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You see, the facts of Miguel de Cervantes' life seem to be to be snatched from an epic tale: An impoverished and accomplished young poet almost kills a guy in a duel and it is forced into exile; later, he distinguishes himself in battle and is severely wounded, losing the use of his kept palm; on his way back to Spain his dispatch is captured by pirates and he is sold into slavery in Algiers; after extended imprisonment and failed break free attempts, he makes his way back home, eventually settling in a remote control village in La Mancha to generate his masterpiece, the first modern novel in Western literature: Don Quixote. Taking the bare bone fragments of Cervantes' life, Jaime Manrique has accomplished one feat: an interesting and highly accessible interpretation of an excellent, enigmatic man and his epoch. Manrique breathes vivid life into his heroes, moving listeners viscerally into his story as he makes full use of its natural suspense and dilemma, its pathos and ironies, its vibrant locales and momentous happenings. It all begins with two glowing youths in Madrid whose rivalry over a beautiful woman will form the course of their lives. Miguel de Cervantes is the keen one, good-looking, gifted, reckless, and ambitious, but from a family group fallen on crisis and suspected of being "tainted" with Jewish blood. His classmate Luis de Lara, a wealthy but uncomfortable aristocrat, as well as mediocre poet, from one of the very most powerful individuals in Spain, is employed to his beautiful cousin Mercedes. When 22-year-old Miguel almost kills someone in a tavern brawl, he is forced to flee to Seville, subscribing to a troupe of traveling actors to escape a decree purchasing that his right palm be take off. As Luis endeavors to save his good friend, he has occasion to present Miguel to his favorite Mercedes. To Luis's horror, he soon discovers that the two have fallen in love. Luis becomes used with hatred for his previous good friend and swears eternal revenge. From that minute on, the two go their split ways, but their lives continue to be fatefully intertwined. The adventurous Miguel continues to visit Mercedes prior to going into exile; and even though Mercedes eventually marries Luis, she never ceases caring Miguel. The tormented Luis searches in vain to show his superiority to his partner, and then to his child, and always regarding his hated rival - as a poet and scholar; as a guy of impeccable flavor, character, and sensibilities. Completely unacquainted with Luis's masked hatred of him, Miguel persists throughout his life to seek the help of his erstwhile good friend, with devastating results. Luis pieces with festering envy Miguel's exploits as a soldier, as a servant of the crown, and most importantly as a article writer; and he only sees pleasure in sporadic information of his rival's darkest time. Told in alternating chapters by the opposing protagonists, Manrique's archetypal tale of rivalry and revenge will garner evaluations to Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, Dumas's The Matter of Monte Cristo, and, using its extraordinary entertainment of the life and times of Cervantes, to Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. Pirates and priests, females of the judge and lowly prostitutes, warriors and slaves, and, yes, even the beautiful Sancho Panza are singularly brought to life in this great depiction of Spain's Golden Get older.
