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Al pie de la Torre Eiffel
Con fascinación y horror, a partir iguales, seguía el mundo la construcción del coloso de hierro que se levantaba en París como gran atracción de la Exposición Universal de 1889. Entre los enviados especiales de la prensa se encontraba doña Emilia, una experta viajera y eficaz reportera que da cuenta en estas crónicas de los pormenores del acontecimiento. La vemos lidiar con sus cocheros, protestar por los precios de los hoteles, evaluar la situación política, reflexionar sobre algunas de las figuras de la cultura, extasiarse ante las novedades tecnológicas o calibrar la oportunidad de la moda del el traje pantalón al que alaba entusiasta en pro de la libertad de movimientos de las mujeres. Es un París que conoce bien, hervidero de novedades, intrigas y excentricidades que ella recoge con talante ameno, chispeante y hasta divertido. La escritora disfruta prestando sus ojos y oídos a lectores lejanos que, como ella, admiran la batahola de sucesos que trae la modernidad a la entonces capital del mundo.
232 pages, Paperback
Published February 3, 2020
7 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Emilia Pardo Bazán
879 books281 followersEmilia Pardo Bazán was a Galician author and scholar from Galicia. She is known for bringing naturalism to Spanish literature, for her detailed descriptions of reality, and for her role in feminist literature of her era.
Her first novel, Pascual López (1879), is a simple exercise in fantasy of no remarkable promise, though it contains good descriptive passages of romance. It was followed by a more striking story, Un viaje de novios (1881), in which a discreet attempt was made to introduce into Spain the methods of French realism. The book caused a sensation among the literary cliques, and this sensation was increased by the appearance of another naturalistic tale, La tribuna (1885), wherein the influence of Émile Zola is unmistakable. Meanwhile, the writer's reply to her critics was issued under the title of La cuestion palpitante (1883), a clever piece of rhetoric, but of no special value as regards criticism or dialectics.
The best of Emilia Pardo Bazán's work is embodied in Los pazos de Ulloa (1886), the painfully exact history of a decadent aristocratic family. A sequel, with the significant title of La madre naturaleza (1887), marks a further advance in the path of naturalism.
She was also a journalist, essayist and critic. She died in Madrid.
Her first novel, Pascual López (1879), is a simple exercise in fantasy of no remarkable promise, though it contains good descriptive passages of romance. It was followed by a more striking story, Un viaje de novios (1881), in which a discreet attempt was made to introduce into Spain the methods of French realism. The book caused a sensation among the literary cliques, and this sensation was increased by the appearance of another naturalistic tale, La tribuna (1885), wherein the influence of Émile Zola is unmistakable. Meanwhile, the writer's reply to her critics was issued under the title of La cuestion palpitante (1883), a clever piece of rhetoric, but of no special value as regards criticism or dialectics.
The best of Emilia Pardo Bazán's work is embodied in Los pazos de Ulloa (1886), the painfully exact history of a decadent aristocratic family. A sequel, with the significant title of La madre naturaleza (1887), marks a further advance in the path of naturalism.
She was also a journalist, essayist and critic. She died in Madrid.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 19, 2024
I read this travelogue as part of a course on women travellers. I've read two or three Pardo Bazán novels and enjoyed them enormously for their narrative power, their grappling with issues of class and gender when very few other people were doing so, and their sumptuous language - though I definitely don't get all of it. (Like so many campaigners for women's emancipation in the UK in the early 20th century Pardo Bazán was from a very privileged background - maybe these women had more time than most to analyse the discrimination that even aristocratic women suffered).
Al Pie de la Torre Eiffel is an account of her trip as a correspondent for the South American press to the Universal Exhibition in Paris of 1889. She offers impressions of the event itself, Paris (she's a big fan of the city in particular and all things French in general - except its classical music), fashion and culture(s) and of course, the Eiffel Tower itself. In an Epilogue she excuses what she regards as a lack of polish in her prose by saying that it's journalism, written in the heat of the moment and without revisions. The explanation/excuse isn't necessary: the travelogue is as much of a delight to read as anything else of hers I've read.
What struck me most about Pardo Bazán's account of the Exhibition was the optimism with which she viewed the advances - particularly industrial advances - on display. The Industrial Revolution was of course well underway in England by this time, and in France too (the collateral damage of which was harrowingly catalogued by Emile Zola among others). Spain was some way behind, and it seems that Pardo Bazán would have liked to see her country pick up the industrialising trajectory being followed by other European nations.
This optimism about technological advance at the end of the nineteenth century contrasts, I think, with attitudes near the beginning of the twenty-first century. Perhaps the nearest equivalent today to the machines in the Machine Hall of the 1889 Exhibition that so fascinated Pardo Bazán, is Artificial Intelligence. Of course there's a spectrum of opinion around AI, with some seeing it as massively beneficial while others regard it with deep suspicion. According to a World Economic Forum survey of attitudes to AI in 28 countries, only 50% of people think the impact of AI will be positive - a considerably smaller number, I'd think, than among those who accompanied Pardo Bazán to the 1889 Exhibition.
