Allende's version of the Zorro story is an old-fashioned swashbuckling adventure on one hand, a post-colonial story of colonial times on the other. Her hero, born Diego de la Vega to a Mestiza mother and Spanish father in L.A., takes on the attributes of off all cultures he comes in contact with (Native American healing and dreaming, French reason, Gypsy circus tricks, etc.) in a time when most people never stray from the village they're born in. So he's quite literally the best of all worlds. And if the worst parts of those worlds seem presented rather cheerfully, so what? This is an unabashedly optimistic and romantic book.

„Eroismul este o ocupație prost plătită, care adesea duce la un sfârșit prematur, de aceea atrage atâția fanatici și persoane cu o fascinație maladivă pentru moarte. Există foarte puțini eroi cu inimă romantică și sânge iute. S-o spunem de-a dreptul: ca Zorro nu e nimeni.”

Sunt numeroși autori cunoscuți pe care vreau neapărat să-i citesc, însă contează foarte mult prima carte aleasă, fiindcă impresia pe care ți-o lasă poate avea un rol decisiv asupra lecturilor tale următoare. Mai exact, dacă primul roman nu ți-a plăcut, este posibil să nu mai fii tentat să citești altceva scris de același autor. Astfel, pentru că încă nu mă încumet să citesc faimosul roman „Casa spiritelor”, am preferat să aleg o altă carte a Isabelei Allende, și anume „Zorro: Începe legenda” (El Zorro: Comienza la leyenda), un roman de ficțiune istorică publicat la noi în 2006 la Editura Humanitas și tradus în limba română de Cornelia Rădulescu.

Deși nu se știe cu exactitate cine a fost adevăratul bandit care l-a inspirat pe Johnston McCulley să-i dea viață celebrului personaj în anul 1919, ceea ce contează este popularitatea acestui Robin Hood al Lumii Noi, care a apărut în mai multe filme, cărți și cultura pop. Romanul scriitoarei chiliene, Isabel Allende, este un fel de prequel sau o biografie fictivă a legendarului personaj dinaintea povestirilor lui McCulley și încearcă să pună personajul într-o nouă lumină… sau cel puțin asta presupun că a fost intenția autoarei. Aici, Diego de la Vega nu este un nobil spaniol pur ca în versiunea bine-cunoscută, ci un metis, rodul iubirii Căpitanului Alejandro de la Vega cu războinica indiană Toypurnia.

„De la maică-sa moștenise culoarea ochilor și firea rebelă, iar de la taică-său, membrele lungi, trăsăturile cizelate, eleganța naturală și setea de cunoaștere. Iar de la amândoi, o îndrăzneală impulsivă, vecină cu nebunia; nu se știe însă de unde moștenise grația jucăușă (...)” (p. 72)

Ținând cont că este vorba de o biografie, mă așteptam să aflu informații despre primii ani de viață ai lui Diego, despre părinții săi, despre prietenul său Bernardo, care i-a fost ca un frate și tovarăș de joacă, etc. Era firesc să apară și elemente de ordin istoric și politic despre Spania colonialistă, indienii persecutați și umiliți, mentalitățile vremii, Inchiziție și legende ale populației native. Din păcate, am avut niște surprize neplăcute, care m-au făcut să detest această carte și m-au determinat să nu o pot termina.

Deși ideea de a citi o biografie, fie și fictivă, a lui Zorro părea seducătoare la început, stilul predominant descriptiv și distant a omorât încetul cu încetul tot entuziasmul și elanul meu de cititor curios. Am simțit un exces de zel în a descrie și a explica fiecare colțișor sau fapt istoric, de parcă cititorul a trăit până acum sub o piatră și nu a auzit în viața lui de colonialism sau de Inchiziție. Pe lângă acest info-dumping, narațiunea a fost foarte distantă, povestită și nu „arătată”, iar prin aceasta îmi părea că observ personajele de sus, ca dintr-un elicopter, fără a le distinge foarte bine. Deși Diego de la Vega ar fi trebuit să fie personajul principal al romanului, naratorul nu a focalizat camera pe el așa cum ar fi trebuit, pentru că era ocupat să sară și să zăbovească prea mult în „curțile” altor personaje.

Îmi pare foarte rău pentru această carte, pentru că, așa cum am scris și în introducere, este primul roman al Isabelei Allende pe care l-am citit, însă nu a fost o experiență livrescă prea plăcută. Traducerea în limba română a fost foarte bună, informațiile istorice aveau rolul lor, dar au fost folosite în exces, iar povestea ar fi avut potențial dacă narațiunea n-ar fi fost atât de demonstrativă, explicativă și povestită.

http://elitere.ro/zorro-incepe-legenda/

★★★☆☆ 3.25 stars

"Non è giusto, dite? Credete davvero che la vita sia giusta, signor de la Vega?"
"No, maestro, ma intendo fare tutto il possibile affinché lo sia" rispose Diego.

