Pepita Jimenez (Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Juan Valera (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

In Spanish, annotated edition. Born in Andalucia in 1824 Juan Valera y Alcalá Galiano was a writer, diplomat, politician, poet and literary critic. Among his eight novels, some unfinished, Pepita Jimenez undoubtedly stands out. The interior voice of the author is permanently present, and underlines his prime concerns: the quest for the aesthetic and philosophical ideal. "Pepita Jiménez" was first published in 1874. Based on real facts, in this novel the literary motivations and intention of the author appear with unusual strength: worlds full of philosophical meditation, in which love and religiousness marked characters struggle between their own consciences and desires. Written as a series of letters the main character is Luis de Vargas, a priest-to-be full of mistic fire. Don Luis, having been raised after his mother's decease by his uncle the Dean, travels to his longtime widowed father's town to meet a young widow who his father is willing to marry. She is Pepita Jimenez, very young, beautiful and sincere, who rapidly catches the youth's eye and makes him plunge into a whirlwind of contradictions: his loyalty towards his father, his vows and his heart desires collide while his uncle, the Dean tries to steer him away from temptation. Though quite predictable in its ending, Pepita Jimenez constitutes a delicious reading due to Valera's mastery of Spanish, a nowadays undisputable characteristic that however received more than his due share of criticism in his own times.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: Spanish --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

If you include Pepita Jimenez in your courses syllabus this is an edition worth considering: fully annotated and easily available in the US.

Notice to the general reader: Even though this is the type of books reserved to Spanish studies readings, in this edition we took care to include just the necessary annotations as to help the modern reader sail through the novel without any obstrusive lengthy interruptions. If you enjoy reading in Spanish, and admire brilliant prose, this is a book to read.

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Stockcero; annotated edition edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 9871136145
• ISBN-13: 978-9871136148
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,298,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Juan Valera y Alcalá-Galiano was born in 1824 in Cabra, in Córdoba province. He earned a law degree from the University of Granada, followed by nearly fifty years as a career diplomat worldwide. When he resettled in Madrid, he became an editor at El Contemporáneo, followed by government positions including Minister to Frankfurt, Assistant Secretary of State, and Director of Public Instruction. After assignments in Lisbon, Washington, DC, Brussels, and Vienna, Valera was elected to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. His published works, still considered among Spain's finest literature, include "Pepita Jiménez", "Doña Luz", "Algo de Todo" (A Bit of Everything), "Las ilusions del doctor Faustino", "El comendador Mendoza", and "Pasarse de listo".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A forgotten masterpiece., September 19, 2001

By 

darragh o'donoghue - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pepita Jimenez (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

'Pepita Jimenez', once considered the great 19th century Spanish novel, now lies neglected by most readers and critics. Neither Penguins, Everyman nor Oxford, the pre-eminent publishers of 'Classics', have ever produced an edition, and I only became aware of its existence by accident on the net.

Having just read - and loved - the novel, I can see some reasons for its decline in popularity. for a start, unlike most 19th century novels, it is not realistic or naturalistic; it does not portray a society with voluminous detail. The hero, Don Luis de Vargas, the son of an Andalusian squire and an aspirant to the priesthood, is prone to use the high-flown, ecstatic and orotund language of the spirit, which, though set up by Valera to be undermined, can irritate the reader with its verbosity. The translation, by Valera himself, needs to be updated for the tastes of a modern readership - the famed beauty of the original can appear washily sentimental in unforgiving English. Most importantly, the novel's sunny benevolence, its attempt to reconcile the totems of Spanish conservatism - the Church, the Aristocracy, the Family - with less tractable forces such as Love and Nature, is not fashionable with critics who historicise Spain as a country with violent divisions, and who want their fiction to conform to this vision.

for those willing to take the chance, however, 'Pepita' has something for everyone. Its story of a theologian and his attempts to repress a growing love for the title character, a young widow and the intended of his rakish father, has all the abundant romanticism, terrible tension and potential tragedy of 'Wuthering Heights'. From the novel's first page, when Don Luis describes to his uncle and mentor the Archbishop his first meeting with Pepita, we know what will happen - the interest lies in the unfolding of the inevitable and the psychology of the characters, especially Luis, whose sacred and profane raptures spring from the same source (in its relentless focus on an unstable and delusive psychology, 'Pepita' is closer to the works of Prevost, Constant and Stendhal, than later 19th century realists).

Though not a realistic novel, the book is full of indelible set-pieces of Andalusian village life (trade, social occasions, rites, customs, night-life, festivals, in which the Christian and the pagan are indistinguishable, just as they are in Luis' imagination); and the overwhelming natural beauty, the latter made to serve and reflect the claustrophobic visions and passions of the characters (in its limited focus, in its conflation of spiritual and romantic ideas and language, its slippery allegorical possibilities and its proto-Expressionism, 'Pepita' could be considered the Spanish Nathaniel Hawthorne).

For post-modernists, the novel's straightforward, simple narrative is contained in an elaborate framework, more familiar from Gothic fiction. Parts 1 and 3 consist of letters to the archbishop from his nephew and ward Luis, and his brother, found on his death with his effects. Part 2 consists of a 'paralipomena', a 'fictional' third person narrative continuing the story. The officious editor of these papers speculates in vain on the provenance of this fiction. His own conjectures, interpretations and asides throughout, his alarming tendency to 'edit' the material without explaining his procedures, together with Valera's profound irony, sensual displacement of sexuality and unexpected humour, casts doubt on the novel's seeming optimism, without once diminishing its nerve-wracking immediacy.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesante, muy simple, August 8, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Louisiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pepita Jimenez (Leer en Espanol: Level 5) (Paperback)

La novela original es mejor, pero para una persona quien esta comenzando aprender la lengua, es buena. Este cuento que habla del amor es a veces un poco aburrido, pero al lector le encantaria las palabras hermosas del don Luis. Si quiere aumentar su vocabulario y practicar leyendo, compre este libro.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good order, February 1, 2010

By 

Marta C. Scheiwe - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pepita Jimenez (Paperback)

Arrived a little later than I expected, but besides that, it was a good order.