaries, he tells his son, he murdered her. Or did he? Perhaps he made it all up and simply wanted to bequeath to his son “the house of fiction and the pleasure of taking up residence there”.
In Greetings from Dante, a mother recalls the years of her life she has devoted to a son who, not out of disability but through choice, has never uttered a word; who specialises in a kind of domestic terrorism; and is responsible for the imprisonment of his father. The only sound the son makes – he is described as one who never wanted to "embark upon the human adventure of the word" – is a shriek that resembles that of a bat. She sometimes believes he might be one; wonders if she is going mad; mourns the loss of a happy life. And then one day... .
In Vampire in Love, which is set in Spain but takes place against the background of the early days of Russian space exploration, José Ferrato has been dreaming of a donkey that resembles a greyhound with human feet. He wakes, sees himself as the creature, and sets out for the local cathedral in search of a beautiful boy who represents evil. As he makes his way to him we learn that Ferrato is a vampire and an ugly hunchback; that he has learned to compensate for his appearance by adopting impeccable manners and showing exceptional kindness; that he feels the world is drifting away from him; that his commitment to human solidarity is fragile; that he longs to take flight among angels. When he arrives at the cathedral he attempts to kill himself.
You get the idea. There are occasions on which this trickiness is good fun, elegantly handled and stimulating. But more often the stories collected here feel like fragments of inspiration that have been cast on to the page with little attention to form, a complacent lack of intellectual rigour, and a near total disregard for precision and resonance of expression.
Indeed, this is a book whose dominant mode is that of inattentiveness. It is as if Vila-Matas believes that, when it comes to the short story, a gnomic or a quirky conceit is a good one, and that the demands of the form stop there.
This is a pity, for in the midst of these stories there lurks the ghost of an idea about the human need for story, language, pattern, and about the relationship between fiction and reality that, in earlier volumes, Vila-Matas has brought to vibrant, fully-faceted, strenuously modelled life. The present work feels dead by comparison.
Matthew Adams also writes for the TLS, The Spectator and the Literary Review.
Racecard
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m
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Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
IF YOU GO
The flights: FlyDubai offers direct flights to Catania Airport from Dubai International Terminal 2 daily with return fares starting from Dh1,895.
The details: Access to the 2,900-metre elevation point at Mount Etna by cable car and 4x4 transport vehicle cost around €57.50 (Dh248) per adult. Entry into Teatro Greco costs €10 (Dh43). For more go to www.visitsicily.info
Where to stay: Hilton Giardini Naxos offers beachfront access and accessible to Taormina and Mount Etna. Rooms start from around €130 (Dh561) per night, including taxes.
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
If you go
The Flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Johannesburg from Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively. Economy return tickets cost from Dh2,650, including taxes.
The trip
Worldwide Motorhoming Holidays (worldwidemotorhomingholidays.co.uk) operates fly-drive motorhome holidays in eight destinations, including South Africa. Its 14-day Kruger and the Battlefields itinerary starts from Dh17,500, including campgrounds, excursions, unit hire and flights. Bobo Campers has a range of RVs for hire, including the 4-berth Discoverer 4 from Dh600 per day.
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
As You Were
Liam Gallagher
(Warner Bros)
South Africa squad
Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen (wicketkeeper), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada.
Traits of Chinese zodiac animals
Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent