This is the naturalist novel by the Spanish female author Bazan, written in 1886. It takes its realistic style from famous authors like Zola, Galdos, Flaubert, Frank Morris, George Moore, Gissing, Queiros, Matto de Turner etc writing about the same time being mid-late 1800s. It is supposedly Bazan’s finest achievement being a prolific author.This is quite a simple story. We are introduced to the new chaplain Julian Alvarez arriving to the manor house of the Marquis of Ulloa (Don Pedro), a single brutish man of the country – he has a ruthless scheming farm manager Primivito who’s daughter, Sabal, does the cooking. The naive priest soon learns that Sabal’s young boy Percho is the illegitimate son of Pedro. The historical backdrop is the Glorious Revolution of 1868 when the fight was between democratic constitutional or absolute monarchy. Julian tries to effect a moral improvement by getting Pedro to consider visiting his cousins with a view to marriage (and getting a male heir). The tale takes the classic turn of events (you know where it will lead) when he falls for the innocent, weak, youngest of four Nucha. Julian though himself innocent does in an extremely mild way, I inferred, fancy Nucha himself too. The intrigues around the Marquis putting himself up for election with Primivito secretly working against him leads to tragedy. May be I expected too much and though a well written story and perhaps at the time mention of bastard children, wife abuse and election rigging was scandalous or challenging, the style really did lack passion or drive – not dry as such just never getting above a simmer. I did find interest in the period setting yet this didn’t really take centre stage either. A Spanish classic may be but it's unemotional and indistinct overall; I'm not convinced that the thrust of the story the 'decline of the house of Ulloa' was well achieved given the ending. Quality perhaps and uninspiring really, it is worth a read from my point of view being a female author amongst many male contemporaries. No standout quotes either.
This was a little tough to read because of all the florid language (I had to bust out my Spanish-English dictionary a lot), but that was one of the best things about the book as well. There was a cool battle--the nature of the the wild outdoors, rural life, and running barefoot in competition with the refinements of the church, city life, and cultured morals. I suppose that I don't like that "winner" was the wildness of nature, but it was fitting for the story. It left me feeling a little sentimental/nostalgic/in awe. The main female character, Nucha, who was the embodiment of culture and morals, experiences great loss. And Primitivo, wildness and immorality incarnate, gets his in the end, but is that any resolution? Great book for the sweep of the writing and the primal themes that were treated so well. It might be cool to read this later in English (I hear there's a good translation).
Do You like book Los Pazos De Ulloa (1997)?
I'm usually very anti-19t-Century-Literature. My Personal Hell is shelves and shelves of books populated only by novels by Charles Dickens and his contemporaries. That's why I was completely shocked by this book, which I ended up adoring, and would read again, had I the time.It's a masterwork of the Naturalist literary movement in terms of style and structure; historically, it paints a vivid picture of the decadence and decline of Spain (especially the decaying aristocracy and the corruption of the "caciques") in the late 1800s.It has beautiful language, somewhat disturbing imagery, and a pretty gripping plot. It is animalistic in certain ways, and the author has a knack for capturing the nature of the character with a corresponding image that leaps out at the reader and lingers long enough for him/her to make the right connections between what is seen and what is beneath.As this book is standard on most comprehensive exams for either an M.A. or a Ph.D. in Spanish Literature, if you're on that track, you won't be able to avoid it. Sit back and enjoy it!
—Anna
It would get a four star rating if it was not so regionally specific. Like the Leopard by Lampedusa it benefits hugely if he reader has a knowledge of the region in which it is set (Galicia). Unlike the Leopard the message of the book is not conveyed quite so potently. Both relate to the failure of long standing institutions, the House of Ulloa examines the awkward relationship between church and society at a time of political upheaval. The Leopard borrows many of these themes to document the erosion of class supremacy in Sicily at a time of political change.
—Paul Taylor
LIBRO 20LOS PAZOS DE ULLOAAUTORA: EMILIA PARDO BAZANNACIONALIDAD: ESPAÑOLASIGLO XIX, PRINCIPIOS DEL XXLos Pazos de Ulloa es una novela naturalista, desarrollada en Galicia, con una narrativa muy bella, característica de esta gran autora, cuyos personajes sufren una serie de injusticias y desengaños principalmente por Don Pedro, hombre machista e intolerante. Los acontecimientos sufren muchos cambios a lo largo de la novela, la cual considero que es hermosa pero muy lenta, exponiendo las dificultades de una vida rural y las clases sociales y diferencias abismales que había ya en esa época.
—Tina
