”I’ve been slowly wearing away at my ignorance and, as I said, I’ve always kept on learning. But that ignorance is still so vast that even today, at seventy, leading this quiet life, I still cherish the hope of being able to embrace everything and experience everything, the unknown and the known, yes, even those things I’ve known before. There’s an intense longing for the known as there is for the unknown because one just can’t accept that certain things won’t repeat themselves.”

The Spaniard, unnamed, but most assuredly based on the author Javier Marias, is teaching at Oxford for two years. Teaching might be an overstatement. He has two classes assigned to him, but his main job seems to be that of being a celebrated Spanish author who adds some panache to their list of professors. He is arm candy for the university. He increases their already prestigious name with his presence. He is single and has only a handful of acquaintances among the Oxford teaching staff, so time stretches before him with no horizon.

He has two main hobbies. Women and Books.

Urocza narracja.. niespieszna, dzieląca po kobiecemu (!) włos na czworo. W połowie książki akcja zdecydowanie przyspiesza, aby przed końcem rozczarowująco zwolnić i 'rozejść się po kościach'. Spostrzeżenia zakochanej kobiety - bezcenne :-)