Customer Reviews

Goya (Spanish Version)

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Lion Feuchtwanger's "Goya" is a studious, extravagant and daring novel. The depth of characters and their detailed profiles enlighten the plot of the storyline whether from the sanguine and avaricious Godoy, the machiavellian and vulnerable Queen Maria Luisa de Parma or the somewhat fictionalized Duchess of Alba.

Feuchtwanger succeeds in placing the Aragonese master in the midst of a carnivorous environment, surrounded by political hyenas, religious zealots, dependent relatives, and outlandish manipulators. He draws his involvement in painting the foreground of political power, the suspicions of Queen Maria Luisa and the arrogance of Godoy.

He suspends Goya in a perilous period of Spanish and European history: the decline of the ancient regime and the advent of the Napoleonic order. He fabricates in Goya a historical witness of Madrid, Cadiz and Zaragoza, like a Robert Capa in the beaches of Normandy. There the author borrows the painter's brush to immortalize the crux of graphic scenes with his etchings and drawings, ceaselessly warding off the frustrations of deafness and its seal of social degradation, and instill hyperrealism in the vivid colors of his canvases.

It stuck me as pioneering the style employed by the author to sketch chapters based on some of Goya's most renowned paintings ("The Family of Carlos IV," "The Nude Maja," "Portrait of Godoy," and "Queen Maria Luisa Wearing a Mantilla"), albeit leaving off, arguably the finest of his masterpieces, "The Third of May." In retrospect, he makes Goya the ambassador of truth, the eye of the beholder.

I read this book for three times over my life. I read it when I was 15, than at 30 and than at 50. Every time I read it, it was better and better and better. Read it for yourself and you may feel same way.

This book can be legitimately considered to be one of the best historical novels (even comparing to Dumas!). The author studied very scrupulously the life and art of Goya (I am this artist's fan). Now when I go to see Goya's works, it seems like I know him personally - so vivid is the book's description. It explains you the background and atmosphere of Goya's art. It helps to understand it much better and see how profound his art is. I apologize for the erratic thoughts, I am still exited by this book although I read it about 5 years ago. In sum, if you want to learn about Goya and that historical era, "Goya" is one of the best introductions.