Customer Reviews

Sangre y Arena: Level 4 (Leer en Espanol: Level 4) (Spanish Edition)

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Who in the world is Juan Gallardo?
This could be the question you're asking yourself.
Juan Gallardo is a good looking young man who keeps
the family tradition of bullfighting alive.After
living in poverty most of his life,Juan becomes
famous and rich.He marries a pretty young woman
called Carmen.Their happiness is interrupted by
the sexy Dona Sol.Juan,who is naive and illiterate
succumbs to Dona Sol's temptations,leaving behind
a distraught Carmen and cuadrilla.
Juan Gallardo is not clever.He has everything he
could want,but it is never good enough.He squanders
his money on valueless items and alcohol rather
then using it to do good for someone else.
We pity Juan for this reason but also ask
"Where are your brains?"
Ofcourse we know that if Juan had had brains
he may not have been a matador.
It is safe to say his theme song would have
been "If I only had a brain."
This is what makes the story interesting,
besides, how often do we get to read about

bullfighting?
If you want to know what happens to Juan
at the end, READ THE BOOK!!!

I have seen the film several times, always missing the piint, and seeing it as a personal tragedy for Gallardo. More importantly, after I read the book, in English, I found that it is a stinging critique of fascism, of catholicism in its primitive forms, of the wealthy and their sloth and a glorification of romanitc, populist truth in the form of the bandit who appears in the middle of the book(This is omitted from the film!)I found it powerful writing, full of magnificent symbolism e.g. when Gallardo goes into the Church to pray, and clean, evocative writing. I now intend to read it in el Espanol.