“Muerte de animales” by Juan Pedro Castañedas

“Muerte de animales”, published in 1982, is one of Juan Pedro Castañedas’ books. This Canarian/Spanish author always surprises the reader. There is some experimentation that is refreshing to the eye, although it is masked in a very direct and easy way of writing that makes the experience very pleasant for the reader. Two big characteristics in this realist book are the importance of the landscape and the interaction between the characters, which is characterized by a silence that the reader can feel.

As in Castañedas’ book “La despedida”, this book presents a love triangle. Sebastián and Dionisio fall in love with Elvira, a young woman who enjoyed the physical presence of both men. From a point of view of the gender studies, it is interesting observing a woman full of life that is incapable to speak her mind. Because of this, Sebastián and Dionisio took control of her life, deciding that she would be Sebastián’s woman under the condition that they could not get married. Their life together turned to be very difficult because of the lack of children, the hard work and Sebastián’s depression. Elvira tried to help him out, but there was nothing she could do. Dinosio reappeared in their life, and both, him and Elvira, kept having feelings for each other. Finally, Sebastián got himself killed in a revenge plot related to a family will, and Dioniso tried to help Elvira to go through such a traumatic experience. It is after the second half of the book that Elvira started to speak out, although she still kept a passive attitude toward men. Reading books like “El Obelisco” (Emilio González Déniz) or “D’esquerra a dreta” (Manuel de Pedrolo) it is possible to observe how women are perceived during the Spanish Transition. Women were sexually active, and took strong roles, in many cases stronger than men’s.

“La Despedida” by Juan Pedro Castañeda

“La Despedida” is a short book written by Juan Pedro Castañeda, a Canarian author born in the island of El Hierro (Canary Islands) in 1945. This book is not considered a novel because of its extension, roughly 100 pages (111 in the 1977 edition). It has an omniscient narrator that talks in third person and changes the way it express itself depending on the person it’s talking about.

Each of the four chapters tell the same story but from the perspective of each character. Little by little, having access to all character’s personal experiences, the reader gets the whole picture. After reading the first chapter, one can easily feel lost in the plot, but slowly it starts making sense.

Most of the story occurred in the island of Tenerife. It is a love triangle between Juan, Mary and Fernando. To make a long story short, Fernando is an “indiano” from Venezuela. “Indianos” are islanders that went to America, usually to Venezuela or Cuba, to make money. Fernando left her girlfriend Mary behind, and later she started a relationship with his best friend, Juan. But when Fernando came back to Tenerife for a short period of time, Mary left Juan and got engaged to Fernando. Because he had to go back to Venezuela, it was a proxy weeding. After the ceremony Mary took a boat and went to America, but the marriage did not last and she came back to the Canary Islands. Meanwhile, Juan tried to get over Mary, but he died before she returned.

What I really like about this book, besides the literary technic, is the historical background. The plot takes place in the years after the Spanish Civil War, and it shows a poor country where people struggle to survive. The book was written in 1975, and published in 1977, and I wonder if this direct criticism could have been made if Franco was still alive. 

El Obelisco by Emilio González Déniz

“El Obelisco”, which won the prestigious “Pérez Galdós” Prize in 1983, is a novel written by Emilio Gonález Déniz, a Canarian author born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1951. This book exemplified the experience of the Canarian people born in the 50’s, making emphasis on their dreams, desires, frustrations and traumas. It is a perfect book to picture the last years of the Franquism and the Spanish Transition to democracy from a different perspective. There are other realities to consider that cannot be ignored, like the experience of Ceuta, Melilla, or the Balearic and Canary islands.

“El Obelisco” tries to show some cases of different and personal experiences, making clear that these are just some small pieces of a very large puzzle. Although it has a third-person narration, there is not an omniscient-narrator. An urban monument, an obelisk that was built in the 50’s, is the witness that reveals the plot. The Obelisk talks in first person in few occasions, usually at the beginning of each chapter.

