Un dia de colera (Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2008

This is not a fictional tale nor a history book, nor does it have-strictly speaking-a main character, as there were countless men and women involved in the events that took place in Madrid in 1808. Heroes and cowards, victims and executioners, history kept the names of most of them. The people, places, and events recounted here are real, as are much of the words that are spoken. In this book, Arturo Perez-Reverte transforms the obscure and individual stories recorded in books and archives into a collective account. The author's imagination is therefore reduced to the mortar that joins the narratives. By making use of the most basic liberties that a novel allows, these pages bring to life the individuals who, for over two hundred years, have either remained anonymous or lived only in brief accounts of official papers. Description in Spanish: Este relato no es ficcion ni libro de Historia. Tampoco tiene un protagonista concreto, pues fueron innumerables los hombres y mujeres envueltos en los sucesos del 2 de mayo de 1808 en Madrid. Heroes y cobardes, victimas y verdugos, la Historia retuvo los nombres de buena parte de ellos: las relaciones de muertos y heridos, los informes militares, las memorias escritas por actores principales o secundarios de la tragedia, aportan datos rigurosos para el historiador y ponen limites a la imaginacion del novelista. Cuantas personas y lugares aparecen aqui son autenticos, asi como los sucesos narrados y muchas de las palabras que se pronuncian. En Un dia de colera, Arturo Perez-Reverte convierte en historia colectiva las pequenas y oscuras historias particulares registradas en archivos y libros. Lo imaginado, por tanto, se reduce a la argamasa narrativa que une las piezas. Con las licencias minimas que la palabra novela justifica, estas paginas pretenden devolver la vida a quienes durante doscientos anos solo han sido personajes anonimos en grabados y lienzos contemporaneos, o escueta relacion de nombres en los documentos oficiales.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Alfaguara; Pap/Map edition (March 28, 2008)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 9870409067
• ISBN-13: 978-9870409069
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #498,728 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Libros en espańol > Historia > Estudios Históricos

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Un Dia de Colera, November 23, 2008

By 

G. Vergara "Puebla's son" (The Heartland of the USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Un dia de colera (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

The author did two things: a homage to the unknown heroes of the civil uprising in Madrid on May 2, 1808 and the description of the events. It is a kind of "24 hours" (TV programme) in writing.

It keeps you tied to the narrative wanting to know the expected results, for the uprising is a well known historical fact.

If you read the book in its original language, Spanish, you will enjoy the elegant and perfect usage of the language as it was used in those days. It is not "Chaucer' like, but the description of mores, uniforms, streets are accurate, as far as I can tell.

Great book. I know the translation to English will be done well. All the other translations of the previous novels were well done.

Thanks for the opportunity to describe a great book

4.0 out of 5 stars Remember always that we were born Spanish.., July 31, 2010

By 

Manuel Elias Nunez Frechero - See all my reviews

This review is from: Un dia de colera (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

Excellent review of the events that took place in Madrid Spain the second of May of 1808. On that day the people of Madrid rose into revolt against the french occupation forces.

On this account Pérez-Reverte places the reader in the middle of the revolt, thanks to its excellent usage of contemporary sources.

You can feel the emotion, the anger and the colective anxiety that only true love for King and country can generate.

We place ourselves side by side with the cannons of captain Daoíz and Velarde who where one of the few spanish professional officers who took arms along with the insurgents, and we share their pride in having repulsed three attacks by the Grand Armee.. we also share their sorrow when everything ends the moment they are overrun by the french.

On the final part our blood freezes with the chilling accounts of the insurgents execution in the night rain, executions that were accurately displayes in Goya's painting.

In summary this book can be summed up in the words of the brother of Lieutant de Arango as he is going into the fray...Remember always that we were born Spanish..

Acuérdate siempre de que hemos nacido españoles.

Pity that there is not english translated version that I know of.

5.0 out of 5 stars LEFT WONDERING, October 2, 2009

By 

Luis F. Anterzana "Plain Luis" (Mercer Island, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Un dia de colera (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

I LIKED UN DIA DE COLERA AS MUCH AS ALL THE PEREZ-REVERTE BOOKS I READ. THIS ONE I DID NOT FINISH BECAUSE THERE WEE 14 BLANK PAGES IN THE BOOK. IMAGINE MY DISSAPPOINTMEMT. THE SUPPLIER DID NOT REPLACE THE BOOK AND I STILL EXPECT THEY WILLO.

SO YOU THINK ABOUT IT. A BUM DEAL FGOR ME.

LUIS