Jesús Terrés has just published Buscaba la belleza (Destiny), a crystalline and deep book that is as easy to read as sipping a glass of cool water in summer. It has been written about him that his descriptions are an expedition through that mountain range of enthusiasm and astonishment of those who know how to tell his biography without sparing themselves details because, if Terrés is anything, he is an ideologue of hedonism. Someone who writes with all five senses, even with a sixth that allows him to search for beauty even under stones.
Terrés, who previously sold 10,000 copies with Nada importa (his first book of chronicles), is managing to captivate many readers with his first novel thanks to writing without an interface, with a lot of bandwidth and, on occasions, naked. Or almost.
And it is that, in the end, indicates the author of Buscaba la belleza, all the stories are the same story (the encounters, the losses, the sunny days, the storms that almost devastated…), told in a million different ways, but almost always the same adventure. The heart rules, he says.
But let no one be fooled: the specialty of the house is to eat, drink and love. And tell it to the open grave (very well, in addition), without hiding anything, neither the mud and the crazy nights. In these fights, Terrés handles himself like a fish in the Mare Nostrum.
“My family is from Andalusia, but I was born in Valencia. My first contact with the Mediterranean was very physical, very much on the beach and playing with the sand. Very good to eat clóchinas and tellinas. But when you get older and travel, you realize that the Mediterranean is a way of being in the world. We are people stuck to the winds, ”she explains.
One of Terrés’s conclusions is that beauty exists as an ideal and in nature, but that it is necessary to propitiate and work on it, like someone tending a garden or perfecting their calligraphy. Another is not to try to avoid the pain, because it is not possible. “Wounds are healed with sea salt and the touch of the wind, never in a room with the blinds down,” he points out.
In short, life is only a one-way journey, so it’s all about enjoying as much as possible. Terrés achieves it in the bar that drags, the endless after-dinner meals and a stream of outbursts (the atomic bomb love affairs, wandering from one place to another, the photographs of Georgia O’Keeffe, the very red sunsets and the turbot at the ember) that make life come out through the pores.
And it is that, above all, the author of Buscaba la belleza is a prescriber of all kinds of pleasures and a relentless observer of the things that happen to humanity.
How much of you is in ‘Looking for beauty’?
There is a lot in terms of emotional charge and fears, although in the most anecdotal part of characters and events I have allowed myself to make fiction. But the feeling is very biographical.
Talk about the immensity of little things… What are your latest pleasures in mini format?
Writing my first novel hasn’t exactly been a rosy road: I’ve had a hard time at times. Now, with the book published, I am recovering the power to eat breakfast by reading a book. Lately, I also really enjoy preparing coffee, following the almost Buddhist ritual of grinding it, filtering it, soaking in its smell and drinking it slowly. Another pleasure that I have recently discovered is walking barefoot on the sand.
What can readers see through your keyhole right now?
Right now I’m in Jerez, sitting on a hotel bed, with my suitcase open, because I’m leaving in an hour and a half. I just had breakfast and was reading. Through the window I have a wonderful view of the beach of Sancti Petri in Chiclana de la Frontera and I can see olive trees and the very blue sea, because it is a very good day.
What is the city that inspires you the most right now?
There are two places that are very special to me lately. The first is the Highlands, the highlands of Scotland. I go to these islands every autumn when their forests are incredibly beautiful. It is an area that is not very touristy, a quality that I appreciate more and more. I also really like Mallorca or Menorca out of season.
He lives halfway between Valencia and Madrid. What are your favorite gastronomic destinations in these two cities?
It is difficult for me to opt for just one place, partly because in Valencia I direct the Hedonist Guide and I have many friends in the sector. To be faithful to Buscaba la belleza, I will say two traditional houses. In Valencia I feel happy at Rausell, a restaurant that has always been run by two brothers, José and Miguel. What happens in a bar in Valencia (with the prawns, squids and all the magic of the Mediterranean in sight), Donosti or Cádiz is not common to see when traveling. In Madrid, I would recommend La Buena Vida, a classic restaurant, attached to seasonal produce, with linen tablecloths, where they do everything well and where you can talk over the after-dinner meal, because they don’t double shifts. Being able to eat and talk without haste is important.
A hotel that has surprised you lately?
I will say two. There is an area in the north of Great Britain called the Lake District that has 16 lakes. In Ullswater there is Another Place, an establishment that has some cabins with fireplaces next to the lake. Being there, you have the feeling of being in a novel in the middle of nowhere where at dawn the crows wake you up. In Spain I like to go to La Residencia in Deià (Mallorca) in the spring. In the seventies many artists ended up in this little town, which is still full of art galleries today. In this hotel I like to have a coffee and toast with olive oil surrounded by original paintings by Joan Miró, with the Tramuntana mountains in the background.
In ‘Looking for beauty’ he writes that when he travels he takes a wine like Barón de Chirel with him. Is there someone who always accompanies you in real life?
I really like El Marco de Jerez. There are the Bodegas Tradición that make incredible palos cortados, olorosos and amontillados.
Before being a writer, he says he is a reader. Recommend a book other than yours
Right now I’m reading La mala habitura (Seis Barral) by Alana S. Portero and I’m loving it. I am increasingly interested in female writers who write from their guts and have no mercy for themselves, like Alana. It is a fascinating book written from the bone. Alana leaves everything on the folio.
A poet and a poetess?
I quote Carlos Marzal in Buscaba a la belleza, a Valencian poet whom I am very fond of. As for a poetess, I prefer Idea Vilariño. She has been very important in my history as a writer. There have been times when I have turned to Vilariño like the marathoner looking for a bottle of water.
Speaking of poetry, what buoys and sextants have you incorporated into your life for the remainder of the voyage?
A feeling that crosses Looking for beauty is the awareness of suffering, of not being disgusted by what you experience inside. Perhaps it is one of my most important learnings. There is a poem by Carlos Marzal that begins with Sufrirás that tells a bit about that, that you cannot expect to make this trip ignoring pain, because it is part of the journey, just like the salt of the sea.
Is there also beauty on the dark side of the Moon?
Of course! This is very Federico García Lorca and Machado. Joy and death are part of the same coin. We are both things at the same time. Sometimes you have to understand that there is no joy without sadness.
How do you plan to get drunk with life this summer?
After writing the book and after the presentations, I have a calm feeling. Getting drunk calmly is a nice oxymoron… And calm. That is, my calm and the calm that surrounds me.
When was the last time you had the feeling that the world was made right, one of those days where every piece just falls into place?
Good question. I consider myself quite lucky because there are many days when I have the feeling that the world is well made. If it’s about not wanting to be anywhere else, the house where I live with Laura, my wife, on the Patacona beach in Valencia is a haven of peace. Just last week I was at home for a couple of days, recovering routines, something that may seem boring, but I travel a lot on weekends. Sometimes the chosen routine is wonderful. It was probably the last day that I had the feeling that the world was well built.
One of those days where he makes the gesture of kissing his thumb and index finger…
Exactly.
By the way, what is beauty to you?
Beauty is the consciousness of fullness. Fullness is a very beautiful word that I think defines very well that feeling of not wanting to be anywhere else or with anyone else. It is also not having your mind set on yesterday or tomorrow, but on here. It is from that fullness that beauty can be savored.
