Since young I am devoted Baroja reader. From his extensive work of fiction I have read almost everything important, including his memoirs (" Since the last turn of the road ") and twenty-two action novels that make up the time series centered on the character of Aviraneta ("Memoirs a man of action "). Some of his novels I have them in early editions of the publisher of his brother, Rafael Caro Raggio, others in more modern editions and even keep it, as gold cloth, a rarity for its final stage, published in collections of popular novel, when the writer already diminished powers, merely repeating arguments using the technique of "cutting and paste. "
Since young I liked Baroja. Disagreement, their rebellious spirit, his reply to the established order, present in characters so full of good intentions which is unfortunate Andrés Hurtado de " The tree of knowledge , Luis Murguia of" perverted sensuality "or Fernando Ossorio "from" Way of Perfection. " Over time I learned that prolonged reading of these novels Baroja, so pessimistic, it was not good for mental health and their enjoyment was graduating instinctively, reserving it for certain days and times. 
But if Baron is a novel I read repeatedly, tirelessly, and without my mind decay, this is without a doubt, "the adventurer Zalacaín ( 1909) 1 , third in his trilogy " Basque Land" after "House of Aizgorri " (1900) and "The firstborn of Labraz " (1903). With " Zalacaín "something very curious. It can be read and enjoy both a fifteen years old to eighty. The young enjoy with the adventures of Martin Zalacaín Urbina, the prototype of action Baroja, the indefatigable hero, rude and childish that makes war on its own, threatening their lives, no matter a jot. The old man already looking at the end of his days notice after the story a disenchanted view of human existence embodied in the protagonist's fate. attracts me, like everything, the hero, adventurer and lover, but mostly I love the cut of supporting characters who appear in the novel: the anticlerical and Arriscado Tellagorri, Great Uncle Martin " man of ill repute and good heart "who" greeted with more respect for a poodle to the parish priest "and for whom the most social of his theories was" that everyone keep what you have and what you can steal ", Don Sorobarri Fermin, the old town clerk of Urbina, who justified his memory lapses with "Well ... I forgot species ", the loyal Bautista Mr. Urbides ... In contrast the types of women, Catherine " pert, smiling, cheerful and very nice , Rosa, Linda, Ignacia, a counterpoint to the male, I find worse drawn. Also run by the unsympathetic characters novel .
Baroja recall writing this because I just saw on a television, the movie " Zalacaín adventurer" in the 1955 version, directed by Juan de Orduña, written by Manuel Tamayo. He has not had much luck Baroja in the film adaptations of his novels. As I have seen on the Internet has been, throughout the history of English cinema only five films based on arguments Baroja: a change from 1927, entitled "Madrid In Hollywood," an adaptation of the play "The horrific crime Peñaranda Field "and four sound, all shot in black and white. In the first, "the adventurer Zalacain , 1929, Baroja brothers appeared in two" slips "(today we call" cameos "), Ricardo playing the role of Tellagorri and Pio Carlist Sgt.
The second, and after the civil war (1949) was " The concerns of Shanti Andia " directed by Arturo Ruiz Castillo, a good director. I think I've seen this movie but I do not remember .
leave the commentary of the third, the second version of " Zalacaín adventurer" to the end .
On the fourth " The search" was a worthy adaptation of Angelino Fons, filmed in 1966 that failed despite having the excellent French actor Jacques Perrin ("Girl with a suitcase, "" The escape ) in the lead role.
Zalacaín version directed by Juan de Orduña contains elements of the novel, combining your way. It's a decent movie, well set, a little folk, with esteemed actors in their roles as the handsome Portuguese Virgilio Teixeira (1917-2010), a regular in the films' historical and cultural "at the time as" holy Queen " "Agustina de Aragón " or "Cañas y barro " two beautiful actresses, Margarita Elena Espejo and Andrey, with a certain physical resemblance between them, and even a youthful María Dolores Pradera that ventures into a zorcico. Say which is a Zalacaín but can be decaffeinated.
The film also comes as rapporteur Baroja himself, and so old.
To end this post I want to pick up a paragraph of the novel that sums up the thought Baroja about courage, talent and fortune
" There are men for whom life is an extraordinary facility. They are something like a ball rolling down an inclined plane without mishap, without difficulty.
Is it talent, it is instinct or luck? The people themselves claim to be instinct or talent, his enemies say coincidence, luck, and this is more likely than other men because there are excellently prepared for life, intelligent, energetic, strong and yet do nothing but stop and stumble.
A Basque proverb says "A good scare value of bad luck. And this is true sometimes ... when you have good luck. "
© Manuel Martínez Bargueño
April 2011
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Thanks. Manuelblas
NOTES
1. an issue that should be read as illustrations take the prints of Ricardo Baroja.
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