El caballero de las botas azules

by Rosalía de Castro

It may be a strange story, but The Gentleman in Blue Boots is considered Rosalia de Castro's best novel. The tale is a narrative of the difficulties of a gentleman that calls himself the Duke of Gloria who surprisingly appears in many parts of Madrid, leaving many people in the area perplexed. He shines his blue boots and prepares his white bow and bell. His charming personality and physical attractiveness open doors of palaces and galleries but, most importantly, captivate the women’s interests. The duke, curiously, doesn’t seem at all interested in these conquests except that he attempts to bring to light the disastrous state of literature in the country. Upon completing his mission, the Duke of Gloria disappears as mysteriously as he came. He becomes the symbol of innovative literature.

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

Published September 19, 1995

About the author

María Rosalía Rita de Castro, better known as Rosalía de Castro (Santiago de Compostela, 24 February 1837 – Padrón, 15 July 1885), was a poet, novelist and Galician nationalist ("Probe Galicia, non debes / chamarte nunca española" ["Poor Galicia, you should never / called yourself Spanish"]).

Contemporary feminism has trumped her as a pioneer.
For her novel "Daugher of the Sea" (1859), she wrote in the prologue, "Because it is not yet allowed for women to write about what they feel and what they know".

A native of Santiago de Compostela in the Galicia nation or "historic nationality" of northwest Spain, she wrote in both Galician and Castilian.

Writing in the Galician language, after the Séculos Escuros (Dark Centuries), she became an important figure of the Galician romantic movement, known today as the Rexurdimento ("renaissance"), along with Manuel Curros Enríquez and Eduardo Pondal. Her poetry is marked by 'saudade', an almost ineffable combination of nostalgia, longing and melancholy.

She is considered the most important female poet of Spanish history, and, along with Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, one of the best Romantic poets of Spain.

Reviews

[Neii]

El missatge, la forma d'escriure com la forma de desenvolupar la idea està prou bé. No obstant, a l''hora de contar la trama s'enrolla molt i conta moltes històries paraleles de personatges secundàris que poden arribar a embolicar un poc al lector.
Encara que ha sigut prou costosa la lectura algunes vegades, la manera o la idea que ha tingut per tal de fer la crítica sobre la aristocràcia mitjançant un Duque nou crític a Madrid, està prou bé i inclós divertit o entretingut.

[Lita]

"Así acontece siempre en el mundo; cuanto más se mira, menos se ve".

[Claudia]

Leí este libro en tercero de carrera pero no tenía Goodreads y lo quiero añadir a favoritos.

A ver si algún día hago review.

[SDAntoNia]

El principio era divertido, pero con tiempo, la lectura se hace bastante aburrido.
It was ok at first, but after a while, the reading just became annoying.

[Ana Roll]

Brillante sátira de la sociedad patriarcal y clasista, con absurda y necia moralidad.