The novel's fictional worldĬonveniently complies when Gordon needs to be rescued from the Reader's condemnation by making abject declarations of hisĮssential worthlessness and vacuity. Scenes of petty or callous behavior are followed by moments of lyricism and speculation: an especially egregious lie about his parents isįollowed by a long riff on Tolstoy, Aristotle, and hash, and then laterīy a meditation on the nature of translation. Minimal amount of self-awareness, Lerner works hard to redeem him. However, though Gordon is an ugly character who exhibits a "I have never been here" and "I didn't think Gordon prepares to return to the US with no lessons learned. That he has, for a year, neglected the stated purpose of his fellowship, After a disastrous appearance at a conference panel reveals He has nothing to say about them, and no personal stake in SpanishĪffairs. As he ponders the attacks, Gordon concludes that Narration, Gordon has told, by my count, twenty-seven self-serving lies The time the 2004 Madrid train bombings interrupt this low-action This personal drama constitutes the main action of the novel. Isabel to an extremely fancy restaurant, a gesture designed to make herįeel uncomfortable and small while appearing to be a token of In a classicallyĪbusive move, one of many, he stages a public humiliation by inviting Working-class Isabel is emotionally manipulative. Though his behaviorĪround the urbane Teresa is merely selfish and awkward, his treatment of Sympathy by claiming she is seriously ill and much-oppressed by what Lie-or strategically confessing to it-he continues to play upon their He wins their good graces, at first, by theįalse claim that his mother has died. Spanish women, Isabel and Teresa, respectively a language schoolĮmployee and a translator. Much of Gordon's energy is dedicated to flirtations with two Gordon finds himself unable to work, and spends his time in idleness and To the fellowship term, is minimal: like many fellowship recipients, The action of the story, confined entirely Like Lernerĭid, Gordon spends a year in his mid-20s writing poetry in Spain thanks Gordon does not suggest a maturation arc or even a clear means by whichĪdam Gordon is much like Lerner himself: an intelligent young manįrom Topeka, Kansas, raised by two eminent psychologists. Narrative of personal development, the psychological presentation of Though the novel has been understood as a Is an unconvincing character, making the novel's world and story
Prose covers over a serious formal defect: the protagonist, Adam Gordon, Station owes much to the lyric sensibility that has already won Ben The remarkable popular and critical success of Leaving the Atocha Retrieved from īen Lerner, Leaving the Atocha Station. APA style: Leaving the Atocha Station.
Leaving the Atocha Station." Retrieved from MLA style: "Leaving the Atocha Station." The Free Library.
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