Books by Benito Pérez Galdos

Benito Perez Galdos.

Benito Perez Galdos.

When an Internet user executes the search "Benito Pérez Galdós books" the immediate result is several of the most representative works of Spanish Realism. Also, thanks to its National episodes has gone down in history with the distinction of "Chronicler of Spain". Therefore, Benito Pérez Galdós is one of the unavoidable names in the history of Spanish literature.

His legacy is at the height of "heroes" of Castilian letters such as Miguel de Cervantes, Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos or Pedro Calderón de la Barca, among others. Apart from the chronicle, Galdós was a prolific and successful creator of novels, a prominent playwright, and the author of several comic pieces.

The life of Benito Pérez Galdós

Birth and childhood

Baptized under the name of Benito María de los Dolores, he was born on May 10, 1843, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He was the tenth child of the marriage between Sebastián Pérez Macías (colonel of the Spanish army) and Dolores Galdós Medina. He studied primary school at the Colegio de San Agustín, an institution with an advanced pedagogical program for its time.

Youth

During his adolescence he began to collaborate by contributing his scathing poetry, essays and stories to the local newspaper. He obtained his bachelor of arts degree in 1862, he achieved it at the La Laguna Institute in Tenerife. Shortly after, he was sent to Madrid to study law. Even if, He was an undisciplined university student, with a tendency to absent himself from classrooms.

What's more, the young Galdós was fond of visiting the cultural billboard of the capital and frequenting the gatherings of some of his countrymen. Likewise, at the university he made friends with Francisco Giner de los Ríos, founder of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, who influenced him with his Krausism. Similarly, he made a close friendship with Leopoldo Alas, Clarin.

First works and beginning of his prolific literary career

Since 1865, Galdós worked as a journalist for La Nación, The debate and Journal of the Intellectual Movement in Europe. Two years later he was a correspondent at the Universal Exhibition in Paris. He returned from France in 1868 with the works of Balzac and Dickens (whom he translated). In parallel, he produced journalistic chronicles on the drafting of a new Constitution after the dethronement of Isabel II.

In 1870 he published The Golden Fountain, his first novel; predecessor of Trafalgar (1873), the first of the National Episodes. Before his death - which occurred on January 4, 1920 - he made a political career and was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. But his anticlericalism led to the boycott of his candidacy by the most conservative sectors of Spanish society.

«Benito Pérez Galdos books», the long-awaited search

Academics usually group the texts of Benito Pérez Galdós into cycles. Each of them reflects the intellectual evolution and the successive incorporation of resources of the Canarian writer. The most representative books are briefly described below and the titles corresponding to each stage are mentioned.

Cycle of thesis novels

Perfect lady (1876)

Perfect lady

Perfect lady.

You can buy the book here: Perfect lady

Galdós expresses his criticism of the formalities, superficiality and hypocrisy of late XNUMXth century society with its protagonist: Doña Perfecta. She is a widow living in Orbajosa, an enclave that reflects that "deep Spain", rural. Also, The lady wishes to preserve the family patrimony through a marriage between her nephew Pepe Rey and her daughter Rosario.

The disagreements between Pepe and the residents of Orbajosa are evident, especially with his aunt and with Don Inocencio, the village priest. Since he was brought up in a more advanced context (Catholic, but quite progressive for his time). Despite these circumstances, a strong attraction arises between Pepe and Rosario ... which ends in misery.

Galdós's list of thesis novels:

  • The Golden Fountain (1870)
  • The shadow (1870)
  • The bold (1871)
  • Gloria (1876-77).
  • Marianela (1878)
  • Leon Roch's family (1878)

Ciclo de la materia (contemporary Spanish novels)

Fortunata and Jacinta (1886-87)

Fortunata and Jacinta.

Fortunata and Jacinta.

You can buy the book here: Fortunata and Jacinta

Fortunata and Jacinta It was published in four volumes between January and June 1887. It is considered one of the most symbolic novels - along with The Regenta, from Clarín— of literary realism and of the entire nineteenth century in Spain. Its plot is built around the intense love-hate relationship between its two protagonists. Its narrative thread is determined by emotions.

On the one hand, there is Fortunata, a beautiful young woman well known in her town. She is intuitive and strong-willed, however, that apparent strength ends up playing against her. Her counterpart is Jacinta, an extremely sensitive sterile woman, whose maternal instinct becomes her card of salvation from the prejudices of society.

