The Mad Days of Me: Escaping Barcelona
Henry Martin
Reviewed by Sabrina Williams
In The Mad Days of Me: Escaping Barcelona by Henry Martin, the
protagonist Rudy is raped and robbed, he is left with nothing more than
the clothes on his back and a few coins. His assailants have taken his
money, his clothes, and his passport. He is alone in a foreign country
with no means for food or shelter. He takes to the streets and survival
becomes a day-to-day challenge.
All is not lost. Another transient, Pietro, has possession of Rudy's
passport. He's not willing to return it without some type of
compensation, however. Rudy decides to stay close to Pietro and wait
for the opportunity to retreive his lost possession. Alternating
between begging, starving, and stealing, he weaves in and out of
society in an indifferent haze.
For most people, being placed in such a precarious situation would be
terrifying, but Rudy is a staunch nonconformist: bucking authority,
experimenting with drugs and sexuality, and befriending societal
rejects. He creates his own niche in the hodgepodge of characters
roaming the streets of Barcelona. He participates in his own internal
study of sociology, making observations about the state of humanity and
what the future will hold. He's a modern-day Henry David Thoreau, minus
the class and etiquette. Martin's writing style reflects this internal
dialogue, using sentence fragments and first-person, real time
narration.
Timid readers beware: Rudy is quite blunt and honest in his
reflections, especially about his rape. "It was a good day: I didn't
vomit any blood and my ass is not hurting anymore." In the beginning,
the story and Rudy as a character lack any degree of emotion, leaving
the reader detached and apathetic, wondering why we should feel sorry
for the lost traveler. As time passes, panic begins to set in and Rudy
begins to show fear at the prospect that he will be trapped in
Barcelona forever. Alternately, Rudy's patience under duress is a
fascinating characteristic. I would wager few could endure the
stressors he encounters time and time again without a mental breakdown,
but Rudy moves nonchalantly from one encounter to another throughout
most of the story.
One's first inclination would be to assume that Rudy has been terribly
victimized and is suffering a great deal, which is true. But Rudy gains
an appreciation for life that those living comfortably never
experience. His nomadic lifestyle allows him to roam free of
responsibility, letting each day take him where fate wills. A journey
into philsophy, sociology, and the endurance of the human psyche, The
Mad Days of Me is thought provoking and open to interpretation. I
believe it would make an excellent study group project.
The Mad Days of Me: Escaping Barcelona is Henry Martin's first novel.
Read his author bio at AuthorsDen.