Los usurpadores

by Francisco Ayala

Bajo el título de Los usurpadores, Francisco Ayala recogió nueve ficciones redactadas durante los primeros años de su exilio. Su temática a la vez poética y universal, su estilo elegante y ajustado, le han convertido ya en un clásico de las letras hispánicas. El tema central, en palabras del prólogo, demuestra que el "poder ejercido por el hombre sobre su prójimo es siempre una usurpación". Mediante una amplia gama de tonalidades que va desde lo expositivo y narrativo hasta lo lírico, desde un tono grave de sobriedad hasta el de la más desenfrenada pasión, Francisco Ayala nos ofrece aquí unos cuadros o «ejemplos», inspirados en el pasado español que sirven de espejo para cualquier época y lugar. En apéndice se recogen tres textos de difícil acceso: las palabras introductorias del autor a la primera edición de «El Hechizado», un poema de Max Aub y un texto de Ayala, reproducidos estos dos últimos en la segunda edición de Los usurpadores.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Spanish Literature, Spain, Literary Fiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Francisco Ayala García-Duarte was a Spanish writer and teacher. Born in Granada, he had his first novel, Tragicomedia de un hombre sin espíritu, published when he was only nineteen. At the start of the Spanish Civil War, Ayala was out of the country. He returned for a brief time, later serving as secretary of the Spanish Republic's legation in Prague. At the end of the civil war he moved, as an exile, to Argentina where he lived between 1939 and 1950. There he taught sociology while continuing to publish works of fiction, literary criticism and sociology, notably a three-volume Tratado de la sociología (1947.) He also lived briefly in Brazil and after 1950 in Puerto Rico, where he taught at the University of Puerto Rico. He later moved to the United States, teaching in various universities, including Bryn Mawr, Princeton, New York University and Brooklyn College. In 1956 he returned to visit Spain for the first time but did not return to live there till 1980. He continued to write essays and fiction on various themes into his old age. Many of his writings deal with the topics of power and abuse of power. In general he did not directly written about the war in Spain, but examines it instead through other periods of history. Some of his works are:

- La cabeza de cordero (1949)
- Muerte de perros (1958)
- El fondo del vaso (1962)
- El regreso (1992) and
- El escritor en su siglo (1990)

In 2005, his memoirs were published, titled Recuerdos y olvidos.

Ayala died in November, 2009, in Madrid, when he was 103 years old.

Reviews

[Sara Jesus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Não é um livro muito agradável de se ler por falar de lutas de poder, inquisição dos judeus e o que o poder pode tornar uma pessoa amável nalguèm de pura malvadez.
Para compreender estes contos teríamos de compreender melhor o seu contexto, conhecer melhor Ayla que nasceu em Granada mas mudou-se para Buenos Aires. Teríamos de compreender de facto a guerra civil espanhola, do qual o escritor participou e ficou com traumas de guerra.

O meu conto preferido foi " Impostores" por falar D. Sebastião ( o verdadeiro reio), por se ter perdido na Batalha de Alcácer Quibir o poder passa para os Filipes. Mas o povo ainda acredita no seu regresso, pois nào existiu corpo para provar sua morte. Ayla irà explorar essa vertente, de um que se passa por D. Sebastiào para atingir o poder, mas è desmascarado e tem seu fim.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book for ten pence in Bewdley Bookshop, and quite ten years ago. Something I planned to read at some point in time, and for not discarding it I have been richly rewarded. A selection of short stories that give the greatest of pleasure. The telling is unusual, the setting historic but the tales are so appropriate for our age. The Inquisitor is possibly one of the best short stories I have ever read, and probably the most frightening, for me surpassing anything by Poe. Although Proust is highly critical of books that have a moral basis, I have to say that this volume overrides that dictum. And the moral is a critique of power - ideal stuff for an anarchist.

[Ebenmaessiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

“San Juan de Dios”: 8.5
- Our appreciation depends on the 1) context of the reading (is it uninterrupted? is it at the end of a long day or the start of an easy one?) and 2) the charity with which we bring to the hagiographic style (which, nonetheless, hides its own detached perspective sneakily within [a la Silence]) and the fable-like telling. Both were primed, for me, for a generous reading — and, as such, I was more buoyed by the picar-within-a-saints-life nature of the story (as so many of them were) than put off by the claustrophobic catholicity of the thing. Opinions will vary. STORY: a straightforward telling of some events from the life of Saint John of God, the founder of the Hospitaller Brothers, and his work among and within the newly reconquista-ed Granadans.

[Chema Caballero · Rating 3 out of 5]

No ha terminado de gustarme. Puro ejercicio estético. Ayala utiliza muy bien el lenguaje pero se pierde en laberintos que no suscitan más placer que el de rebuscar en los caminos de la prosa. Quizás el libro ha envejecido mal. Retratos históricos que no sé qué objetivo tienen más allá de experimentar con la escritura.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of historical short stories was interesting for its glimpses into Spain's history, but I found the distant narrative tone too intellectual. I only read half of the stories before tiring of it. If you like an older style of storytelling, the author is very talented.

[Marian · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 Muy interesantes, especialmente El hechizado, La campaña de huesca y El abrazo

[Luis Cardenas · Rating 4 out of 5]

San Juan de Dios, Los Impostores y la Campana de Huesca son los mejores de la colección. Sin desmejorar los demás pero no quedando tan grabados en la mente. Escritos con precisión y con un rico lenguaje español son el mejor tiempo invertido.