Demystifying Z
As I leaf through the last pages of Zorro by Isabel Allende, it had me wondering up to the final chapter who was the supposed writer of the story. Ofcourse, anyone who can read the book cover will say that it was Isabel Allende who wrote the novel.
I just find it inreresting how writers can effectively take the persona of the charaters in their novel that you actually start believeing that somebody else other than Allende wrote it. OR you start wondering if Allende was the voice of the storyteller and she actually knew Zorro. In this novel, the storyteller is Isabel, one of the Zorros. Wondering what I’m talking about? Read the book! I’ve never really paid much attention to the movie with Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, so I can’t tell how much likeness the novel has with the movie.
What fascinates me about Allende is the amount of history and description that flows into every page. I am usually left half wondering how much historical truth is in the book. She writes about Spain, California and the political panorama of the 1800 with such detail that I found myself picturing bustling Madrid and newfound California.
It tool me a while to take the book off the shelves. I just thought that Zorro was a passe figurehead and who would want to read about him when there’s a movie that preceeded it?!? But despite my initial hesitation, I’m way too drawn to Alllende’s eloquence and humor to let my initial relunctance win.
It’s not exactly a must-read like Eva Luna is but it is certainly entertaining.
