That Bringas Woman

The random book list generator experiment continues! This time my LibraryThing page told me that I should read That Bringas Woman (or La de Bringas if you want the Spanish title) by the 19th century Spanish author Benito Perez Galdos -- nicely pictured in this painting by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida.

I remember buying this book at Half Price, but I don't remember why I thought I should buy it. I'd never heard of Galdos, never heard of the book, and I don't even really remember reading the back of it for a plot synopsis. I think maybe it was only a dollar and I liked the picture on the front. Once I got it home and realized it was a classic Spanish novel from 1884, my lukewarm passion for the book cooled even further, and it sat lonely on my shelf until the random book reading plan of 2005 brought it to my attention.

To my surprise, I really really enjoyed this book. A lot of that has to do with the excellent translation by Catherine Jagoe, in combination with her skillful introduction and footnotes. The problem with some 19th century literature, particularly that which was originally written in another language, is that they are all the time referring to events that you don't know about, alluding to figures you have never heard of, and trying out new literary techniques that you can't recognize because they don't come through in the translation. Jagoe solves these problems with some supplementary material, including a timeline at the beginning of the book that puts Galdos' life and literary output alongside his contemporaries in the world of literature, and against historical events that occurred during his life. Her introduction (which I read when I was halfway through the book for some reason, usually I wait until I get to the end, but I felt like I wanted a little more context) and her note on the translation provide even more context. And best of all, at the end of the book she gives us snippets of criticism about the book that summarize its reception from 1884, when it was released, through the present day. Maybe its just the geeky English major in me, but I love that stuff.

Galdos was a very popular author in Spain at the time that this book came out -- in fact, it is a bit of a mystery why he is so overlooked in the literary canon of today. Jagoe seems to suggest that part of his disappearance has to do with Franco's dislike of Galdos' leftist leanings. This book is part of a group of books that feature interlocking characters (although not really a series), and with La de Bringas, Galdos shows the influence of Zola, veers away from his regular style and dips his toes in the pool of Realism. This more informal observation of everyday life, peppered with colloquialisms, inner thoughts, and lots and lots of detail, was something different than what Spanish audiences were used to. And, if the criticism in the back of the book is any indication, not all of them liked it right away.

Okay, so what is the story about? It is kind of a morality tale about Rosalia Bringas, the wife of a middle-class civil servant who lives in the Royal Palace with her family. She wants to rise in the social ranks, which apparently involves wearing a great deal of expensive and frivolous clothes. The problem is that her husband is a bit cheap and really doesn't believe in going into debt to buy clothing. Rosalia takes matters into her own hands, obtains some loans, and buys a bunch of clothes which she then hides from her husband, who is very busy anyway working on a complicated memorial picture made entirely of human hair. One loan turns into two loans, and Rosalia is soon "under the intoxicating influence of an overdose of fripperies." And has no way of paying the loans back. Her only options are to sleep with one of her husband's rich friends so that he will give her money, or ask one of her relations who she knows has the money if she will loan it to her. The problem with the relation is that her sister and this one rich gentleman are living in sin together which has put all kinds of shame on the whole family. Rosalia's decision says a lot about her character and leads to the climax of the novel.

Okay, maybe that was more than you wanted to hear about this overlooked Spanish novel from 1884. Still, I thought it was good enough that I want to seek out some of Galdos' other novels. Plus I have this whole idea in my head for an essay that would compare this novel with Ibsen's play "A Doll's House," that came out just five years before this (thank you, timeline).

What will the random reading generator bring up next? Only time will tell!