When a professor has dedicated a lifetime to the history of Spanish and universal literature and He writes in a volume the impression that the books he read made on him, This is not just another manual on the history of literature nor a compilation of scientific studies from the last fifty years of an author; even more so, if possible, when the style is close, The pages give rise to personal comments, impressions, particular interpretations, most of them very well founded, and even excerpts from works or fictional stories that the author has been writing over the years. That’s why ‘The soul of books‘ is not only an essay on Spanish literature, but a varied miscellany of a lifetime’s studies, which go beyond the academic, as they involve a call for attention, a cry in the middle of acquiescence, where the writer cries out in defense of culture and against the danger of the disappearance of our classical literature, refuge and essence of our civilization. For this reason, already in the prologue, Martínez Torrón religious fanaticism alert, of technological colonization, of the dangers of global warming, of the risk of massive and uncontrolled migratory flows, with an eye toward the future, on the critical thinking of young people, even more so in these difficult times of confusion and imposture. Before going on to talk about the books he read, the intellectuals and writers who marked his life, the professor and writer allows himself a few pages of reflection about his own poetics, his way of understanding literature, the scope of emotion, of aesthetics, of knowledge of the classics, which is the only thing that makes art true art and not imposture. This is how the author understands the soul of books, literature as a way of culture, freedom and happiness.
little more than sixty pages for these questions and, immediately, Martínez Torrón dedicates the rest of the four hundred of which this essay consists of to the topics of literature that interest him most.the authors you have read and studied, the books that have impressed you. It does so with order and structure, so that the reader can easily follow the path and soul of those books chronologically. That’s why it starts with the roots, ‘The Book of Good Love’, ‘La lozana andaluza’, the charms of Amadís, the shadow of ‘Don Quixote’ or the passion of Lope.
Diego Martínez Torrón (Córdoba, 1950) has been a professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Córdoba. He has written books of poetry, stories and essays as well as articles, studies and critical editions, such as the ‘Complete Works’ by Espronceda or the first philological edition of ‘El ruedo ibérico’ by Valle-Inclán. His edition of ‘Don Quixote’ is the result of much time and study, and covers in depth the thought of Cervantes, as we know, a native or native of Córdoba.
In this exquisite volume, Martínez Torrón reviews many more authors and works that have been decisive in his career as a reader, writer and teacher. Don’t forget Larra, Espronceda, Poe, Victor Hugo, Baudelaire, Clarín, nor of the greats of the 20th century with Baroja, Azorín, Valle-Inclán, Machado, Proust, Juan Ramón, Alberti, Thomas Mann or Manuel Azaña, which serves to point out his opinions on the most turbulent times of our recent history, with sensibility, from the naked sincerity of someone who has reached the last intellectual stage of his life without emergencies or mortgages, with the lesson well learned, with the satisfaction of a job well done, with a heart filled with wisdom. This is seen in the delightful dedication of the book, to his daughters and granddaughters, to the future, to the young people who have to overcome imposture; For this, nothing better than classic Spanish literature, abundant in emotion, freedom and intelligence, the most powerful weapon to combat in this hostile world that those who must pick up the baton have had to live in. The author writes this beautiful book, the intellectual and vital legacy of a lifetime, knowing that he narrates and lives from the best that remains after the passage of time. Thus, he quotes Cervantes in the dedication: “and it must be noted that one does not write with gray hair, but with the understanding, which usually improves with age.”
‘The soul of books’.
Author: Diego Martínez Torrón
Editorial: Berenice
Year: 2024.