The main plot takes place in 1981, but the memories of each character take us to different times in the past. In a nutshell, it is the story of a group of friends, and how they met and interacted with each other through their lives. The climax happens in the very end of the story, in which the most charismatic male character (Sico) tried to kill himself in front of all his friends, but was not able to pull the trigger. Then, the youngest of this group of friends, the only one that was born in the sixties and is free of traumas, took the gun from Sico’s hand and shot him.

This book is a reflection of a time and a generation, which provides a better understanding of the end of Franquism and the transition to democracy. 

Miua by Pérez Galdós

 This novel presents the same humor we have already seen in others Galdós’ books, which makes the experience of reading very pleasant.

Like said in previous posts, Galdós’ writing is very approachable, and easily captures the reader’s attention. Ana Mª Vigara Tauste, in her paper “El lenguaje coloquial
(humano)
en Galdós”, explains that this author used this colloquial way to write as an aesthetic resource.  Once again, I want to point out that the apparent simplicity, the humor, and the rich historical background are a constant in this great Canarian author. This novel is not as extensive as “Fortunata y Jacinta”, which makes it a perfect reading for the weekend.

“Miau”, released in 1888, criticizes how the Spanish administration works by showing the inefficient State machinery and the corruption of government employees. The plot tells the story of the Villaamil family. Mr. Ramón Villaamil was the Pater familias, and used to work for the IRS. Though he was a good employee, his talent was not appreciated and eventually was let go. Sadly, to get a job in Spain, talent is less important than who you know. He was married to Mrs. Pura, and they had two daughters: Luisa and Abelarda. Luisa fell in love with Víctor, a corrupted government employee. They got married and had a son, Luisito. Because of Luisa’s death, Luisito was raised by Mr. Villaamil. After a while Víctor went back to Mr. Villaamil’s house because of his illegal activities in the IRS. Víctor showed his true colors when he played with Abelarda’s feelings. Unfairly he got a very good promotion. Later, close to the end of the book, it is revealed that Víctor was the responsible for Villaamil’s disgrace. He, been a member of the Villaamil family, did spread the rumor in the IRS that Mr. Ramón Villaamil was a crazy old man that was not capable of working anymore. Luisito had a vision of God, who told him that very soon he was going to take his grandpa, Mr. Villaamil, with him. It is very interesting how God is portrayed through Luisitos’ eyes. There is a very brief paper called “La visión de Dios por Luisito Cadalso en Miau” written by Geiffrey Ribbans, which focuses on the linguistic and narratological aspect of these mystical experiences. At the end, tired of the world, Mr. Villaamil killed himself.

“El misterio de la cripta embrujada” by Eduardo Mendoza

“El misterio de la cripta embrujada” is a book written by the catalane Eduardo Mendoza in 1979. It is

the time of the Spanish transition to democracy after Franco’s death on 1975. For many Spaniards the nightmare was over, and the intellectual community recovered its voice to speak out. They didn't have to use literary resources anymore to hide their critical point of view about Spain. Finally, after so many years of censorship and repression, they were free to speak their mind without fear.

The plot is presented in first person by an urban pícaro (rogue) in a way that recalls to “El Lazarillo de Tormes”. Having a pícaro telling his own story in first person is not something new in the twentieth century Spanish Literature, “La familia de Pascual Duarte” (1942) by Camilo José Cela is clear an example. But what is fresh about Mendoza's novel is his humor. Although we still find misery and poorness, the criticism is brought through a sense of humor that makes the reader constantly laugh. Somehow, this humor reminds me of some pre-war novels like Gómez de la Serna’s “El caballero del hongo gris”.

“El misterio de la cripta embrujada” has many comments about the historical moment which Spain was going through right after Franco's death. Kalen R. Oswald explains in the article “An Urban Pícaro in Transitional Barcelona: Eduardo Mendoza's El misterio de la cripta embrujada and El laberinto de las aceitunas”, that this book reveals “essential details about the urban experience of Barcelona during the Transition to democracy” (32). María José Giménez Micó brings to our attention in her book “Eduardo Mendoza y las novelas españolas de la transición” that Mendoza’s books open a dialogue with History trying to understand reality. Also, she points out that this author offers a different perspective of Catalonia, caricaturing the construction of nationalist identities.