Genio y figura

by Juan Valera

Juan Valera y Alcala-Galiano (1824-1905) was a Spanish realist author, diplomat, and politician. He was born in Cabra, a province of Cordoba, and after graduating from the University of Granada with a degree in law he entered upon a diplomatic career. Over the next fifty years he filled a number of positions in far-flung locations, becoming a member of Spanish legations at Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Dresden, and St Petersburg. After his return to Madrid in 1859 he became one of the editors of the liberal journal El Contemporaneo, and in 1865 was appointed Minister to Frankfurt. After the revolution of 1868 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of State and Director of Public Instruction, and later took up ministerial positions in Lisbon, Washington, and Brussels, becoming Ambassador to Vienna from 1893-95. He was elected to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1900. Throughout his diplomatic and political career he wrote a number of works which are acknowledged as among the highest his country's literature has produced. Pepita Jimenez, which first appeared as a serial in 1874, is his best-known work and has been translated into many languages. One of his later novels, Genio y figura (1897) sparked a literary scandal on publication but was nevertheless another success. In this work Valera moves away from his usual Andalusian setting to the cosmopolitan world he had experienced during his diplomatic career, and the work has similarities with those of the realist French authors of the second half of the 19th century. In common with his other novels, there is a strong central female character, Rafaela, la Sra. de Figueredo, a woman with a past whose life is vividly portrayed. Reprinted from an original Spanish language edition.

116 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1897

About the author

Juan Valera y Alcalá-Galiano was a Spanish realist author, writer and political figure.
He was born at Cabra, in the province of Córdoba, and was educated at Málaga and at the University of Granada, where he took his degree in law, and then entered upon a diplomatic career (1847). Over the next five decades, Valera filled a number of positions in a variety of various places. He accompanied the Spanish Ambassador to Naples. Afterwards, he was a member of the Spanish legations at Lisbon (1850), Rio de Janeiro (1851–53), Dresden and St. Petersburg (1854–57). After his return to Madrid, he became one of the editors of the liberal journal El Contemporáneo (1859), and was appointed Minister to Frankfurt (1865). After the revolution of 1868 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of State and (1871) Director of Public Instruction. During the reign of Alphonso XII he was Minister to Lisbon (1881–83), Washington (1883–86), and Brussels (1886–88), and in 1893-95 Ambassador to Vienna. He was elected to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1900.

Throughout his diplomatic and political activity he produced works which rank among the highest that his country's literature contains. For purity of diction and beauty of style Valera has never been surpassed in Spain. Pepita Jiménez, which appeared as a serial in 1874, is probably his best known work; it has since been translated into many languages. It depicts the gradual realization by a young seminarian of the empty vanity of his vocation, culminating in a shattering denouement. Other novels are Las ilusions del doctor Faustino (1875), El comendador Mendoza (1877), Pasarse de listo, and Doña Luz (1879). All of the foregoing novels were written around the time when he abandoned his political activities. He was also a supporter of Iberian Federalism.

Reviews

[José · Rating 3 out of 5]

Las vivencias vitales de Valera y sus estancias brasileñas sobre todo, se impregnan en esta novela.

[Eduardo Sánchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un gran libro para ampliar el vocabulario

[Antonio Jurado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trama significativamente marcada por las "virtudes", estereotipos y grandes diferencias sociales que marcaban fuertemente el devenir de la gente de finales del XIX.
Concretamente se describen amoríos de Rafaela, andaluza de la siempre menospreciada y decadente tierra, que de manera "meritocrática" asciende de los infiernos del populacho al paraíso aristocrático de las sociedades del nuevo, Rio, y viejo mundo, París.

[Rubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Qué sensación tan particular cuando cierras la cubierta de un libro, recién acabado, y te recorre un escalofrío!
Me encantan los libros que están tan bien escritos.
Rafaela ha hecho tambalear mi corazón. Qué vida, qué aventuras, qué carácter... Y como siempre, el Amor presente con un papel muy importante en la historia.

En fin: "Genio y figura, hasta la sepultura".
Os recomiendo el libro si aún no habéis tenido oportunidad de leerlo.

"Será contradictorio, pero nada más natural que las contradicciones."
"Hay belleza, elegancia y distinción para todas las edades, con tal de que no falten la salud y el aseo."
"... me decía yo que para cebar a los cerdos bastan afrecho y bellotas, y que es lástima arrojar perlas en la pocilga."
"Imaginan las gentes que el Amor y la Muerte son hermanos. Yo me inclino ya a creer que el Genio de la muerte es el amor mismo."

[Gort · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saepe dolores ut voluptatum harum et veniam aut. Rerum sequi sint sed. Fugiat est natus non repellendus. Et numquam assumenda nesciunt. Dolore fugiat tempora odit non saepe.