The Madness

FROM Michael Eaude’s review in Catalonia Today - full review here and here.

Though Serrallonga’s story is what structures the book, it is the social context, the glistening Rambla cafés, the clothes, the conversations between Giberga and the two friends, and the intrusions of political life that make the book so attractive, so realist. The Madness is no dense, nineteenth-century tract. Rather, it’s lively and witty: a tragedy, but written in a light, sometimes comic key.

FROM Alice Banks, www.eurolitnetwork.com - full review here

In just one hundred pages of precise and fast-paced prose, Oller’s realist style breathes life into the society of nineteenth-century Catalonia, and the dramatic and constantly fluctuating political and social changes that occurred during this period. Through the central character of Daniel Serrallonga, Oller subtly dissects this important and explosive era in Spain’s political history: a period of general strikes, military intervention, repression and political assassination, all of which manifest in Serrallonga’s troubled mind.

FROM Eleanor Updegraff, www.shinynewbooks.co.uk - full article here

‘Where is . . . the fine line between sanity and insanity?’ asks our narrator: the theme of this surprisingly complex novel condensed into a single sentence. Though very much a product of its time – The Madness undoubtedly takes a nineteenth-century view of things, something the contemporary reader ought not to forget – this is a novel that still has considerable relevance in terms of the way we relate to others, particularly in the context of mental health. Sharply translated by Douglas Suttle, who has smoothly adopted a rather dated language and renders Oller’s original text into subtle, flowing prose, The Madness is a politically, historically and socially significant novel that suggests Fum d’Estampa Press has a lot more to say.

FROM The Modern Novel, www.themodernnovel.org - full article here

This book is definitely a small gem. It mixes the humorous and serious very well, gives us an excellent view of late nineteenth century Catalonia and shows a healthy disrespect for authority, at least authority in late nineteenth century Spain.

FROM Paul Burke, NB Magazine - full article here

Catalan man of letters Narcís Oller is little known here but perhaps the publication of The Madness in a new translation by Douglas Suttle will address that. First published as La bogeria in Spain in 1899 this brief novel is a minor classic of European literature deserving of a modern audience. Oller wrote The Madness at the height of his fame, eschewing the romanticism of earlier works for a new realism that stylistically and intellectually connected with the great European writers of the day … The Madness is a journey into the mind of a man losing his grip on reality, it’s a psychological portrait that reflects on the lack of understanding of mental health by his contemporaries but it’s also an exploration of new ideas of psycho-analysis and positivism.