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Behind the Lines: Bugulma and Other Tales by Jaroslav Hašek Translation by Mark Corner Afterword by Robert B. Pynsent, Illustrations by Jiři Grus Published by Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press ISBN 978-80-246-2013-8Jaroslav Hašek is best known for the satirical novel The Good Soldier Švejk but he also wrote close to 1,500 short stories. Fourteen […]
I’m glad to see other bloggers are reading/have read Fortunata and Jacinta and that others have expressed interest in tackling the book. I wanted to include a list of additional posts on the novel tied (however loosely) to the read-along. Scott G. F. Bailey’s old blog and Amateur Reader’s Wuthering Expectations had many posts on the […]
Cervantes Street by Jaime Manrique Akashic Books, 320 pages (paperback) ISBN 978-1617751264After reading this review by Lawrence Norfolk about Cervantes Street I was sure I wanted to read the book. The structure of Cervantes Street alternates chapters between the memoirs of Miguel and his rich college friend Luis Lara (with the final chapter told by […]
What a long strange year in reading it has been. I hadn’t planned on reading Fortunata and Jacinta again or delving into more Galdós but I’m glad I did. I plan on reading a few more of his books that have been translated into English over the next few months, so you will be hearing […]
I found several (what I call) unasked questions in the novel but I believe there was one that Galdós wanted the reader to consider—what is in store for little Juan (Juan Evaristo Segismundo)? The novel ends on a melancholy buoyant note, which is the best Galdós could do given the body count and other damage […]
I mentioned some strong women in the novel in an earlier post and I want to ramble about a similar topic here. In Volume Four we meet Aurora, another clever and apparently strong woman character (I mention in this post how Galdós initially introduces her via a portrait in Doña Lupe’s parlor). Aurora pretends to […]
In a novel layered in meaning the character Segismundo Ballester helps tie together many of the themes. As the pharmacist that employs Maxi, he embodies a balance in life lacking in most other characters. His profession represents this mixture as he regularly talks about the blending of medicinal compounds. At the end of the novel […]
The previous post looked at Feijóo’s practical philosophy he tried to impart to Fortunata to survive her “restoration” into the Rubín family. Feijóo’s outlook is one of practicality—setting an ideal goal but planning for contingencies. Feijóo continues in the line of people attempting to reform Fortunata. Where the Rubín family tried to confine Fortunata in […]
After Juan dumps Fortunata again, she is protected by the retired military man Evaristo Feijóo. He sets her up in her own place and proposes an arrangement for her to be his lover. She accepts but, as his health declines, the dynamic changes mostly to a father-daughter relationship. (This isn’t the only relationship in the […]
I mentioned in the previous post that I planned to look at some of the principal female characters introduced in Volume Two. Volume One had several strong female characters, notably Guillermina Pacheco and Isabel Cordero, and Volume Two adds to this roster. Doña Lupe succeeds in the business world as a student of the usurer […]
Still recovering from a happy hour from last night with former co-workers. The high (low?) point of the evening was a potential recreation of a live karaoke performance (singing with a live, performing group) of a … ummm… rumored performance at a company meeting. By me. Fortunately things didn’t escalate to that point. The crowd […]
I was part of a layoff today so blogging will be a lower priority until I get the job-hunt machinery cranked up. I plan on finishing the Fortunata and Jacinta read-along on schedule, more or less. We’ll see how things are going in a few weeks. Good karma sent this way is greatly appreciated!
The model for Guillermina Pacheco is the historical persona of Doña Ernestina Manuel de Villena (1830-86). Galdós himself praised the charity work and character of Ernestina shortly after her death. He considered her a true saint of the modern world. Fervently Catholic and tenacious of spirit, she built an asylum for orphans in Madrid brick […]
Volume 2 focuses on Fortunata’s story. First, though, we meet the Rubín family, headed by Doña Lupe, a widow who has been tutored in financial dealings by Sr. Torquemada. Her nephews are Juan Pablo, Nicolás, and Maximiliano, nicknamed Maxi, a sickly pharmacy student. Maxi meets Fortunata (after her affair with Juan) and is smitten. Fortunata […]
First some links: The review at Open Letters Monthly An excerpt and recommendation by Michael Cunningham I’m not as enthusiastic about The Pilgrim Hawk as the links above are. It’s a well-told story working on several layers, especially when noting the focus of the subtitle (“A Love Story”) is secondary to the more subtle focus […]
Recognizing my outline only makes sense to someone reading the novel (and maybe not even to them), a short recap of Volume 1… Galdós provides the genealogy of the Santa Cruz and Arnáiz families and focuses on the adolescence and young adulthood of Juan Santa Cruz. Juan’s mother, aware that he is hanging with a […]
I’m going to start my series of excerpts with one of the weirdest moments in the novel but also one of the most revealing. Funny how the two sometime go together. But first some background. Galdós loves to set up comparisons. Juan Santa Cruz was a spoiled only child that never wanted for anything. As […]
Finally, I have a moment to write some notes on Volume 1 of Fortunata and Jacinta. Before delving into excerpts from the novel, I wanted to make some general comments that may (or may not) be helpful in reading the book. These comments aren’t meant to be comprehensive (trust me, they are very impromptu) but […]
Whew! I finished this project. Now I might actually find some time to write about the novel. One of the problems I have with a large novel like Fortunata and Jacinta is finding passages after reading them so I thought I would provide sub-chapter headings to help me (and anyone else) reading the novel. My […]
When I posted the schedule for the read-along I forgot my wife was going to be traveling and the boys and I would be living the bachelor life for a few days. The only casualty so far is a post I made Saturday evening—I’m not sure what happened to it but it has vanished. I […]