As so often, reading about the past makes us think about the present and the future. Pardo Bazán brings her optimism to life so vividly that it's hard not to envy her her enthusiasm for the changes taking place around her. Would I make a beeline for the AI Hall in a Universal Exhibition in some city in Europe in 2030 as Pardo Bazán did to the Machine Hall in 1889? I think not - but I'm not sure if that says more about her and me or about the very different times in which we live.
Al Pie de la Torre Eiffel is an account of her trip as a correspondent for the South American press to the Universal Exhibition in Paris of 1889. She offers impressions of the event itself, Paris (she's a big fan of the city in particular and all things French in general - except its classical music), fashion and culture(s) and of course, the Eiffel Tower itself. In an Epilogue she excuses what she regards as a lack of polish in her prose by saying that it's journalism, written in the heat of the moment and without revisions. The explanation/excuse isn't necessary: the travelogue is as much of a delight to read as anything else of hers I've read.
What struck me most about Pardo Bazán's account of the Exhibition was the optimism with which she viewed the advances - particularly industrial advances - on display. The Industrial Revolution was of course well underway in England by this time, and in France too (the collateral damage of which was harrowingly catalogued by Emile Zola among others). Spain was some way behind, and it seems that Pardo Bazán would have liked to see her country pick up the industrialising trajectory being followed by other European nations.
This optimism about technological advance at the end of the nineteenth century contrasts, I think, with attitudes near the beginning of the twenty-first century. Perhaps the nearest equivalent today to the machines in the Machine Hall of the 1889 Exhibition that so fascinated Pardo Bazán, is Artificial Intelligence. Of course there's a spectrum of opinion around AI, with some seeing it as massively beneficial while others regard it with deep suspicion. According to a World Economic Forum survey of attitudes to AI in 28 countries, only 50% of people think the impact of AI will be positive - a considerably smaller number, I'd think, than among those who accompanied Pardo Bazán to the 1889 Exhibition.
As so often, reading about the past makes us think about the present and the future. Pardo Bazán brings her optimism to life so vividly that it's hard not to envy her her enthusiasm for the changes taking place around her. Would I make a beeline for the AI Hall in a Universal Exhibition in some city in Europe in 2030 as Pardo Bazán did to the Machine Hall in 1889? I think not - but I'm not sure if that says more about her and me or about the very different times in which we live.
March 14, 2023
Los hoteles de Paris siguen (tan malos) ahora como en 1899. Que cronista impecable. Chapó doña Emilia.
March 7, 2021
Doña Emilia se va a la exposición Universal de París y escribe unas cartas-articulos para unos periódicos. En este libro se recopilan esos artículos.
Es interesante leer su punto de vista. En la artículos se habla de la monarquía, de los extranjeros, de feminismo, de política y nacionalismo. Me gusta leer cómo ha cambiado lo que consideramos "normal".
A doña Emilia le gustaba disfrutar de la comida, de la lectura... Y tenía una vida plena en una sociedad en la que la mujer era un ciudadano de segunda. Lo que demuestra que la única manera de conseguir la igualdad es consiguiendo la independencia económica.
Es interesante leer su punto de vista. En la artículos se habla de la monarquía, de los extranjeros, de feminismo, de política y nacionalismo. Me gusta leer cómo ha cambiado lo que consideramos "normal".
A doña Emilia le gustaba disfrutar de la comida, de la lectura... Y tenía una vida plena en una sociedad en la que la mujer era un ciudadano de segunda. Lo que demuestra que la única manera de conseguir la igualdad es consiguiendo la independencia económica.
May 23, 2021
No me ha parecido un libro de lectura especialmente fluida pese a lo corto que son los capítulos (realmente, crónicas periodísticas).
No obstante, sí creo que es interesante el momento en el que fueron escritas estas crónicas: cuando la Torre Eiffel, un edificio tan emblemático hoy en día, era una auténtica novedad. Y, sobre todo, comprobar a través de las palabras de Emilia Pardo Bazán cómo han cambiado las cosas (o no) en Francia, España, Europa y, en general, el mundo desde entonces.
No obstante, sí creo que es interesante el momento en el que fueron escritas estas crónicas: cuando la Torre Eiffel, un edificio tan emblemático hoy en día, era una auténtica novedad. Y, sobre todo, comprobar a través de las palabras de Emilia Pardo Bazán cómo han cambiado las cosas (o no) en Francia, España, Europa y, en general, el mundo desde entonces.
June 6, 2021
Una descripción fascinante del París de la Belle Époque, a finales del XIX, con sus luces y sus sombras. La Exposición Universal de 1889, que regaló al mundo la Torre Eiffel, es descrita con maestría y profundidad por una de las mejores autoras españolas de la historia.
September 23, 2024
Es un libro para el que ha pasado el tiempo, pero aún y así está bien como retrato de la sociedad de aquel momento
November 13, 2021
Conocer a Emilia Pardo Bazán a través de este libro solo puede hacerla más real y presente. Muy especial recorrer una pequeña parte del mundo siguiendo sus pasos y pensamientos.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews