On
Javier Sedano’s Tras las
puertas del corazón (“Behind the Heart’s Door”)
Definitely, one of the books
that has shocked me most in recent times. This novel is a box full of
surprises!
The main plot of this 2009
novel tells the story of Jaime, a young, inexperienced journalist in charge of
writing the memoirs of Alejandro, the bigwig of the newspaper Jaime is working for.
Jaime does not know much about Alejandro: he is a dark individual, a wealthy, grouchy
man who shut himself in his faraway manor long time ago. Those who are now
picturing in their minds a creepy, stooped over man with a long white beard,
leaning on a twisted stick—cannot be more wrong. First surprise: Alejandro is actually
an attractive silver fox.
So—what is Alejandro’s story?
Quite an enthralling one, indeed!
In the mid-1960s,
Alejandro—from now on he will be called Alex—, a college boy from Spain, lands
in New York to get a master’s degree. Alex was born under a lucky star as his
roommate happens to be Ray, a hot, likeable nudist. Ray acts as his cicerone in
the City at first. Little by little, he will become his best friend in America
until he finally, after a short period of secrecy, brings up his bisexuality.
What is Alex’s reaction then?, the reader asks. Well—Let us say love is in the
air.
Claiming that the thing
between Ray and Alex is a great love story falls short. Ray does not only
become Alex’s lover, but also his closest friend, his confidant, his spiritual
guide, his coworker, his travel companion over his life…And the reader is a
(widemouthed) witness to every stage of this relationship. Both Ray and Alex
represent the physical stereotype of the perfect man: slender, muscular alpha
male—but brandishing an exotic feature: a sexy, silky long hair. This info
would be just by the by if it did not come together with a groundbreaking life
philosophy. (I am afraid this is not only in the 1960s, but also nowadays.) Ray
and Alex live in communion with nature, a point that makes them into human beings
with special sensitivity. This leads them therefore to deal with their private lives
and jobs—they work as journalists: Alex as a reporter, Ray as a photographer—in
a rather receptive, spiritual, artistic way. Thanks to Ray, Alex discovers a new
face of his sexuality, an original way of living, and also a different family
standard. Ray, along with his sisters Star and Moon, make up a trio of siblings
truly sympathetic, open-minded, tolerant, and caring. When Ray
confesses to the family that he is gay and loves Alex, they first fall silent
after the stunning announcement, but it will not take too long before they all give
him a hug and say it is okay. Remember, in the 1960s!
Do not think of Ray and Alex
living in the woods, ignoring the mankind. Sedano frames their story in the latest
events of that moment. There are references to the Vietnam War (Ray, as you may
guess, avoids the fight), the 1967 Summer of Love, the New Communalism, the
Stonewall riots…Ray and Alex are totally cut to fit in the hippie movement:
free love, nudism, life in commune, human-animal bonding, attachment to natural
energies—A series of issues that will delight not only those who long for the
hippie times, but also those who could not live it. Nevertheless, there is a
point Sedano does not seem to agree with: experimenting with drugs. He even
condemns tobacco, so Ray and Alex scarcely smoke grass from time to time.
There in San Francisco, the
two of them fall in love with a pair of women, get married and become fathers.
But they never stop loving each other. And their wives know it and respect it,
as they love each other too. No wonder these four bodies ooze happiness in full…Still,
a couple of setbacks make these two men fly to Spain to cover the booming Transición Española[1] in the mid-1970s. This will mean the end of their
American Dream. Up to this point, Tras
las puertas del corazón has been a kind of Arcadia, a quasi-pastoral novel
where the protagonists have discussed the highest spiritual issues, and lived the
most rewarding experiences. The second part becomes dirtier. Spain is the land
where this couple will face the crudest events of their lives (here we get to
know why Alex, that kind-hearted man from the past, eventually turned into a
kind of tormented hermit); thus, America symbolizes the Paradise they should
have never ever fled from. Never mind...Every story has a beginning and an end.
And the end of this novel brings more than one surprise to Jaime as well as the
reader.
Javier Sedano is not a
sophisticated, style-obsessed author. However, his narration, so direct, so
genuine, so meaningful, is capturing us at every turn. There is one particular sex scene between Ray
and Alex when in Barcelona that I enthusiastically recommend to all the
potential homoerotic fiction authors: this is not only a high-energy sex scene,
this is also affectionate, romantic, visceral… heartfelt. The reader can easily sense the feelings between these
two characters while—it cannot be expressed otherwise—making love. Yet, do not
think of Tras las puertas del corazón
as a mere homoerotic novel: I should call it a novel of education, but even this literary label seems to me quite simple to
put into words what Javier Sedano pictures in his work.
Anyway, trying to explain this
novel seems to me a complete waste of time: this is just an impossible task. In
1939, when Metro Goldwyn Mayer company released its comedy masterpiece Ernst
Lubitsch’s Ninotchka, the audience
could read on the film posters: “Don’t pronounce it—See it!” Regarding this
tagline, and as Tras las puertas del
corazón is concerned: Don’t pay
attention to my review—Just read the novel! It is experience that really
counts.
[1] I have already mentioned this period in Spanish
history in my previous entry Interview with Paloma Pedrero, footnote number [3].
No comments:
Post a Comment