Novel
Belarmino and Apolonio
Belarmino y Apolonio
Ramón Pérez de Ayala · 1921
Synopsis
In Pilares, a provincial town, two rival cobblers give their names to the novel. Belarmino, philosopher of the workshop, has forged for himself a language of his own with which to speak of the world, adorned to the point of absurdity; Apolonio writes for the theatre as an amateur. Their children, Angustias, Belarmino's daughter, and Pedro, Apolonio's son, who has entered the seminary, love each other with a love thwarted by the fathers' hostility. The narrator reconstructs their story through his encounters and considers this little world from several angles, between irony and philosophical and theological digressions.
Context
Published in 1921 by Calleja, the novel opens what critics regard as the author's second manner: he leaves behind the realism of his early work for a symbolism mixed with caricature and loads his language with reflections close to the essay. It has been read as a symbolic portrait of the conflict between faith and doubt. Pilares is the name the author gave to Oviedo in his books. Translated into French as early as 1923 by Jean and Marcel Carayon, it appeared in English in 1971, in the translation by Murray Baumgarten and Gabriel Berns.
Who it is for
A novel of ideas, in refined prose, where the digressions count as much as the plot; a character's invented language demands attention.
Prizes and reception
Counted by the Spanish Academy and by Britannica among the major works of its author, along with Tigre Juan.
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