Miguel de UnamunoRezensionen
Autor von Nebel
Rezensionen
La crisis del patriotismo von Miguel De Unamuno
Now I have a confession to make. Although a fan of Italian literature, I have never read [a:Luigi Pirandello|7702|Luigi Pirandello|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1464208347p2/7702.jpg], mainly because I have always been afraid that my tastes are too traditional to appreciate this experimental master. As for [b:The Waves|46114|The Waves|Virginia Woolf|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1439492320s/46114.jpg|6057263] – I did read the novel over twenty years ago, but that was only because it was lent to me by a girl I fancied. And if the rocker Meat Loaf sang that he “would do anything for Love”, I guessed that having a go at Woolf was no big deal. Alas, The Waves washed over me without leaving any long-lasting ripples and I’ve never felt any inclination to tackle Woolf since then. It was therefore with some trepidation that I approached Unamuno’s book. I needn’t have worried, as the novel turned out to be really fun to read. And by “fun” I do not simply mean that it is “interesting” and “intellectually satisfying” (although it is that is well) but it is also seriously entertaining.
As in any self-respecting Modernist novel, the plot is secondary, if not inexistent. Bored bachelor Augusto Pérez has lost his doting mother who, before passing on, insists that he find himself a wife. It takes the gaze of piano-teacher Eugenia to finally awake Augusto’s passions. There is a problem though - the wilful Eugenia is not particularly drawn to Augusto. Apart from the fact that she already has a fiancé. Moreover, thanks to Eugenia, Augusto’s eyes are finally open to the charms of women in general, and the ones who surround him in particular. Meaning that he is soon embroiled in a nascent affair with the earthier Rosario, the young woman who does his laundry. In between Augusto’s hapless attempts at lovemaking, he indulges in philosophical discussions and meta-fictional discourses with the other characters, which culminate in a showdown with the Author himself. Add a prologue purportedly written by one of Unamuno’s fictional characters, a “postprologue” by the author, and an epilogue by Augusto’s dog, and you have the makings of a Modernist text, a work which challenges preconceptions about the role of the author, his characters and his readers.
What is surprising is that even at his most abstruse, Unamuno retains a light and comic touch. Indeed, when not exploding novelistic conventions to smithereens, he indulges in a type of comedy which reminds me of early [a:Evelyn Waugh|11315|Evelyn Waugh|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1357463949p2/11315.jpg]. I particularly enjoyed the scenes involving Eugenia’s uncle - a self-declared “theoretical, mystical anarchist” who believes that Esperanto will bring about world peace.
I sincerely hope that Elena Barcia’s translation will bring this novel to the attention of a wider English-speaking (and reading) public. It deserves to be known not only for its literary-historical merits, but also – and perhaps more importantly – because it is such a great read.
La vida de don Miguel fue, como el lector sabe, aciaga, y su independencia intelectual le hizo pagar un alto precio en repetidas ocasiones y acabaría llevándolo a la tumba. A Augusto Pérez, un hombre bueno y simple, pero filósofo y mujeriego –o mejor dicho, admirador del bello sexo- fueron su entusiasmo y la voluntad del propio Unamuno, su creador, los que le llevaron a la tumba. Que esto sea una nivola o una novela tanto da, como explica Pollux Hernúñez en su extroducción. En cualquier caso se trata de una edición revisada, anotada apenas y hecha con el cuidado que merece.
X
La envidia de la virtud
hizo a Caín criminal.
¡Gloria a Caín! Hoy el vicio
es lo que se envidia más.
Antonio Machado
(Proverbios y Cantares.
Campos de Castilla)
Recreación e interpretación del mito de Caín y Abel. Reflexiones propias de la obra unamuniana: el libre albedrío, Dios, la religión, la eternidad, el amor, la misantropía, el arrepentimiento, la moral, las convenciones sociales,… Pero el tema principal de la obra es la envidia. La envidia como acicate y motor para la vida pero también como tortuoso freno de una vida plena, o al menos con aspiraciones de ser dichosa.
En las historias piadosas se ha ensalzado a Abel frente al malvado Caín, pero ha sido éste último el que a lo largo de la historia ha interesado y subyugado a pintores y escritores. Algo así debió suceder a Unamuno pese al engañoso título; siendo el protagonista de la obra el amigo y adversario de Abel Sánchez, esto es Joaquín Montenegro. Aunque a través de la emociones de éste el autor analice la idiosincrasia de Abel. Una mirada profunda acerca de las atormentadas motivaciones de Joaquín-Caín, de su grandeza en su miseria, de su pasión insana.
La novela va creciendo capítulo a capítulo en torno a un mismo leitmotiv, la envidia, diversificándose la trama psicólogica gracias a la aparición de personajes que giran siempre alrededor del protagonista, aunque para éste nunca nada es suficiente pues los celos, la envidia le corroen: «una especie de personaje trágico, de ánimo torturado de hondas pasiones. “¡Si se pudiera pintar el alma de Joaquín!”.» (Cap. XXV)
Now I have a confession to make. Although a fan of Italian literature, I have never read [a:Luigi Pirandello|7702|Luigi Pirandello|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1464208347p2/7702.jpg], mainly because I have always been afraid that my tastes are too traditional to appreciate this experimental master. As for [b:The Waves|46114|The Waves|Virginia Woolf|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1439492320s/46114.jpg|6057263] – I did read the novel over twenty years ago, but that was only because it was lent to me by a girl I fancied. And if the rocker Meat Loaf sang that he “would do anything for Love”, I guessed that having a go at Woolf was no big deal. Alas, The Waves washed over me without leaving any long-lasting ripples and I’ve never felt any inclination to tackle Woolf since then. It was therefore with some trepidation that I approached Unamuno’s book. I needn’t have worried, as the novel turned out to be really fun to read. And by “fun” I do not simply mean that it is “interesting” and “intellectually satisfying” (although it is that is well) but it is also seriously entertaining.
As in any self-respecting Modernist novel, the plot is secondary, if not inexistent. Bored bachelor Augusto Pérez has lost his doting mother who, before passing on, insists that he find himself a wife. It takes the gaze of piano-teacher Eugenia to finally awake Augusto’s passions. There is a problem though - the wilful Eugenia is not particularly drawn to Augusto. Apart from the fact that she already has a fiancé. Moreover, thanks to Eugenia, Augusto’s eyes are finally open to the charms of women in general, and the ones who surround him in particular. Meaning that he is soon embroiled in a nascent affair with the earthier Rosario, the young woman who does his laundry. In between Augusto’s hapless attempts at lovemaking, he indulges in philosophical discussions and meta-fictional discourses with the other characters, which culminate in a showdown with the Author himself. Add a prologue purportedly written by one of Unamuno’s fictional characters, a “postprologue” by the author, and an epilogue by Augusto’s dog, and you have the makings of a Modernist text, a work which challenges preconceptions about the role of the author, his characters and his readers.
What is surprising is that even at his most abstruse, Unamuno retains a light and comic touch. Indeed, when not exploding novelistic conventions to smithereens, he indulges in a type of comedy which reminds me of early [a:Evelyn Waugh|11315|Evelyn Waugh|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1357463949p2/11315.jpg]. I particularly enjoyed the scenes involving Eugenia’s uncle - a self-declared “theoretical, mystical anarchist” who believes that Esperanto will bring about world peace.
I sincerely hope that Elena Barcia’s translation will bring this novel to the attention of a wider English-speaking (and reading) public. It deserves to be known not only for its literary-historical merits, but also – and perhaps more importantly – because it is such a great read.
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