I found this an interesting and entertaining book, though not necessarily a good one.

Is it possible to Mary Sue a male character? What would that be called? Because, yeah, we all know Zorro has to kick all sorts of figurative and literal ass, but apparently his only flaw is that his ears stick out, being the real reason for wearing the mask.

Allende's book is not so much a typical Zorro adventure, such as we are used to seeing in movies and on television. It's really more the story of the creating of Zorro. None of the action takes place before he reaches the age of twenty, and much of it occurs before the concept of Zorro is even a thought in young Diego de la Vega's head. I found it fairly cool, but not what I was expecting.
The form of the book is self-acknowledging. Occasionally the narrator will insert her opinions of this or that, or note that she has to stop in her writing because she is out of quills. These transitions from story to commentary are awkward, and that, with the Mary-Sueing of Diego is what makes it just a good novel as opposed to an awesome story. An interesting gimmick, but it fell far short of it's desired effect.
But, it's got romance, sword fighting, world travel, gypsies, pirates, Indians, secret passages and adventure, and in the end, what else can you really want?

الكتابة الجادة عن بطل تحتاج إلى شجاعة حقيقية، هي مغامرة، قبلتها (إيزابيل الليندي) كما نرى، بكل الشغف الذي يميز كتاباتها، فأولا ً تحتاج صناعة البطل الأدبي، إلى خلق الظروف التي يوجد فيها، خلقا ً لا يجعل صورته ساذجة، وهذه المهمة تصبح أكثر صعوبة عندما يكون البطل موجودا ً، لأن علينا عندها تحريره من ركام الكتابات السابقة التي ربما شوهت صورته، وأضافت لها الكثير من الخيال الذي أفقدها واقعيتها، وزورو من هذه الشخصيات التي كتب عنها الكثير منذ اختلقها (جونسون مكولي) سنة 1919 م بروايته (لعنة كابسترانو)، وصنعت عنه أفلام، كونت لدى القارئ صورة محددة ونمطية للبطل بقناعه الشهير، وحركاته البهلوانية.

فلذا لجئت إيزابيل إلى الكتابة عن ما يمكننا تسميته مرحلة (ما قبل زورو)، أو جذور زورو، وكأنها غادرت الصورة الكاملة المرسومة كجدارية عملاقة لهذا البطل، والتي ستأتي روايتها خطا ً جديدا ً من الخطوط التي تكونها، غادرتها لتكتب عن (دييغو دي لابغا) الشاب الكاليفورني المتحدر من زواج نادر جمع والده (أليخاندرو دي لابغا) بالمقاتلة الهندية (تويبورنيا)، هذا الشاب الذي سنعايشه طيلة الرواية، ونشاهد تكون مواهبه وقدراته التي ستؤهله يوما ً ما ليكون زورو (والتي تعني الثعلب في اللغة الأسبانية)، بل إننا سنفهم سبب إتخاذ دييغو لهذا اللقب، وسنعرف مصدر كل موهبة من مواهبه، وسنفهم تكون نفسيته، بل حتى سنعرف من أين اقتبس زيه الذي اشتهر به.

وهذه الرحلة الطويلة التي تبدأ من العام 1790 م، تاريخ هزيمة والدة دييغو، الثائرة الهندية وسقوطها أسيرة في يدي والده، وما نتج عن هذه الهزيمة من زواج، وتنتهي في عام 1840 م على لسان الراوي الذي يخبرنا بقليل اهتمام عن الحياة التالية لدييغو الذي صار زورو، ونلاحظ أن السرد امتد واقعا ً على مدى 25 عاما ً، وأن الراوي اهتم فقط بحكاية زورو غير المحكية أي ما قبل شهرته، وتوقف عند عام 1815 م، وقفز ليخبرنا بلمحات سريعة ما حل بشخصيات الرواية بعد 25 عاما ً، وهي عملية استغرقت 4 صفحات فقط، بينما امتدت الفترة الأولى على ما يزيد على 400 صفحة.

الامتداد كان مكانيا ً أيضا ً، حيث تنقل دييغو وأخوه من الرضاعة الهندي برناردو ما بين كاليفورنيا وبرشلونة حيث ذهب ليتلقى تعليمه، وكعادة إيزابيل أجادت وصف البيئة المكانية والزمانية التي يتحرك فيها أبطالها، بدء ً من كاليفورنيا تلك الأزمنة، والإرساليات التبشيرية فيها، جنبا ً إلى جنب مع المستعمرين الجشعين، مرورا ً بالرحلة إلى برشلونة والتي تتم على محطات، بنما، ومن ثم بورتوبلو، والسفينة (لامادر دي ديوس)، وحتى برشلونة ذاتها فترة الغزو الفرنسي لأسبانيا، أيام النابليونية، وفترة ما بعد الثورة الفرنسية، بكل الشعارات التي أطلقتها، ومن ثم فترة ما بعد الخروج الفرنسي، والإرهاب الذي مرت به أسبانيا، وتأثيرات ذلك على أبطال الرواية، والرحلة التي اضطرتهم إلى قطع أسبانيا من أقصاها إلى أقصاها، كل هذا تملؤه إيزابيل بأسلوبها الوصفي المذهل.

