And his description of the desolate, charred, and barren landscape of the mines is an excellent example of how a scene can contribute to the narrative of a book:Įl vapor principió a zumbar en las calderas del gran automóvil, que hacía funcionar a un tiempo los aparatos de los talleres y el aparato de lavado. The conversations between La Nela and Pablo, though sentimental in a way that only enamored teenagers can be, was totally convincing. As with many novelists, there are two main registers of Galdós’s writing on display: scene-setting description and dialogue. Though there were many words scattered about that I did not understand, I never felt lost to the contrary, I read quickly, avidly, completely sucked into the story in a way that is rare for me with Spanish books. It is elegant but readable, balanced but energetic. It is a simple story with a tragic arc.įor me the outstanding quality of Galdós’s writing is his prose. But then the brilliant doctor, Teodoro Celepín, comes to visit Pablo, examines him, cures his blindness, and, well, Marianela’s life gets considerably worse. The two fall in love, and share many passionate sentiments on their walks together. She is the “lazarillo,” or guide, to Pablo, a blind young man from a rich family. She is described as having spotty skin, thin hair, a malproportioned face, and most notably an underdeveloped body for her age.

This book is about Marianela, called La Nela, an orphaned, “deformed” adolescent who lives in the mining country in Cantabria. Apart from his few dozen-and often lengthy-social-realist novels, he wrote five series of historical novels, forty-six novels in all, covering the 19th century in Spain. For like the golden age playwright, Galdós was extremely prolific. In many ways he is reminiscent of Lope de Vega: both a critical and popular success, whose celebrity did not get in the way of his output. This is a shame, since Galdós was a writer of rare gifts, a fountain of stories written in beautiful prose. In Spain his reputation as a novelist is second only to Cervantes and yet the English translation of this book, one of his most famous, is out of print. Running the (Full) M… on The Madrid Half-MarathonĢ023: New Year… on From Gold to Glory: A Slice of…Ģ023: New Year… on Summertime in Andalucía: Three…Ģ023: New Year… on Summertime in Andalucía: …Ģ023: New Year… on Summertime in Andalucía: Jerez…īenito Peréz Galdós is yet another of those Spanish authors whose wide fame in their own language is equalled by their wide obscurity elsewhere.

Summertime in Andalucía: Jerez and Cádiz.

Marianela by Benito Pérez Galdós