Benito Pérez Galdós (1843–1920)

“Young, pretty, and slender, and her skin was the almost implausible white of pure alabaster; she had the palest of cheeks and dark eyes more notable for their vivacity and brightness than for their size; her remarkable eyebrows looked as if they had been drawn with the tip of the very finest of brushes; her delicate mouth, with its rather plump, round lips, was so red it seemed to contain all the blood that her face lacked; her small teeth were like pieces of concentrated crystal; her show more hair, caught up in a graceful tangle on the top of her head, was brown and very fine, and had the sheen of plaited silk. This singular creature’s most marked characteristic, however, was her ermine-white purity and cleanliness.”

From the above quote, you would think Spanish novelist Benito Pérez Galdós was describing Parmigianino's 1525 painting Portrait of a Young Woman; but, alas, he is not writing about a wealthy sixteenth century aristocrat but a poor nineteenth century orphan by the name of Tristana, who, at age nineteen, is placed in the care (and clutches) of one Don Lope Garrido.

Make no mistake, this is a tale of fire and passion –I can vividly picture all the señoritas in the author's day relishing every page of Tristina, a romantic Spanish female heart on fire, yearning for love, for artistic expression and, above all else, yearning for freedom. True, at age nineteen Tristana comes to live with Don Lope Garrido, a seasoned Don Juan who uses all his stock repertoire of sweet words and caresses to seduce his young charge but then at age twenty-one it happens - Tristana awakens to how her womanhood has been violated and thus her rebellion against what she now regards as an evil, lecherous tyrant.

But this novel is much more than unadorned melodrama, for Benito Pérez Galdós is a true literary master, creating complex, rounded characters, as when he writes of Don Lope being a generous, noble gentleman, a throwback to the courageous knights of yore, an expert in all affairs of honor, ready to make every sacrifice in the name of duty and friendship, as when he rescued his dear friend, Don Antinio Reluz, Tristana’s father, from financial ruin, and later after Reluz’s death, making sacrifice after sacrifice, even selling his treasured weapons collection, to fund Tristana’s mother in her continuous insane moving from lodging to lodging right up until the day of her death. Is Don Lope a good, even saintly man, or is he a bad, evil man? Given the author's ample information and many examples, a sound case could be made for either or both together.

No sooner does Tristana leave the rapidly aging fifty-six-year-old Don Lope at home to join maid Saturna on afternoon walks out in the countryside and around town, then the plot thickens: Tristana meets and falls in love with Horacio, a handsome young painter. Of course, finding her beauty irresistible, Horacio, in his turn, falls in love with Tristana. The two lovers take their romantic afternoon walks together; they share both their tragic backgrounds and romantic dreams of life and art. However, there is one thing they will never share - Tristana boldly proclaims to Horacio that under not circumstance will she ever surrender her freedom and be bound to a man as his wife.

This New York Review Books (NYRB) edition features the author’s fluid prose rendered into clear, elegant English by translator Margaret Jull Costa. A real joy to read. And I must say, this novel brings to the fore two sets of pressing philosophical questions. Firstly, since Tristan’s life and dreams are so entwined with art, music and literature (as the story progresses, we discover she is exceptionally gifted in both language and music) how far can the arts go in transforming a woman in Trastana's position? Drawing, foreign languages and letter writing each serve Tristana as a catalyst in propelling and expanding her sense of freedom but, ultimately, other forces are in play.

Secondly, we have the issue of feminism. Saturna tells Tristana that in this society of ours women have but three alternatives – to be wives, to be actresses or to be something too low to be mentioned in polite society. Tristana will have none of it - by turns she envisions herself as a painter, an author, an actress, even a political leader; not to mention she argues with Horacio in a decidedly modern way how, if she has a child and lives as a single mother, she has more rights to her child than the father. One can easily imagine men - journalists, politicians, heads of households - who looked askance at Benito Pérez Galdós putting such scandalous ideas into the heads of women.

These philosophical questions move into yet again another dimension. In speaking of Don Lope’s sense of morality, Benito Pérez Galdó writes: “Despite being very much his own, was also quite widespread, the abundant fruit of the times we live in; a morality which, although it seemed to have sprung solely from him, was, in fact, an amalgamation in his mind of the ideas floating around in the metaphysical atmosphere of the age, like the invisible bacteria that inhabit the physical atmosphere.” With these words we hear echoes of the fatalism and social and cultural pressures molding men and women articulated by such as Émile Zola and his literary school of naturalism. So, it’s Tristana versus her society, culture and fate. What a riveting story. Highly recommended. show less

The Villaamil family in 1800s Madrid are a lively, eccentric bunch. Don Ramon, a currently unemployed but long-time government bureaucrat needs just two months more work to collect his pension but seems to have been frozen out.

His young grandson, Luis, has conversations with God and wants to be a priest. Luis' father is a malign and troublesome presence in the family.

Don Ramon's frivolous spendthrift wife and their daughters, known as the Miaows due to their resemblance to cats, devote show more themselves to attending the opera and trying to be fashionable while broke.

Don Ramon sinks into despair as Luis recounts his talks with God that seem to confirm no relief from the current trouble and poverty in sight for the family. He then takes matters into his own hands with uncharacteristic decisive action. show less

Fortunata and Jacinta is like a Spanish Les Mis. It is a huge, realistic, epic portrayal of lat 19th Century Madrid as experienced by a large number of bit players in the stories of title women. In many ways it was more enjoyable than Les Mis -- there were far fewer digressions into history lessons. The world seemed more coherent, as they was a slightly smaller cast of characters of which to keep track and the overall story is tighter. My main compliant is that, despite the title, this story show more is all Fortunata's. Even though the first section is (mostly) told through Jacinta's eyes, the rest is all Fortunata. I was disappointed that Galdós never saw fit to circle back to show Jacinta's perspective on cataclysmic events. I suppose it was necessary to the story arc for her to be the perfect "angel-face", but after a certain point the relentless wretchedness of Fortunata's world was overwhelming and a little bit of angelic goodness would have been refreshing. show less

Cuando leía las opiniones de algunos hispanistas que decían de Galdós que era el mejor escritor español después de Cervantes, yo tuve mis reservas. Aún las tengo, pero después de leer Miau no puedo negar que este autor es uno de los mejores que tocó nuestra preciada lengua. La psicología de sus personajes está magistralmente desplegada, su prosa es luminosa y una delicia de leer. Aunque los hablantes del español a veces tengamos una rara especie de complejo de inferioridad ante show more otras literaturas, con Galdós como caballo de batalla decimonónico sí podemos competir contra cualquier Dickens y contra cualquier Dostoievski. show less