الرواية ممتعة وأفلتت بنجاح من الصورة النمطية لزورو.

زورو
إيزابيل الليندي
ترجمة: رفعت عطفة
من منشورات: دار ورد
الطبعة الأولى 2007 م (الطبعة الإنجليزية كانت في عام 2005 م)
عدد الصفحات: 430 صفحة

الان واقعا بدجوری توی فاز این کتاب موندم، یه مقدار که احساساتم در موردش متعادل شد و تونستم ذهنم رو در موردش جمع و جور کنم میام و مینویسم براش

Isabel Allende has resurrected the tale of Zorro, the hero who came to light way back in 1919 in a novel by Johnston MCCulley titled “The Curse of Capistrano”. The story has been captured on film by stars such as Tyrone Power, George Hamilton and Antonio Banderas and was serialized in a long running TV program with Guy Williams. In the original stories, Zorro was already a hero for the downtrodden, so Allende takes a different slant, focusing her novel on Zorro’s early years rather than his later life exploits in California. It is a refreshing change, as that part of the hero’s story was only touched on in the past.

Don Diego de la Vega was born in California, the son of a wealthy aristocratic landowner and a native American Shoshone warrior woman known to her people as the Daughter of Wolf. Diego’s best friend through his entire life was Bernardo, the son of his wet nurse. The two grew up together and despite their class differences, remained friends. Diego embraced his Native American heritage and the two boys learned how to fight and hunt like Indian braves. They learned the native ways from Diego’s maternal grandmother White Owl, a highly respected shaman who taught them indigenous lore. Diego learned fencing and cattle ranching from his father and passed on everything he learned to Bernardo. White Owl guided Diego and Bernardo during their rite of passage to manhood, when Diego learned that the fox was his totem and thus became his spiritual guide. Bernardo’s totem was the black foal who eventually became Zorro’s horse Tornado.

When Diego turned sixteen, his father sent him to Spain for a nobleman’s education and he took his close friend Bernardo with him, disguised as his servant. During the sea voyage Diego learned to hang from the rigging and practiced the sleight of hand maneuvers he learned from a crewmate, skills he built on and perfected as he grew older. Once he landed in Barcelona, he lodged at the home of Tomas de Romeu, a family friend, and fell in love with Juliana, his eldest daughter. But the beautiful and strong-willed Juliana already had a suitor, the unscrupulous well-connected Rafael Moneado, so Diego had a rival and Juliana never made it clear who she favored.

In Spain Diego learned swordsmanship from Manuel Escalante, a master of the sport who introduced him to La Justicia, a secret society dedicated to fighting for the oppressed, the powerless, the poor and the downtrodden. The Spaniards were balking against the heavy hand of their French oppressors and Diego joined the guerilla warfare, helping them resist. It was during this time and in this place that the revolutionary character of Zorro was born.

As Allende unravels her tale, she describes the historical background so important to Zorro’s growth to adulthood. It was a time when Spain controlled California and as a boy Diego witnessed the cruelty of the Europeans towards the Native Americans. Later as a young man in Spain at the time of Bonaparte, he witnessed the brutal injustice of the French towards the Spanish who struggled under their heavy hand. It was these experiences that led to his identification with the underdog and developed his strong sense of social justice. As a member of La Justicia he had many opportunities to use his skills, fighting for those suffering under the harsh and brutal rule of Napoleon, using the name Zorro and wearing his black cape and a mask. When the French were forced to withdraw from Spain, Diego helped the French family with whom he had lodged escape, smuggling them across Spain to California. During that journey there were more opportunities to use his daring abilities, including his inevitable fight for the love of Juliana against his longtime enemy Rafael Moneado.

Allende includes some fantasy elements in her story including the mysterious telepathic link between Diego and Bernardo that allowed them to communicate without words. There is also the almost mystical experience the two boys have when White Owl sends them out on their quests and they discover their totems.

Allende creates a story that is a rollicky bit of fun, presenting her Diego as a bit of a rogue, a dandy who fusses over his appearance and pays detailed attention to his costume, creates a mustache to enhance his disguise and ensures he always presents his secret alter ego as dashing and stylish. He relishes in the signature sign he leaves for those who pick up the pieces after one of his encounters, the trademark “Z” he leaves with the slash of his sword. He is conceited, but also chivalrous, funny and likeable.

