Pío Baroja

Author profile

born

in San Sebastián, Spain

December 28, 1872

died

October 30, 1956

genre

Fiction, Non Fiction

influences

Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer, Charles Dickens, Gustavo Adolfo Bé ...more

About this author

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From Wikipedia:

Pío Baroja y Nessi (December 28, 1872 – October 30, 1956) was a Spanish Basque writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family, one of his relatives was a painter and engraver, and his nephew Julio Caro Baroja was a well known anthropologist.

He was born in San Sebastian, Spain. Although educated as a physician, Baroja only practised this trade briefly. As a matter of fact, he would use his student's memories - some of them he would consider terrible - as the raw material for his novel "The Tree of Knowledge". He also managed the family bakery for a short time and ran unsuccessfully on two occasions for a seat at the Cortes (Spanish parliament) as a Radical Republican. Baroj...more From Wikipedia:

Pío Baroja y Nessi (December 28, 1872 – October 30, 1956) was a Spanish Basque writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family, one of his relatives was a painter and engraver, and his nephew Julio Caro Baroja was a well known anthropologist.

He was born in San Sebastian, Spain. Although educated as a physician, Baroja only practised this trade briefly. As a matter of fact, he would use his student's memories - some of them he would consider terrible - as the raw material for his novel "The Tree of Knowledge". He also managed the family bakery for a short time and ran unsuccessfully on two occasions for a seat at the Cortes (Spanish parliament) as a Radical Republican. Baroja's true calling, however, was always writing, which he began seriously at the age of 13.

His first novel --La casa de Aizgorri (The House of Aizgorri, 1900)-- is part of a trilogy called La Tierra Vasca (The Basque Country, 1900–1909). This trilogy also includes El Mayorazgo de Labraz (The Lord of Labraz, 1903) which became one of his most popular novels in Spain.

However, he is best known internationally by another trilogy entitled La lucha por la vida (The Struggle for Life, 1922–1924) which offers a vivid depiction of life in Madrid's slums. John Dos Passos greatly admired these works and wrote about them.

Another major work --Memorias de un Hombre de Acción (Memories of a Man of Action, 1913–1931)-- offers a depiction of one of his ancestors who lived in the Basque region during the Carlist uprising in the 19th century.

Another of his trilogies is called La mar (The sea) and comprises La estrella del capitán Tximista, Los Pilotos de altura, and Los mercaderes de esclavos. Baroja also wrote the biography of Juan Manuel Antonio Julian Van Halen, a mariner who lived in the late 18th century.

However, some believe his masterpiece to be El árbol de la ciencia (1911) (translated as The Tree of Knowledge), a pessimistic Bildungsroman that depicts the futility of the pursuit of knowledge and of life in general. The title is ironically symbolic: The more the chief protagonist Andres Hurtado learns about and experiences life, the more pessimistic he feels and the more futile his life seems.

In keeping with Spanish literary tradition, Baroja often wrote in a pessimistic, picaresque style. His deft portrayal of the characters and settings brought the Basque region to life much as Benito Pérez Galdós' works offered an insight into Madrid. Baroja's works were often lively, but could be lacking in plot and are written in an abrupt, vivid, yet impersonal style. Sometimes he is even accused of grammatical errors, which he never denied.

Baroja as a young man believed loosely in anarchistic ideals, as other members of the '98 Generation. However, later he would derive into simple admiration of men of action, somehow similar to Nietzsche's superman. His vitalistic vision of life -although pessimistic- led his novels, his ideas and his figure to be considered somehow a precursor of a kind of Spanish fascism. In any case, he was not loved by Catholic and traditionalist ideologists and his life was at risk during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).

Ernest Hemingway was greatly influenced by Baroja, although this is not fully appreciated by English-speaking critics.(less)

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Pío Baroja's Books

Average rating: 3.66 · 1,372 ratings · 69 reviews · 106 distinct works · Similar authors

	El árbol de la ciencia 3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 avg rating — 708 ratings — published 1911 — 13 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Zalacaín, el aventurero 3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 avg rating — 194 ratings — published 1908 — 20 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La Busca 3.6 of 5 stars 3.60 avg rating — 112 ratings — published 1904 — 8 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Las Inquietudes De Shanti Andia 3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 avg rating — 84 ratings — published 1911 — 18 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Camino de perfección 3.24 of 5 stars 3.24 avg rating — 38 ratings — published 1901 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	César o nada 3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 1910 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cuentos 3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 1966 — 5 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Aurora roja: La lucha por la vida 3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 1904 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mala Hierba: Novela 3.6 of 5 stars 3.60 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 1904 — 5 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	El Mundo es Ansi 3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 1912 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Pío Baroja…

Series by Pío Baroja

La Raza (3 books)
by Pío Baroja
3.742424242424242 of 5 stars 3.74 avg rating — 726 ratings

Tierra Vasca (3 books)
by Pío Baroja
3.401913875598086 of 5 stars 3.40 avg rating — 209 ratings

El Mar (4 books)
by Pío Baroja, Tino Gatagan (Illustrator)
3.8958333333333335 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 96 ratings

La Vida fantástica (3 books)
by Pío Baroja
3.36734693877551 of 5 stars 3.37 avg rating — 49 ratings

Libro Amigo (1 book)
by Pío Baroja
3.8666666666666667 of 5 stars 3.87 avg rating — 15 ratings

More series by Pío Baroja…

Quotes by Pío Baroja

“Un paraíso conseguido sin esfuerzo no entusiasma al creyente.”
― Pío Baroja

tags: autobiografia, romance

5 people liked it

“Sin duda no los juilaban por sus influencias y por esa simpatía y respeto que ha habido siempre en España por lo inútil.”
― Pío Baroja, El árbol de la ciencia

tags: humor, satirical

3 people liked it

“¿Qué duda cabe que el mundo que conocemos es el resultado del reflejo de la parte de cosmos del horizonte sensible en nuestro cerebro? Este reflejo unido, contrastado, con las imágenes reflejadas en los cerebros de los demás hombres que han vivido y que viven, es nuestro conocimiento del mundo, es nuestro mundo. ¿Es así, en realidad, fuera de nosotros? No lo sabemos, no lo podremos saber jamás.”
― Pío Baroja, El árbol de la ciencia

2 people liked it

See all Pío Baroja's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

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The BURIED Book Club: Pío Baroja	3	13	Apr 06, 2013 04:05pm