Telepathic Milk Brothers?

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

The Early Life of Zorro

Zorro is a long narrative detailing the early life of the hero. the length works against the action scenes, but succeeds in filling out Diago's character and presenting the reader with a plausible explanation of how he metamorphized from Diego into the mythic hero, Zorro. Also offers good background of Spanish history during the early 1800s.

Well-written swashbuckler

One of the first "superheroes" to appear in fiction was Zorro, the masked avenger who served as an inspiration for various other characters such as Batman. In comic book terms, Isabel Allende's Zorro is an origin story which discusses the early life of Diego De La Vega and what made him become the hero he would be.

I admit I approached this book with some trepidation. I am not overly familiar with Allende's work, but always pictured her as being a very serious, literary type of author. My initial thought was that her book on Zorro would be an ironic, rather revisionist take on the character that would make him seem more like a villain than a hero, perhaps a 19th century terrorist upsetting society. It was to my delight that I found this was not the case; her book is a well-written adventure story which solidly embraces the traditional, heroic Zorro.

The story begins with the courtship of Diego's father, a Spanish soldier and his mother, an Indian version of Joan of Arc, leading her troops in battle. Unlike Joan, however, she will have a happier (though by no means totally happy) fate. Diego winds up being raised on a vast estate in the Los Angeles area, growing up with his best friend and "milk brother", the Indian Bernardo. Together the two will go as teens to Spain for further education at the time of Napoleon's dominion over the country.

It is in Spain that Diego begins to develop his Zorro persona, an identity taken from the Indian rituals he went through as a child. It is also where he crosses swords for the first time with his arch-enemy Rafael Moncada, an unpleasant individual who is also Diego's rival for the affections of Juliana de Romeu. Zorro, however, would not be fully developed until Diego's return to California.

This story has all you could want out of an old-fashioned adventure novel: heroes, villains, romance, action and exotic settings (not to mention war, pirates, gypsies and secret passageways). Allende's writing (or at least the translation) is high caliber, making this easily a five star book and a really fun read.

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Telepathic Milk Brothers?

I wanted to enjoy this book very much. I am a huge Zorro fan, as the "Z" tattooed on my arm will attest. The book drowns a fairly fun and adventurous story in hokey pseudo-mystical Indian hoodoo. Other than Diego fighting against the persecution of natives I wish that the Indian angle had not been done (or at least not beaten us over the head with it). Also, Diego goes from firebrand to fop within the space of a scene, in front of the same characters. It would not be hard to deduce the guise of the dandy was false. I mean he calls out the villain for a duel, hardly the act of a perfumed popinjay. Diego's relationship with the Gypsy was out of left-field and could easily been dropped, as it added nothing except to get him some action. If Bernardo is full-bloded Indian (based on his features I'm assuming) why is he given a spanish name? The natives are nothing if not fiercely proud. Though most not to the extent of Mowgli, er, Toypurnia or Grandma White Owl. Did you know Diego and Bernardo were "Milk Brothers"? Since she tells you on almost every page after they're born, you will. Oh, by the way, they have a form of telepathy between them. Right. Read it if you're a fan, though if you aren't you may enjoy it more. PS: Zorro was created about 40 years before the Disney version was made and it's amazing, thanks to home video and DVD, how it's possible to enjoy things from "before my time".

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

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