The story is told as a biography although the narrator is not identified until the very end. Agreed, there are some ludicrous plot twists, but it is full of entertaining feats of daring that can’t help but entertain, with Zorro leaping on his horse from great heights, flying off the edge of balconies and swinging from the chandeliers. It has all the entertaining ingredients needed in a tale such as this: secret initiation rites, spirit guides, under cover societies, scary pirates, beautiful women and incredibly impossible escapes. In between all the fighting and daring do, Allende repeats Diego’s mantra about the importance of fulfilling one’s destiny. Who could not enjoy this marvelous tale of adventure with romance, dangerous sea voyages, fantastic duels and encounters with gypsies, pirates, swooning maidens and of course, a nasty villain.

Readers who already appreciate Allende from her many previous works know she is an excellent story teller. Having breathed fresh life into the myth of this hero, she has produced a very good, fun and entertaining read.

A novel about one of my favorite characters by an author I've loved before. What could go wrong?

Apparently, my hopes were too high. I found a lot of this dull, honestly. Finally, I realized why: it's about 95% telling. There's very little dialogue, just a lot of summary recounting that this happened, then this happened, then this...

I should say this novel has eluded me since its publication since I have time only for audiobooks and this is weirdly unavailable as a digital audiobook. Finally, I was able to borrow it on CD through Interlibrary Loan. Blair Brown is also a weird choice for narrator. They should have chosen a Latina. Blair is capable but finds no emotion or zest, what little there is to find. I kept picturing Nina Sharp from Fringe.

Zorro should be fun. This isn't. It's an origin story, and it only feels like Zorro toward the end when he truly takes up the mask. The penultimate sentence is "I have had my fill of Zorro." I can't help but think that Allende meant that. She seems to have wanted to write about other things and shoehorned them into a Zorro-esque tale. I have had my fill of Allende's Zorro myself, but I will happily return to better adaptations.

Most of us above a certain age (and since the 2005 movie came out, I suppose the younger folks, too) know the basic story of Zorro. He rights wrongs and protects the weak. He’s incredibly skilled with a sword and a bullwhip. Like the Lone Ranger or Batman, no one knows who he really is. This biography of a fictional character is Zorro’s origin story, so to speak.

Told in the third person by a narrator who remains unnamed until the end, the story tells of Zorro’s- Don Diego de la Vega- birth, childhood and teens. Blending her usual magical realism with Californian and Spanish history, Allende creates an explanation for why Zorro cares so much about the poor and downtrodden. The story has sword fighting, duels, hidden tunnels and access ways, telepathy, cruel rich people, and even pirates. It should be the most exciting story in the world. Sadly, it’s not.

Isabel Allende is one of my very favorite writers. I should have loved this book. I didn’t. I found that, despite all the sword play and daring last minute rescues, it was very slow reading, and I never really came to care for Diego and his friends and family. They just weren’t very deep. I don’t know if this was an attempt to echo a pulp style, where characters don’t normally have any depth, or what happened. Usually Allende’s characters are so strong they take my breath away.

I’m very glad this was not the first book of Allende’s that I read; if it had been, I might never have picked up any of her other books, and I would have missed some truly marvelous stories. It’s not horrible, but it just isn’t interesting.

A wonderful imaging of Zorro's early life. A nice blend of legend and history.

My first reaction on hearing about this book was perplexity. THE Isabel Allende, writing a pulp adventure hero, it would be like Philip Marlowe's Batman or Margaret Atwood's Wonder Woman. My second was realising the match was perfect and I had to read this ASAP.

Talking of Batman, people familiar with the Dark Knight will probably recognise a lot of the development and background Allende gifts the character. This is of course entirely logical as Zorro was such a big influence (both for the author and the character) giving this the feel of Zorro begins. However, Allende also uses this as a method for exploring the bloody basis of the construction of modern Spain and America, with Diego encountering pirates, slaves, Native Americans, Gypsys and other persecuted groups.

For me it had a couple of flaws that stopped it from being a classic. Allende has a beautiful lyrical flowing prose style which reads like a masterful painting. This however doesn't gel well with the swashbuckling sequences which would benefit from more cut down language to improve the pace. The other slight issue is that I felt there was perhaps a little too much build up of character and I would have preferred for Diego to put on the mask much earlier.

But this shouldn't be taken as major problems. A great piece of historical fiction and thrilling adventure.

Zorro, het boek pakte ik op in de kringloopwinkel omdat de films mij altijd hebben vermaakt. Dit boek, dat in 2005 uit gekomen is, is niet het orgineel maar het is nog steeds even vermakelijk als de films.

Het begin is wel een beetje taai maar dat is wel kenmerkend voor Isabel Allende, die naar mijn weten altijd erg verhalend schrijft. Hierdoor begint pas na 200 bladzijdes echt de avonturen van Diego de La Vega, laat staan die van Zorro.

3.5 ster