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Loading... Zorro (2005)by Isabel Allende
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This is the story of how Diego de la Vega became El Zorro, the legendary masked defender of justice. It was a fascinating and fun read and is sure to delight any fan of Zorro. Allende has fleshed out de la Vega's past, revealing just how Zorro gained his incredible skills while telling a darn good story at the same time. I think Johnston McCulley, the original creator of Zorro, would approve of Allende's story, plotted in the same dramatic manner as the old stories that appeared in the pulp magazines. Historical fiction that tells the story of how Don Diego de la Vega became the legendary Zorro, defender of the disadvantaged and downtrodden. It starts in California in the late 18th century with the tale of how Diego’s parents met. It is an entertaining adventure that takes the reader on an exciting journey from California to Spain and back, with several detours through other parts of the world. It is told in third person by an (initially) unnamed narrator. It is written in Allende’s typical flowing and florid style. It is long and densely written. It took me quite a while to read, and there are few logical stopping points, but I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. Do not expect an entirely realistic narrative – just suspend disbelief and go with the flow.
This hard-charging style, nicely captured by Margaret Sayers Peden's translation, is one of Allende's strengths: she dashes off long, sweeping paragraphs that dance with energy. Her prose is casually sensuous (''power was passed from hand to hand like a coin''), and her characters are large and archetypal, cut from mythic patterns. Mischievous Don Diego, the future Zorro, and his ''milk brother,'' Bernardo, move through the California landscape like Western versions of Tom and Huck. …Allende wants to have some fun, and in this she succeeds with a variety of spunk and good cheer. …I am amazed at how enjoyable a picaresque novel can be, particularly one imbued with swashbuckling, swordplay, honor, hidden desire, unlikely coincidence and a good old-fashioned villain. Such elements are a reminder of the attractions of one of the main strains of world literature that starts with Don Quixote. …the book has plenty of what Hollywood would call non-stop action, and this is told with a pleasure so keen on the author's part that it's difficult not to be swept up in it. Reckless, unstable, attention-seeking, hysterical, sexually provocative, given to histrionic gestures, and with at least a split, dual or possibly even a multiple personality, Zorro is the archetypal neurotic-as-hero. He also wears a mask. Obviously, out in the real world, you'd lock him up and throw away the key. On the page, though, he's absolutely irresistible. The story of Diego de la Vega, the son of an aristocratic Spanish landowner and a Native American Shoshone warrior, who becomes Zorro while traveling the world with his dependable sidekick Bernardo, is clearly a perfect fit for the author of The House of the Spirits and The Stories of Eva Luna. Belongs to Publisher SeriesHas as a student's study guide
Diego de la Vega, the son of an aristocratic Spanish landowner and a Shoshone mother, returns to California from school in Spain to reclaim the hacienda on which he was raised and to seek justice for the weak and helpless. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)863.64Literature Spanish and Portuguese Spanish fiction 20th Century 1945-2000LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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