The Mad Days of Me: Escaping Barcelona

Henry Martin
Chevalier Editions (2007)
ISBN 9780615138848
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (6/07)


In “the mad days of me” Henry Martin captures that adventurous side of youth that is willing to trade security for survival and comfort for freedom. Whether from personal experience or from an inner gift, Henry displays amazing insights into man’s psyche.

The novel is about nineteen-year old Rudy.  In an effort to escape a dead-end factory career job, Rudy ran away from home.  He worked his way through Europe.  When the odd jobs ran out in Austria, he moved on to Italy. He was unable to find work because of the language barrier. On the spur of the moment, Rudy took a train to Barcelona, Spain. 

Martin stirs the imagination of the reader involving all five senses.  For instance he has Rudy describe the smells of Barcelona subway station as: “The strong spicy smell…the wild mixture of fragrances evaporating from the flower stands, street vendor’s sweat, fried dough, roasted meat, Arabic bread, sea breeze, sweets, tobacco and the perfumes of ever present prostitutes.  The kind of smell that will forever remain encrypted in one’s mind.”

The evening before Rudy plans to leave Barcelona he is attacked, raped, and robbed.  He is left without passport or possessions.  Rudy finds himself living on the street.  After a few short weeks of this Rudy expresses his plight, “…I am becoming one the hopeless bums on the streets, or at least I am starting to see myself as one…the hostile looks of the people willing to kill you for a penny are piercing through my skin.”  After reading the book, I have new insights into the plight of the homeless.  I am not as quick to judge as I do not know their circumstances nor have I experienced the difficulties they must face in a day to day turmoil of hunger, pain, and rejection.

Among the street people Rudy meets is the man who has his passport.  Rudy schemes to get it back by traveling with him and his two companions.  Rudy faces conflict after conflict, in a life of survival and danger, living on the streets of Barcelona. 

Mind-altering drugs, the fleeting hope of romance, near starvation, arrest, and the language barrier are all become a part of Rudy’s daily life as he desperately seeks retrieve his passport and to make his escape from Barcelona.  At one point Rudy laments the loss of hope and comes to the realization that he is “incapable of feeling joy.”

In another situation while sitting with a friend he discovers “the comfortable moment of silence.”  Rudy observes, “How underrated this great calm? …people are afraid of it; they feel they need to make small talk…anything just to break the stillness.” He discovers gratitude when given extra food, and true friendship among his peers.

Martin introduces an experience of mysticism into the story that reflects on the demons and shadows from Rudy’s past.  As he tries to fight off these demons, and shadows, he is faced with the hopelessness of escape from Barcelona and an impending threat of death.

Using the first person narrative to tell his story in “the mad days of me” Martin is able to reflect on observations and opinions that are thought-provoking, haunting, and unsettling.  Henry Martin’s writing is often almost poetic, brilliantly balanced with “gut level” honesty and street level language.

I am looking forward to Henry Martin’s next novel.

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