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elfbiterIsabel Allende - Zorro
(This is a repost from Livejournal)
Zorro AKA Diego de la Vega originated as an American pulp hero, the precursor of superheroes. In this tale Isabel Allende tries to give him a past, figure out what make him what he was. This is a tale of Zorro's childhood, how he came to know Bernardo, his later servant, and learn the various skills, including fencing.
Allende places Diego de la Vega into the historical context - Spanish California, Spain occupied by Napoleonic wars and so on. He is born as a son of ferocious half-Amerindian mother and a Spanish officer in the aftermath of an Indian rebellion. His childhood includes the Indian friend Bernardo and shamanistic grandmother.
Later his father sends the two boys to Spain, to study and live with an acquaintance - who also happens to collaborate with the French occupiers. In those years he meets Moncade, who will become his enemy but also befriends a tribe of Romany. Afterwards Diego must escort his daughters away, to California, although they meet the pirate Jean Lafitte before they reach home. Where there are other problems…
Allende gives Zorro also a female perspective in the form of the mothers of Diego and Bernardo, the daughters of their Spanish host and even the woudon priestess Lavey.
In the process Diego learns Amerindian tribal ways, including taking part of the adult initiation rituals where he learns about his ritual attachment to a certain animal, joins a secret society in Spain and learns swordsmanship and horsemanship. And gains a passion for justice.
Being a history buff, placing Zorro in his historical context - before the time Mexico gained independence from Spain, before USA took over California - was one of the most interesting things. Not to mention seeing things in not-so-masculine point of view.
(This is a repost from Livejournal)
Zorro AKA Diego de la Vega originated as an American pulp hero, the precursor of superheroes. In this tale Isabel Allende tries to give him a past, figure out what make him what he was. This is a tale of Zorro's childhood, how he came to know Bernardo, his later servant, and learn the various skills, including fencing.
Allende places Diego de la Vega into the historical context - Spanish California, Spain occupied by Napoleonic wars and so on. He is born as a son of ferocious half-Amerindian mother and a Spanish officer in the aftermath of an Indian rebellion. His childhood includes the Indian friend Bernardo and shamanistic grandmother.
Later his father sends the two boys to Spain, to study and live with an acquaintance - who also happens to collaborate with the French occupiers. In those years he meets Moncade, who will become his enemy but also befriends a tribe of Romany. Afterwards Diego must escort his daughters away, to California, although they meet the pirate Jean Lafitte before they reach home. Where there are other problems…
Allende gives Zorro also a female perspective in the form of the mothers of Diego and Bernardo, the daughters of their Spanish host and even the woudon priestess Lavey.
In the process Diego learns Amerindian tribal ways, including taking part of the adult initiation rituals where he learns about his ritual attachment to a certain animal, joins a secret society in Spain and learns swordsmanship and horsemanship. And gains a passion for justice.
Being a history buff, placing Zorro in his historical context - before the time Mexico gained independence from Spain, before USA took over California - was one of the most interesting things. Not to mention seeing things in not-so-masculine point of view.
