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Cosas de libros.

All of us on ŷ������ love the “things of books.�� We love to be entertained by our faithful companions. They are with us in good times and bad. Kind of like man’s best friend, the dog.

Put them together, add in a sad love story (we have all had this at one time or another), and add in a lot of play on language and literature. For lovers of language and literature, this was a lot of fun. Really.

Let’s be clear, Niebla or mist was a “nivola,�� not a novel. Following in the footsteps of Cervantes, it is a work of fiction. It is not realism like Zola but rather the actions are the play of the author. Or is it whim? A fantasy? Well not with an anarchist as one of the characters. I might add that it was a generation or two ahead of magic realism. Very twentieth century. Whatever it is, Unamuno has created a truly classic of Spanish literature. Truly so.

It’s a love story. One day Augusto Perez falls in love with a young woman Eugenia. Does she spell her name with a “g�� or maybe an “j��? It was her eyes that caught his heart. Hmm. Perhaps bewitched is better.

You see Eugenia has a boyfriend, but he has no job and she supports herself teaching the piano. Except she hates it. She lives with her uncle (the anarchist) and aunt. She is looking for a way out. Her father left a mess...oops, let’s not give too much away.

Augusto has money but has a thing going for young Rosario. A love triangle! Help! help! help! He needs his male friend Victor to help him out. Nothing like a good friend to give advice. Women and love are complicated issues. Or not.

Augusto is a way out for Eugenia. Sort of. You know how love triangles go. Badly. Enter our faithful writer, Don Unamuno.

Let’s really not go there. Yes, let’s do.

Remember that I spoke about man’s best friend? The dog is called Orfeo. So appropriate.* Orpheus (in English) goes down to bring his beloved Eurydice back from the underworld. He is told not to look back as she follows him back, but you know men, they just can’t resist, can they? And he loses her, again.

The dog Orfeo is our counsel. It can lead us back from the dead (pun intended). It know what is good for us, silly humans with those emotional issues. Yes such silly humans, such a wise old dog Señor Unamuno.

This is a six star category book.

A special thanks to my GR friends who have raved about this book and are wondering, “what took you so long?�� I sheepishly acknowledge my tardiness and apologize.

*A footnote on the names:

Augusto - the revered one. Perhaps overly optimistic in this case.
Eugenia - well born. Hmm. Perhaps not and a bit deceitful.
Víctor - used because he is anything but victorious.
Rosario - rosary, a religious item useful in prayer. She is a bit of a tart I would say.