MixedNPRThe narrator of Manuel Vilas\' novel Ordesa wastes no time telling the reader what kind of psychological space he inhabits. \'I\'ve been a man of sorrows,\' he says on the book\'s first page. \'I\'ve failed to understand life ... It pained me to talk to others; I could see the pointlessness of every human conversation that has been and will be.\' Things don\'t get much better for him from there. Ordesa is the chronicle of a middle-aged man who\'s broken beyond belief, haunted by the death of his parents and his recent divorce, clinging to memories of the past. It\'s a complicated novel, both fascinating and maddening, and one that\'s likely to divide readers sharply ... Readers whose tastes run toward the action-packed won\'t find much of interest here, but those who favor introspective novels might well be fascinated by Vilas\' quiet book ... It does require patience, though. The early chapters of the book can be frustrating, as the narrator repeats himself frequently ... But if you stick with the narrator\'s intellectual peregrinations, it pays off, as he lets his despairing facade fall, and opens up more about the origins of his malaise ... when it comes to limning the everyday sadnesses of the world, Vilas is a master. Again, this isn\'t a book for everyone; it can certainly be exhausting, and anyone in search of a book that somehow approaches light should probably run very far away. But for those interested in reading about the ravages of hopelessness, Vilas\' novel is an eye-opening, if difficult, experience.
