Las confesiones de un pequeño filósofo

Azorín (1873-1967)

 His real name was José Augusto Trinidad Martínez Ruiz.

Las confesiones de un pequeño filósofo (1904):

This book is part of the trilogy “Antonio Azorín”, along with “La voluntad” (1902), and “Antonio Azorín” (1903).

a) This novel begins with an introduction by Azorín (author) for the 1909 edition. The introduction is addressed to the reader. The book was written in a house in the mountains of Alicante. When describing the landscape, it is important to notice that he uses the word “castizo”.

Quiero escribir algunas líneas para esta nueva edición de mi libro. Lo

mejor será que yo cuente dónde lo he escrito. Lo he escrito en una casa

del campo alicantino castizo. El verdadero Alicante, el castizo, no es el de

la parte que linda con Murcia, ni el que está cabe los aledaños de Valencia;

es la parte alta, la montañosa, la que abarca los términos y jurisdicciones

de Villena, Biar, Petrel, Monóvar, Pinoso. En uno de estos términos está la

casa en que yo escribí este libro.

b) The book is a compilation of memories. There are several Azorins in this book.  The first Azorín is the author; he showed himself in the introduction. The author stated that wrote the book in a house. Later, we have the Azorín-narrator-character; he is writing in the Library of Collado de Salinas. This is a contradiction between the two Azorins: they wrote the book in different places. Both Azorins speak directly to the reader.

c) The novel describes Azorin’s childhood during his time in a middle school in the small town of Yecla. He doesn’t pretend to describe the small details of his life; he describes his personal growth. The writing is very easy to follow, and there are many rhetorical questions.

d) The descriptions of the school and the landscape are very rich. This was a boarding school in Yecla, and his house was eight hours away.  It was a Piarist (Escolapios) school.

e)  Azorín kept a diary with interesting articles of newspaper (it shows that he was a child who liked to think for himself). As a student he was often distracted. If he didn't know how to answer his questions, the teacher would take away his afternoon snack. On one occasion, when the teacher left the classroom, all the students behaved noisily except Azorín, who remained quite while reading a book. When the teacher returned, he become angry with Azorín and took away his book.  He describes many other unfairly situations in the school.

f)  His uncle Antonio spoke of Madrid to him, and Azorín fantasized about this city. Azorín spoke of several members of his family like his aunt Barbara or his grandpa. His uncle Antonio died and Azorin experience death for the first time. His uncle was a peasant, and is described as simple and good person. Azorin’s relationship with his uncle shows his sympathy to the peasants.

g) Azorín slowly developed a desire for the opposite sex. This desire grows. At the ending he is not a child anymore. He has become an adult.