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El Caballero De La Triste Figura

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159 pages, Paperback

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About the author

Miguel de Unamuno

932 books1,061 followers
Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo was born in the medieval centre of Bilbao, Basque Country, the son of Félix de Unamuno and Salomé Jugo. As a young man, he was interested in the Basque language, and competed for a teaching position in the Instituto de Bilbao, against Sabino Arana. The contest was finally won by the Basque scholar Resurrección María de Azcue.

Unamuno worked in all major genres: the essay, the novel, poetry and theatre, and, as a modernist, contributed greatly to dissolving the boundaries between genres. There is some debate as to whether Unamuno was in fact a member of the Generation of '98 (an ex post facto literary group of Spanish intellectuals and philosophers that was the creation of José Martínez Ruiz — a group that includes Antonio Machado, Azorín, Pío Baroja, Ramón del Valle-Inclán, Ramiro de Maeztu and Ángel Ganivet, among others).

In addition to his writing, Unamuno played an important role in the intellectual life of Spain. He served as rector of the University of Salamanca for two periods: from 1900 to 1924 and 1930 to 1936, during a time of great social and political upheaval. Unamuno was removed from his post by the government in 1924, to the protest of other Spanish intellectuals. He lived in exile until 1930, first banned to Fuerteventura (Canary Islands), from where he escaped to France. Unamuno returned after the fall of General Primo de Rivera's dictatorship and took up his rectorship again. It is said in Salamanca that the day he returned to the University, Unamuno began his lecture by saying "As we were saying yesterday, ...", as Fray Luis de León had done in the same place four centuries before, as though he had not been absent at all. After the fall of Rivera's dictatorship, Spain embarked on its second Republic, a short-lived attempt by the people of Spain to take democratic control of their own country. He was a candidate for the small intellectual party Al Servicio de la República.

The burgeoning Republic was eventually squashed when a military coup headed by General Francisco Franco caused the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Having begun his literary career as an internationalist, Unamuno gradually became a convinced Spanish nationalist, feeling that Spain's essential qualities would be destroyed if influenced too much by outside forces. Thus for a brief period he actually welcomed Franco's revolt as necessary to rescue Spain from radical influence. However, the harsh tactics employed by the Francoists in the struggle against their republican opponents caused him to oppose both the Republic and Franco.

As a result of his opposition to Franco, Unamuno was effectively removed for a second time from his University post. Also, in 1936 Unamuno had a brief public quarrel with the Nationalist general Millán Astray at the University in which he denounced both Astray and elements of the Francoist movement. He called the battle cry of the rightist Falange movement—"Long live death!"—repellent and suggested Astray wanted to see Spain crippled. One historian notes that his address was a "remarkable act of moral courage" and that he risked being lynched on the spot. Shortly afterwards, he was placed under house arrest, where he remained, broken-hearted, until his death ten weeks later.[1]

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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October 1, 2018
Como los libros de Austral los tengo desde hace mil años, no estoy seguro si alguno los he leído o no. En ese capitulo estaría este. Por su titulo podría pensarse que se trata de un ensayo sobre el famosisimo Quijote, pues si y no, no solo eso, en realidad el libro reune con ese titulo una serie de ensayos sobre temas dispares, sin ninguna relación unos con otros, ademas lógicamente al que dedica el que da titulo al libro.
El autor demuestra una cultura que para si la quisiéramos algunos, sabe de todo, ademas que debía dominar diferentes idiomas, entre otros latín y griego. En sus ensayos hace unas serie de interesantes disquisiciones sobre el estudio del latín, del teatro, en fin de diferentes temas, todo ello cargado de sentido común sin ponerse por encima del resto de mortales.
El libro se lee muy fácilmente, el autor se pone al nivel del hombre de la calle para exponer sus puntos de vista y lógicamente se le entiende todo.
Me ha gustado mucho y creo haber descubierto a un personaje de carne y hueso, lo cual es gratificante.
Profile Image for María José Jiménez Tubío .
230 reviews4 followers
May 27, 2022
En realidad es un artículo aparecido en una revista. Unamuno traza una descripción de cómo es Don Quijote a partir de los textos de la obra de Cervantes. Hay reflexiones muy hermosas. Vale la pena dedicarle un rato a leer esta obra y comparar las imágenes del apéndice lleno de grabados de todas las épocas.
P.S.: No se tarda un mes en leerlo, como me ha pasado a mi…
Profile Image for Juan Carlos López Domínguez.
750 reviews3 followers
April 3, 2025
Un muy breve libro musical. Y me refiero a la característica narración del Quijote, el ritmo, los arcaísmos, la sintaxis, la belleza del lenguaje, etc.
Unamuno recoge aquí, las descripciones físicas del Quijote, contenidas en la obra cumbre de Miguel de Cervantes. Y reflexiona sobre ellas.
Profile Image for Gemma Martín.
1,080 reviews4 followers
April 27, 2025
Es un ensayo interesante. Probablemente me hubiera parecido más interesante si no hubiera estudiado literatura española en el instituto.
Profile Image for Lily.
103 reviews
October 5, 2025
Un ensayo sobre la triste figura del caballero de Cervantes. Demasiados números y citas.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

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