Delightful Characters, Delightful Adventures

books:


	• Zorro: A Novel Isabel Allende, 2005 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 125 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

parvulo aldea (Smallville)

This is an enjoyable and refreshing book, and easy read for a long weekend or a hot summer. The story is clever, Allende re-creates a legend (hence the title)which is always hard to do, especially for a popular character as Zorro, just for taking on this feat she deserved high marks.

On the downside, the book has too much "and then..." this or that happened. I was also hoping to get more about the history of California, since Ms. Allende said she thoroughly researched it and wanted to incorporate her findings in the story. However the research didn't come through the story and very little in the background.

*suggestion: When reading the book, read it in a Spanish accent as if Selma Hayek is narrating.

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Doing Justice to the Legend

Though I'll have to look elsewhere for the complete exploits of Zorro, this was an excellent rendition of his beginnings from the time his parents, Alejandro de la Vega, Alcalde of El Pueblo de Los Angeles, and Regina nee Toypurnia, a half-Spanish half-Indian warrior only partially tamed by her husband, met and fell in love. Alejandro de la Vega had hoped for many children, but after the difficult birth of Diego it was obvious there would be no more. Additionally, Regina was so ill after Diego was born, one of her servants had to nurse him alongside her own son, Bernardo, and the boys grew up as close as brothers. Diego learned about his Spanish roots from his father, but when the elder de la Vega was on his many trips away from home, Regina taught him and Bernardo about their Indian roots, even sending them off with her medicine woman mother, White Owl, to perform manhood rites. At the age of 15, Diego was sent to Barcelona to complete his caballero training, and he insisted Bernardo accompany him and learn all the same things, as he had done since they were small. As Bernardo was a full-blooded Indian, he often received different treatment than Diego, which never sat well with Diego at all. Often, instructors would refuse to teach Bernardo, so Diego would then teach his "milk brother" everything he had learned that day after class.

Diego de la Vega grew up straddling two worlds and was bothered by the line drawn between the privileged and the poor. In addition, he hated to see any form of injustice and always wanted to help the oppressed. Between the Indian rites he and Bernardo performed, the acrobatics he learned on the voyage to Spain, and the fencing classes he took in Barcelona, he began to develop the skills he would one day use as Zorro. Then, during the turbulent political times in Barcelona, he found more than one occasion to dress up in the black costume and right wrongs. His time in Barcelona was spent with the family of Tomas de Romeu, a friend of his father's who was also a French sympathizer when the French were very unpopular for their occupation of Spain. When Napoleon was unseated, de Romeu was suddenly seen as an enemy of the Spanish government, and young Diego found himself looking after the man's daughters. Forced to flee Barcelona, Diego decided to take them to California, where his father would look after them and he could hopefully win the heart of the lovely Juliana. During his five years in Spain, however, not all had gone well in Alta California, and Diego realized he would have to become Zorro almost full time, and the legend was begun in earnest.

There was a lot going on in this novel, and without going on and on about the intricate plot points, it's impossible to do it justice. Though I hoped the story would cover more of Zorro's exploits in California, this book was anything but a disappointment. It is a richly woven tale that delves into the very beginnings of Zorro, exploring all of Diego de la Vega's training, from playing in the rigging of a sailing ship to learning amazing horseback tricks from a band of gypsies who helped him while he was on the run, and even touching on the origins of his costume. It also did an excellent job of depicting the era in which it was set, from social mores to little day-to-day things happening in the characters' lives. A colorful tale quite lovingly told, this book is a must read for any fan of Zorro, or anyone who simply likes a gripping historic adventure tale. I couldn't put it down until I reached the last page.

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Not what I expected

Isabel Allende is a terrific writer and while I enjoyed the book I did not feel the title of Zorro was justified. It seemed periferal, more of a marketing tool than the early life of Zorro, which since he's fictional to begin with, did not really need the elaboration.

That said, all of her books are worth reading.

One of the best Native-based books ever

In this telling of the legend, Diego is one-quarter Native, and he's grounded by his Native "milk brother" Bernando. The two are raised by Diego's mother Toypurnia (aka Regina), who favors her Native side and can't get used to married life with her husband, Zorro's father. Diego's grandmother White Owl teaches them her Native values of okahué: honor, justice, respect, dignity, and courage. Diego first gets a sense of injustice when ranchers force Indians off their land and his father refuses to do anything about it.

As the son of a rich landowner, Diego has a personal sense of right and wrong but doesn't think of the systemic abuses of tyranny--at least not initially. His eyes are opened during his travels, when companions tell him of the French Revolution and question the existence of God. He also experiences the benefits of democracy and the evils of slavery in Jean Lafitte's pirate enclave. His rival Rafael Moncada even meets Thomas Jefferson, so he's one degree of separation away from a Founding Father.

The Native aspects

Only a few stereotypes mar this otherwise excellent book. I don't know if the California Natives had a concept called okahué. It's too conveniently similar to the values Zorro adopts as a hero. I'm not sure I've ever heard of a Native culture touting "justice," a concept Europeans traditionally consider more important than Natives.

Allende does a good job of rendering the Spanish-Indian actions, even if her Indians are somewhat generic. But her version of California's Native cultures includes vision quests, totem animals, and medicine wheels. I question whether these things, especially medicine wheels, were ever part of these cultures.

Also, Bernando is too much the faithful Indian sidekick a la Tonto. He suffers a trauma in childhood that renders him mute, so he becomes the strong, silent type who sees everything but says nothing. His character works well enough, but you're aware that he's not a three-dimensional figure like Diego and his friends. Perhaps that's why he disappears for much of the second half of the book.

Despite these qualifications, I'd say Zorro is at least as good as the most respected Native fiction--e.g., The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, The Grass Dancer, and Ceremony. Rob's rating: 8.5 of 10.

Rob Schmidt
BlueCornComics.com

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Delightful Characters, Delightful Adventures

Zorro (the Fox) is really Diego de la Vega, son of a California hidalgo and a woman who is half native-American, a woman with unusual gifts and talents who once led a short-lived insurrection disguised as a male warrior. His milk-brother Bernardo, who communicates only in sign-language and by telepathy is fully native-American, and Diego's inseparable companion. The novel relates Diego's early years, his pranks, his trials, his voyage to Spain, his training under the great fencing master, Manuel Escalante, and his first daring appearances as Zorro, fighting for justice for those who cannot defend themselves.

And, there is much, much more. No need to tell you any more of the plot, you will simply have to read the book. You'll love it, too. All the characters are engaging. Even Rafael Moncada, who becomes Diego's life-long nemesis. As you read, the characters grow and develop. Diego pines for the beautiful Juliana, struggles with his mixed heritage, makes friends with a tribe of gypsies, and finally returns home by way of an unexpected detour--an encounter with the Louisiana pirate, Jean Lafitte.

As always, author Allende does a superb job of engaging the reader. She is a fabulous storyteller who draws you into her confidence and into her story. The adventures of Diego and Bernardo are almost unbelievable, but somehow you do believe them. As always, too, Allende touches on her themes of feminism, the suffering of indigenous peoples, and the search for justice in a very unjust world. I recommend this one highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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