Escenas Junto a la Muerte

Benjamin Jarnes (1888-1949) stands at the center of the avant garde Spanish novel, with near ten hybrid fiction, critique and autobiographical works. Escenas junto a la muerte, originally released in 1931, is a most illustrative example of modern narrative, and may be placed along the best literary examples of the genre (Proust, Joyce, Musil, Dos Passos or Giradoux). The novel starts with its main character, a young Literature aspiring professor, already decided to commit suicide. Stopped by a friend, and asked about the reasons for this dramatic decision, the young professor explains his story. The successive chapters constitute a flashback on his diverse misfortunes, that may be characterized as those of a modern Don Juan who sees reality through the eyes of literary myths. Even today Escenas junto a la muerte stands thoroughly modern due to its provoking writing, its transformation and reuse of literary historical tropes and themes, its vigorous advocacy for a full experience of present without bondage to memories from the past, and its firm support of literature as a subtle and unique knowledge experience. This novel, as many of Jarnes', makes for a joyful reading. Its prose constitutes a rhythmic, precise, crystal clear experience, studded with surprising metaphors and carefully crafted aesthetics imagery. Prof. Juan Herrero-Senes' foreword sets a clear and explanatory background for the novel, that complement the footnotes to assure the modern reader a full experience of the extraordinary Jarnes modern narrative.