List of novels in the cycle of matter by Galdós

  • The disinherited (1881)
  • The meek friend (1882)
  • Doctor Centeno (1883)
  • Tormento (1884)
  • Bringas's (1884)
  • The forbidden (1884-85).
  • Celín, Tropiquillos and Theros (1887)
  • Miau (1888)
  • The unknown (1889)
  • Torquemada at the stake (1889)
  • Realidad (1889)

Spiritualist cycle (contemporary Spanish novels)

Mercy (1897)

Mercy

Mercy

You can buy the book here: Mercy

Mercy is the ninth novel of the eleven that make up the spiritualist cycle of the Canarian writer. Although this title is one of the most outstanding texts of Galdós, did not have much impact after its publication in two parts in The Impartial y The Liberal. It was not until the late 1920s that this book received a second edition and began to receive well-deserved recognition.

In this novel, Galdós delves into “the other Madrid”. That sector of the Madrid underworld full of homeless people, diseases and misery. There, Benina, the maid who stars in the story - supposedly - is the embodiment of divine mercy and compassion. However, the narrative contains a deep double meaning (and controversial at that time) from the very headline.

List of novels of the spiritualist cycle of Galdós

  • Angel War (1890-91).
  • Tristana (1892)
  • The madwoman of the house (1892)
  • Torquemada on the cross (1893)
  • Torquemada in purgatory (1894)
  • Torquemada and San Pedro (1895)
  • Nazarín (1895)
  • Halma (1895)
  • El Abuelo (1897)
  • Casandra (1905)

Cycle of mythological novels

This Galdós cycle includes two titles: The enchanted knight (1909) and The reason for the unreason (1915) In both he moves away from the themes and the nineteenth-century composition of his previous cycles. Instead, the Spanish author exhibits an aesthetic that combines elements of Modernism with passages full of dreams and dreams.

National episodes

National episodes.

National episodes.

You can buy the book here: National episodes

Collection National episodes covers forty-six historical novels, made between 1872 and 1912. These texts are arranged in five series that encompass the history of Spain from the Spanish War of Independence to the Bourbon Restoration. Because of this great series, Galdós deservedly earned the distinction of Chronicler of Spain.

Notably, Galdós learned the details of the Napoleonic wars from his father (who was part of the Spanish army). In the same way, the writer was a first-line witness to the Bourbon Restoration, as well as events such as the infernal Night of San Daniel (1865) and the uprising of the sergeants of the San Gil barracks (1866).

First series

  • Trafalgar (1873)
  • The Court of Charles IV (1873)
  • March 19 and May 2 (1873)
  • Bailén (1873)
  • Napoleon in Chamartín (1874)
  • Zaragoza (1874)
  • Gerona (1874)
  • Cadiz (1874)
  • Juan Martin the Stubborn (1874)
  • The battle of the Arapiles (1875)

Second series

  • King Joseph's Luggage (1875)
  • Memoirs of a courtier from 1815 (1875)
  • The second coat (1876)
  • The Great East (1876)
  • 7 July (1876)
  • The Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis (1877)
  • The terror of 1824 (1877)
  • A realistic volunteer (1878)
  • The Apostolics (1879)
  • One more factious and some less friars (1879)

Third series

  • Zumalacarregui (1898)
  • Mendizabal (1898)
  • From Oñate to the Farm (1898)
  • wrestler (1899)
  • The Maestrazgo campaign (1899)
  • The romantic courier (1899)
  • Vergara (1899)
  • Oca Mountains (1900)
  • The Ayacuchos (1900)
  • Royal weddings (1900)
Quote by Benito Pérez Galdós.

Quote by Benito Pérez Galdós.

Fourth series

  • The storms of '48 (1902)
  • Narvaez (1902)
  • The goblins of the clique (1903)
  • The july revolution (1903 - 1904).
  • O'Donnell (1904)
  • Aita Tettaouen (1904 - 1905).
  • Carlos VI in the Rapita (1905)
  • Around the world in Numancia (1906)
  • prime (1906)
  • The one with sad destinies (1907)

Fifth series

  • Spain without a king (1907 - 1908).
  • Tragic Spain (1909)
  • Amadeus I (1910)
  • The First Republic (1911)
  • From Cartago to Sagunto (1911)
  • Canovas (1912)

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  1.   Gustavo Woltmann said

    Great biographical description of one of the most distinguished authors of Castilian. Excellent article.
    -Gustavo Woltmann.