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Genio y figura
En esta novela, cuya aparición suscitó un escándalo literario, acompañado de un éxito editorial, Juan Valera traslada su habitual escenario andaluz a ambientes cosmopolitas bien conocidos por él en su andadura diplomática. En la línea de la novela erótica francesa, el autor dista tanto del naturalismo como la novela de tesis; no escamotea las situaciones atrevidas, pero tampoco preconiza el amor libre y el desprecio de las normas sociales: la realidad emerge artísticamente depurada. Una leve ironia, que niega la seriedad última al relato, corre por estas páginas escritas en la prosa más pulcra del siglo XIX español.
274 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1897
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About the author
Juan Valera
576 books27 followersJuan Valera y Alcalá-Galiano was a Spanish realist author, writer and political figure.
He was born at Cabra, in the province of Córdoba, and was educated at Málaga and at the University of Granada, where he took his degree in law, and then entered upon a diplomatic career (1847). Over the next five decades, Valera filled a number of positions in a variety of various places. He accompanied the Spanish Ambassador to Naples. Afterwards, he was a member of the Spanish legations at Lisbon (1850), Rio de Janeiro (1851–53), Dresden and St. Petersburg (1854–57). After his return to Madrid, he became one of the editors of the liberal journal El Contemporáneo (1859), and was appointed Minister to Frankfurt (1865). After the revolution of 1868 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of State and (1871) Director of Public Instruction. During the reign of Alphonso XII he was Minister to Lisbon (1881–83), Washington (1883–86), and Brussels (1886–88), and in 1893-95 Ambassador to Vienna. He was elected to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1900.
Throughout his diplomatic and political activity he produced works which rank among the highest that his country's literature contains. For purity of diction and beauty of style Valera has never been surpassed in Spain. Pepita Jiménez, which appeared as a serial in 1874, is probably his best known work; it has since been translated into many languages. It depicts the gradual realization by a young seminarian of the empty vanity of his vocation, culminating in a shattering denouement. Other novels are Las ilusions del doctor Faustino (1875), El comendador Mendoza (1877), Pasarse de listo, and Doña Luz (1879). All of the foregoing novels were written around the time when he abandoned his political activities. He was also a supporter of Iberian Federalism.
He was born at Cabra, in the province of Córdoba, and was educated at Málaga and at the University of Granada, where he took his degree in law, and then entered upon a diplomatic career (1847). Over the next five decades, Valera filled a number of positions in a variety of various places. He accompanied the Spanish Ambassador to Naples. Afterwards, he was a member of the Spanish legations at Lisbon (1850), Rio de Janeiro (1851–53), Dresden and St. Petersburg (1854–57). After his return to Madrid, he became one of the editors of the liberal journal El Contemporáneo (1859), and was appointed Minister to Frankfurt (1865). After the revolution of 1868 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of State and (1871) Director of Public Instruction. During the reign of Alphonso XII he was Minister to Lisbon (1881–83), Washington (1883–86), and Brussels (1886–88), and in 1893-95 Ambassador to Vienna. He was elected to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1900.
Throughout his diplomatic and political activity he produced works which rank among the highest that his country's literature contains. For purity of diction and beauty of style Valera has never been surpassed in Spain. Pepita Jiménez, which appeared as a serial in 1874, is probably his best known work; it has since been translated into many languages. It depicts the gradual realization by a young seminarian of the empty vanity of his vocation, culminating in a shattering denouement. Other novels are Las ilusions del doctor Faustino (1875), El comendador Mendoza (1877), Pasarse de listo, and Doña Luz (1879). All of the foregoing novels were written around the time when he abandoned his political activities. He was also a supporter of Iberian Federalism.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 25, 2020
Las vivencias vitales de Valera y sus estancias brasileñas sobre todo, se impregnan en esta novela.
February 25, 2013
Un gran libro para ampliar el vocabulario
March 6, 2022
Trama significativamente marcada por las "virtudes", estereotipos y grandes diferencias sociales que marcaban fuertemente el devenir de la gente de finales del XIX.
Concretamente se describen amoríos de Rafaela, andaluza de la siempre menospreciada y decadente tierra, que de manera "meritocrática" asciende de los infiernos del populacho al paraíso aristocrático de las sociedades del nuevo, Rio, y viejo mundo, París.
Concretamente se describen amoríos de Rafaela, andaluza de la siempre menospreciada y decadente tierra, que de manera "meritocrática" asciende de los infiernos del populacho al paraíso aristocrático de las sociedades del nuevo, Rio, y viejo mundo, París.
January 31, 2014
¡Qué sensación tan particular cuando cierras la cubierta de un libro, recién acabado, y te recorre un escalofrío!
Me encantan los libros que están tan bien escritos.
Rafaela ha hecho tambalear mi corazón. Qué vida, qué aventuras, qué carácter... Y como siempre, el Amor presente con un papel muy importante en la historia.
En fin: "Genio y figura, hasta la sepultura".
Os recomiendo el libro si aún no habéis tenido oportunidad de leerlo.
"Será contradictorio, pero nada más natural que las contradicciones."
"Hay belleza, elegancia y distinción para todas las edades, con tal de que no falten la salud y el aseo."
"... me decía yo que para cebar a los cerdos bastan afrecho y bellotas, y que es lástima arrojar perlas en la pocilga."
"Imaginan las gentes que el Amor y la Muerte son hermanos. Yo me inclino ya a creer que el Genio de la muerte es el amor mismo."
Me encantan los libros que están tan bien escritos.
Rafaela ha hecho tambalear mi corazón. Qué vida, qué aventuras, qué carácter... Y como siempre, el Amor presente con un papel muy importante en la historia.
En fin: "Genio y figura, hasta la sepultura".
Os recomiendo el libro si aún no habéis tenido oportunidad de leerlo.
"Será contradictorio, pero nada más natural que las contradicciones."
"Hay belleza, elegancia y distinción para todas las edades, con tal de que no falten la salud y el aseo."
"... me decía yo que para cebar a los cerdos bastan afrecho y bellotas, y que es lástima arrojar perlas en la pocilga."
"Imaginan las gentes que el Amor y la Muerte son hermanos. Yo me inclino ya a creer que el Genio de la muerte es el amor mismo."
May 6, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews