Johnston McCulleyRezensionen

This installment in the Zorro series is not as good as the first. It is a bit too formulaic and predictable and Zorro is never really stretched to his limit or put in danger. However, the swashbuckling and daring-do of the book keeps it entertaining if you are only looking for a light adventure read.

This was a very entertaining swashbuckler, a fun read with our San Diego Public Library read-aloud series. Fun to see the pulp fiction origins of this enduring character. Though how the author could have written such corny dialog is beyond me! He must have hurt his ribs laughing sometimes.

When I was a kid, I read every Hardy Boy bk & many other bks from similar series. I didn't, however, read mysteries/detective-crime-fiction aimed at older readers - except for, maybe, the works of Edgar Allen Poe. This might've been the 1st 'adult' mystery I read. As usual w/ bks that I read so long ago, I remember it more for its atmosphere - wch is probably reinforced largely by the bk's age. So, w/o attempting to verify the accuracy of my memory, what I remember is something like: 'criminal mastermind' named "The Spider", hidden rms w/ secret entrances - perhaps thru hinged bkshelves, diabolical criminal plans involving great cleverness & labyrinthian manipulations of people. Such details (minimal though they are) are pretty much clichés of similarly themed films of the era - &, presumably, of other bks. Anyway, I loved this at the time & give it 4 stars here more b/c of the impression it made on my youthful mind than b/c I'd expect to be stunned by its literary qualities now.

It wasn't long, however, before I snubbed mysteries as a genre too aimed at the LCD, a genre w/o much deep literary content, a formulaic genre predictably full of clichés & w/o innovation or substantial observation of human nature. Decades later, I discovered Dashiell Hammett & others & became interested in mysteries all over again.

A pulpy knockoff of the [b: Scarlet Pimpernel|136116|The Scarlet Pimpernel|Emmuska Orczy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1406764899s/136116.jpg|750426]. Not particularly well written. Its fine but if you've seen or read any version of the character then you'll find little of interest.
While many people have stolen from the Scarlet Pimpernel over the years, such as batman, there are different levels of theft. Most Batman stories for example are just taking the general concept, whereas 'The Dark-Knight Rises' steals very particular plot points (of course the rest of that movie is a remake of 'Rocky III' anyway).
This story falls into the latter category plagiarizing at least one major element from [b: The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel|31501|The League Of The Scarlet Pimpernel|Emmuska Orczy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1168277056s/31501.jpg|1946373] right down to a particular name, now more associated with superheroes the Avengers.
Their is one spot of originality (unless its stolen from something i havn't read, which is quite possible ;) ), which is the love story. This focuses on the development of the relation between the male and female lead, in the Pimpernel they're already married and all we get to explain why Marguerite would marry such a fop is that he seemed different before the wedding :lol .

Another element which i don't think they meant to steal is the problematic morality of the story, which it shares with Pimpernel. In Pimpernel it was that he was rescuing the rich from the poor, in this its the treatment of the natives. In both cases the hero only comes down on the right side as far as is acceptable for his social position.

The only real surprise for me in this was the tone. Its actually very close to that of the Antonio Banderas film, i really assumed it would be more serious.

Fun enough i suppose but i couldn't bring myself to give it 3 stars. Perhaps more acceptable if you don't read a lot.. or watch much film.. or have anything better to be do ;) .

Very Enjoyable

Reading this book is a real joy. If you loved the TV shows or the movies, I think this will be a real treat for you. The only problem is that it is such a quick read (because I had trouble putting it down), that it is difficult to really "soak up" the flavor of the writing. I don't recommend starting this book the week before final exams, because if you're like me, you'll neglect studying!

"A book by an author with your same initials"

they are backwards, but I'm counting it.

I did enjoy this book. I love the tale of Robin Hood, so I tend to love the variations of that tale that are written. Zorro is no exception. There were a couple of things I didn't like: the constant "by the Saints!" and it was a little melodramatic for my taste, but I have to remember when it was written. It was a quick read. I would consider it light and fluffy, but fun!

It seems that more often than not when I read a book from a century or two ago that it doesn’t translate well. Often, the dialogue is stilted, there’s an over reliance on universal viewpoint narration, the characters don’t come off as authentic, and it’s generally not a pleasant read. All of these points are why The Curse of Capistrano was a pleasant surprise. This novel doesn’t have any of these shortcomings. The novel moved at a good pace. The dialogue was solid, although there was an over reliance on certain sayings, such as “By the saints”, which they used about 8000 times. The character of Zorro was a fun one. There was lots of good action scenes and some clever turns of phrase. The identity of Zorro came as no surprise, since I figured it out very early on in the story.

One of the things that I found interesting is that although I had never read this particular story before, it seemed so familiar. And it occurred to me that many other books, shows, and movies have borrowed from this novel, the most notable being The Princess Bride. This is a classic action tale with a riveting conclusion that I would recommend reading.

Carl Alves – author of Two For Eternity

I wasn't sure what to expect of this short novel that introduced Zorro to the world. To my surprise, it was a rousing, enjoyable read. Still very much a book of its time period, of course (the dona fainted anytime anything happened, and while Zorro fights for the natives, they are still regarded as simpletons) but also progressive in several respects. There are sword fights galore, much wit employed, and several fine chases, too. The parallel lives on Don Diego and Zorro make for fun contrast. Captain Ramon is a villain most foul who at one point presses himself on Zorro's chosen love, Senorita Lolita, and then conspires revenge upon her family. Lolita is a great heroine, willing to stand up with defiance and honor, and survives a mighty horse chase mostly on her own. I can see why this book captured the public's imagination and began the franchise that continues today.

Not great writing. Riddled with plot holes. Obvious plot twists. Black & white characters. And yet that is exactly the source of pleasure in this book. It is great pulp that doesn't take itself too seriously. The ending is farcical, brilliant, funny and moving all at once.

I heard this as a B. J. Harrison classic tales unabridged audio book. Highly recommend the podcast and his voice acting. He brought the book to life which may explain why I enjoyed it so much.

A masked hero saves California from oppression.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 2.3/4

This gets an extra star for the amazing readability, especially for something written in 1919.

Out of the night,
When the full moon is bright,
Comes the horseman known as Zorro.
This bold renegade
Carves a 'Z' with his blade,
A 'Z' that stands for Zorro.

A fun read. What I remember is the exceptional, nay, unbelievable intelligence of Zorro's horse. There is a preface with a history of the story and the California in which Zorro lived.½

Meal mush and goat's milk! That's it, I'm off to watch the movie.

I'd write a full review, but I am entirely too lazy for that, so I'll just say this is a favorite and leave you with a gif, because gifs are cool.



FYI: It is so much to read this book aloud. And I'm not in the habit of doing that.

This seminal Zorro story, originally published under the name "The Curse of Capistrano", is an extremely enjoyable adventure tale. For those few souls who have never heard of Zorro, he is 18th century southern California's version of a Spanish Robin Hood or the Scarlet Pimpernel - a masked gentleman righting wrongs and protecting the oppressed from unjust persecution. I was pleasantly surprised that in this original book the soldiers, especially the sergeant, were more competent than they are typically portrayed in dramatizations. This makes them more believable and at the same time, more venial.½

4½ stars. This seminal Zorro story, originally published under the name "The Curse of Capistrano", is an extremely enjoyable adventure tale. For those few souls who have never heard of Zorro, he is 18th century southern California's version of a Spanish Robin Hood or the Scarlet Pimpernel - a masked gentleman righting wrongs and protecting the oppressed from unjust persecution. I was pleasantly surprised that in this original book the soldiers, especially the sergeant, were more competent than they are typically portrayed in dramatizations. This makes them more believable and at the same time, more venial.

Originally written in 1919, it is a typical hero/villin story and I loved it. Very easy listening. Brought back the many nights I sat and watched Zorro on TV with my plate of Spanish Rice which was a staple of my mother's dinner menu.

The narrator had a Spanish accent which added to the dramatazation.

Any of the movies has got to be better. Right? One of the most annoying, silly alter egos ever. The insipid love story is not much better. Somewhat redeemed by the well written action sequences.

Very nicely done audio book from LibriVox.

Ah Zorro. As a kid, I remember really enjoying Disney's Zorro series with Guy Williams. More recently I've had a lot of fun with the new Antonio Banderas movies. However, I'd never read any of the original adventures so I decided it was high time I change that. Being very familiar with the character as presented in TV and film, I found a few things surprising as I read his first adventure The Mark of Zorro.

Firstly, I was a little bummed that I already knew about the character because the author holds back and doesn't reveal Zorro's true identity until the very end of the novel. I obviously knew who Zorro really and had a hard time trying to force myself to forget. Based on the characters in the story and the way things played out, I suspect it still would've been fairly easy to guess at his identity, but I suspect it would have made the experience a bit different.

Another difference that I found interesting was the stark similarities to another literary hero with a secret identity…The Scarlet Pimpernel. Like the Pimpernel, Zorro's true identity is kept secret by the hero's acting like a complete "fop" or "dandy." Don Diego feels faint over the slightest exertion and nearly swoons at the mention of any type of violence or bloodshed. He is Perciville Blakeney taken to an even greater extreme.

Probably the biggest distinction (and somewhat a disappointment) was that the Zorro of the novel was a bit less of a swashbuckler than in the recent productions. While the recent movies had Zorro bounding around fighting dozens of soldiers at a time, the Zorro of the book is certainly an adept swordsman but he forces situations into a very equitable one-on-one fight by forcing other would-be-attackers into corners or holding them at bay with his pistol. While he is still an imposing force and certainly daring to be confronting soldiers in their own garrisons, the action sequences left a bit to be desired and were considerably less tense and exciting than I had hoped for.

That general sense of "less than hoped for" sort of sums up my reception to this story. Again, this is likely due to my being tainted by the high action of recent film productions. This is a well crafted story that brings together latin american romance with the fun adventure of an unknown hero standing up for the rights of the poor and oppressed. The character development was interesting but fell into stereotypes at times…again, this could be partly due to film and tv reproductions. These characters were likely not as stereotypical in the early 1900s and in fact I suspect that this book helped form some of the stereotypes we now enjoy in our media today.

Generally I'm glad I read it. I was surprised at the end of the book to see Zorro essentially hang up his cape, hat and mask and state that he would no longer be riding as Zorro. It appears this was intended to be a single book adventure with no long term plans for the hero. The popularity apparently led to additional novels by the same author as well as some additional stories by other authors. I'm curious to see if the continuing stories have more adventure or intrigue. Eventually I may find out.

***
3.5 out of 5 stars½

The stranger stood in the dark shadows by the door. His large sombrero was pulled down over his eyes. He wore a long dark cloak around his body. Then the stranger stepped forward into the light. Sergeant Gonzalez's eyes were wide with surprise. The stranger was wearing a black mask. There were two holes in the mask. Through these holes, his bright eyes were watching everything. "I'm Señor Zorro," said the man. "And I'm here to speak to you." He pointed at Gonzalez. "Four days ago you stopped a man on the road and beat him cruelly. The man was poor and weak. He hadn't done anything wrong. I'm a friend of that poor man. I've come to punish you!"

This book is about Zorro. Zorro is a man who helps poor people. And this book also show the interesting relativenesee between Don diego vega and Lolita and Captain Ramon and Zorro.This is a exciting book .I recommend youvto read this book.

I think this book is very interesting.
Lolita is beautiful girl. Don Diego wanted to marry her, but she loved not him but Zorro.
Don Diego is very gentle man and he didn't like fighting. Zorro is very brave and strong. They are completely opposite.
But in fact, Zorro's identity is...I can't tell the last. So please read this book!
I think Zorro is like "Mitokoumon", who is the hero of the period play of Japan. He helps poor people and punish bad people. So I like him very much.

This is the original pulp tale, serialized in All-Story Weekly, that spawned the movie The Mark of Zorro and was later republished under that title.

The story line—especially the ending—is somewhat different than what we know from Hollywood, but the essential ingredients are there: the dashing Zorro, the foppish Don Diego, the beautiful Lolita, the corrupt government officials, the swordfights...

It was a lot of fun in typical pulp style.½

This book tell about an adventure man who want to protects the poor and natives people.Also this man is strong with a fast horse to win of the bad soldiers.