Blood and Sand

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Blood and Sand (1908) is a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibez. Published at the height of his career as a popular Spanish author, Blood and Sand was adapted into a 1916 silent film by the author himself and was remade three times, in 1922, 1941, and 1989. Predating Ernest Hemingway's celebrated depictions of bullfighting by over a decade, Blasco Ibez's novel remains an essential work of literature portraying one of Spain's oldest and most controversial traditions. "Scarcely had the second bull appeared when Gallardo, by his activity and his desire to shine, seemed to fill the whole plaza. His cape was ever near the bull's nose. A picador of his cuadrilla, the one called Potaje, was thrown from his horse and lay unprotected near the horns, but the maestro, grabbing the beast's tail, pulled with herculean strength and made him turn till the horseman was safe. The public applauded, wild with enthusiasm." Born into poverty, Juan Gallardo knows what it means to struggle and survive. From the streets of Spain, he rises to become one of the nation's greatest bullfighters, a man for whom danger is merely an opportunity to showcase his talent. As lovers and fans flock to his side, Juan learns a new kind of danger, one with far more uncertain consequences than those he faces as a torero. With stunning depictions of the bullfighting ring and stirring evocations of urban life in Madrid and Seville, Blood and Sand is a masterpiece of twentieth century literature. This edition of Vicente Blasco Ibez's Blood and Sand is a classic of Spanish literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Author Bio

Vicente Blasco Ibez (1867-1928) was a Spanish novelist, journalist, and political activist. Born in Valencia, he studied law at university, graduating in 1888. As a young man, he founded the newspaper El Pueblo and gained a reputation as a militant Republican. After a series of court cases over his controversial publication, he was arrested in 1896 and spent several months in prison. A staunch opponent of the Spanish monarchy, he worked as a proofreader for Filipino nationalist Jos Rizals groundbreaking novel Noli Me Tangere (1887). Blasco Ibezs first novel, The Black Spider (1892), was a pointed critique of the Jesuit order and its influence on Spanish life, but his first major work, Airs and Graces (1894), came two years later. For the next decade, his novels showed the influence of mile Zola and other leading naturalist writers, whose attention to environment and social conditions produced work that explored the struggles of working-class individuals. His late career, characterized by romance and adventure, proved more successful by far. Blood and Sand (1908), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1916), and Mare Nostrum (1918) were all adapted into successful feature length films by such directors as Fred Niblo and Rex Ingram.