Entretenido como siempre, aunque de nuevo puede resultar un poco repetitivo comparado con otros libros de la serie. Iñigo va creciendo y su visión del capitán Alatriste es más adulta y ambivalente. ( )

El caballero del jubón amarillo
Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Publicado: 2003 | 208 páginas
Novela Aventuras Histórico
Serie: Las aventuras del capitán Alatriste #5

«Don Francisco de Quevedo me dirigió una mirada que interpreté como era debido, pues fui detrás del capitán Alatriste. Avísame si hay problemas, habían dicho sus ojos tras los lentes quevedescos. Dos aceros hacen más papel que uno. Y así, consciente de mi responsabilidad, acomodé la daga de misericordia que llevaba atravesada al cinto y fui en pos de mi amo, discreto como un ratón, confiando en que esta vez pudiéramos terminar la comedia sin estocadas y en paz, pues habría sido bellaca afrenta estropearle el estreno a Tirso de Molina. Yo estaba lejos de imaginar hasta qué punto la bellísima actriz María de Castro iba a complicar mi vida y la del capitán, poniéndonos a ambos en gravísimo peligro; por no hablar de la corona del rey Felipe IV, que esos días anduvo literalmente al filo de una espada. Todo lo cual me propongo contar en esta nueva aventura, probando así que no hay locura a la que el hombre no llegue, abismo al que no se asome, y lance que el diablo no aproveche cuando hay mujer hermosa de por medio.»

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition...

...Except in a Pérez-Reverte novel, where we'd probably be rather disappointed if they didn't burst into the room at some point. No cause for concern this time, anyway: in this, the fifth adventure of jaded warhorse capitán Alatriste and his intrepid teenage sidekick Iñigo, we get intrigue, romance, sword fights, 17th century poets, incognito monarchs, a cross-dressing royal menina, the moonlight abduction of an old miser's beautiful ward, and more of the captain's old enemies than you can point a pistol at.

It's 1626, a new piece by Tirso de Molina is opening in Madrid, and Alatriste and Iñigo are stuck in town without very much to do. Alatriste gets involved in an affair with a well-known actress, but it turns out that she has several very powerful admirers who resent his intrusion. And then it starts looking as though there is more going on than simple sexual jealousy. Surely they can't have got accidentally involved in yet another high-level political conspiracy? Well, possibly...

Great fun, in the best Dumas tradition, but laced with Pérez-Reverte's very 20th century conviction that violence carried out with edged weapons by men in cloaks and feathered hats is no less brutal and disgusting than the modern kind, and leads to its fair share of mud, blood and pain. And that in the middle of all this glamour and poetry the Spanish Golden Age is being frittered away in greed, incompetence and infighting. ( )

Rote and repetitive and pointless. And I'm a fan of this series. ( )

5th in the Captain Alatriste series, set in early 17th century Spain.

In every installment of this very fine series, Perez-Reverte provides a plot to keep Alatriste and his (now) 16 year old protogé, Íñigo Blaboa, appropriately employed and busy. Suffice to say, that there’s plenty of violent action, very well writtten.

But the real focus of the book is on the literary and theater life of early 17th century Spain. It was a rich, thriving, bursting-with-life scene. In fact, if you believe Íñigo, Shakespeare (contemporary in the era) wrote these silly little plays with absurd plots and dull characters!

At the time the story takes place--1626--Cervantes has died a few years before, impoverished and scorned as a literary figure of no merit. The brightest star of the poetry (and therefore dramatic) firmament is Lope de Vega. A rising figure is Pedro Calderón, one of whose plays I saw about 10 years ago. A court favorite, who writes poetry for the king and plays for the queen, is Francisco de Quevedo, another historical literary figure who, along with a famous actress and her husband, figure prominently in the story. Pérez-Reverte works all of his obvious love for the literature of the era seamlessly into the book and the plot.

At the end of the book, as in others in the series, there is a selection of poems from de Quevedo, Lope de Vega, and Luis de Góngora, another prominent poet and bitter, life-long rival of de Queveda. It’s either slicing a rival to pieces ( with not exactly delicate language) or else commenting with eyes open about love and life.

Highly recommended. ( )