The truth is, on a trip to Murcia, I surprised myself by buying a few books by Azorín that I hadn’t read in years at the bookshop next to the La Merced campus, which I always visit. Because really who is reading Azorín now? It’s true that in commemorating the 150th anniversary of his birth, it’s a little out of date to at least devote 3 or 4 minutes to a program on that cultural channel, La 2. So I thought, after all the tension, all the unhappy families, and all the modernity, I thought it would be a good idea to go back to a classic countryman who has more than accredited quality, is famous, and not just because it’s named after him. 98 generation.
This week I traveled through different parts of Spain through the eyes of a master storyteller with his book Los Pueblos (1905; Alianza Editorial, 2011). There are 23 newspaper articles responding to two different moments: the first 18 articles published in Spain in 1904, under the book’s title Los pueblos; the remaining 5 correspond to La Andalucía tragica, published in El Imparcial in 1905. All of them confirm the observational and analytical aspects established in Azorín’s journalistic and literary works, in my case, I remember the wonderful lectures of Miguel Ángel Lozano when reading the privilege with him.
With regard to the field of journalism, reading this summary, observant Azorín, “petty-bourgeois, bold, cheerful, fatherly” (p. 47) and “the little philosopher who resignedly accepts the secret and implacable designs of things” (p. 49), and of course this depicts Spain seeing and feeling under Madrid’s dilemma against the rest of Spain. The book is a journey through a part of Spanish geography, in which historian Azorín focuses on aspects and people that are not seemingly insignificant or decisive. For example, if Azorín had recorded Eldense’s nearly epic victory and their promotion to the second division last Sunday, he certainly wouldn’t have counted goals, penalties, or anything important in the game; Rather, how a father and son don the jersey and wrap the club scarf around their necks despite the June heat; or how a whole family can celebrate the city team’s victory with a nice ice cream and big smiles. And yet, as can be seen in “Los toros” (pp. 59-64), it can perfectly convey the real experiences of real people, that is, the historical, real experiences that are really important for writing these texts, or “Sarrió” (p. 39). -45), the main theme here is the passage of time in people’s lives. With autofiction prevailing in bookstores, it is modernity both at that time and today.
In addition, the historian is always accompanied by the writer. Thus, the essence of Azorinian prose in this book, either by describing Santander (“Una ciudad”, pp.89-96); I paint a beautiful portrait of Castelar, who is much loved in my town (“The great man of town”, pp. 97-104); by eloquently denouncing the hunger of the countryside and the world of the workers (“Los obreros de Lebrija” pp. 177-184). Always in a regular expression, always keeping in mind with his constant questioning, he is close to the reader and free of any pretension reminiscent of nineteenth-century prose.
And why should you read this book? Because the return to correct expression, correct syntax, correct word; because our students will definitely improve in their reading comprehension; and encountering the peace of reading, seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting the life that passes through its pages, and thus being able to respond, which can be a defining cultural feature: «I read Azorín» . I have two books waiting for this summer that have just started.