Part 30 (2/2)

Alfred A. Knopf, Senor Baroja's authorized publisher in the English-speaking countries, has published to date two of the novels:

THE CITY OF THE DISCREET. Translated by Jacob S. Fa.s.sett, Jr. $2.00 net.

Around Cordova, the fascinating and romantic ”city of the discreet,”

Baroja has spun an adventurous tale. He gives you a vivid picture of the city with her tortuous streets, ancient houses with their patios and tiled roofs and of her ”discreet” inhabitants. In a style that is polished where Ibanez' is crudely vigorous, and with sympathy and understanding, he portrays Quentin, the natural son of a Marquis and a woman of humble birth; Pacheco, the ambitious bandit chief; Don Gil Sabadia, the garrulous and convivial antiquarian, and a host of other characters.

”Unforgettable pictures are spread in a rich background for the action--Cordova at twilight, with its spires showing against the violet sky, the narrow streets with white houses leaning toward each other, its squares with st.u.r.dy beggars squatting around and its gardens heavy with the scent of orange blossoms, where old fountains quietly drip.”-- _Indianapolis News_.

”This fine novel ... shows us the best features of the modern Spanish realistic school.”--_The Bookman_.

CAESAR OR NOTHING. Translated by Louis How. $2.00 net.

This is the story of Caesar Moncada, a brilliantly clever young Spaniard, who sets out to reform his country, to modernize it and its government. In depicting Caesar's preparation in Rome, where his uncle is a Cardinal, for the career he has planned for himself, Senor Baroja etches vividly and entertainingly a typical cosmopolitan society--witty, worldly, prosperous and cynical. The second part of the book describes Caesar's political fight in Castro Duro.

”Not only Spain's greatest novelist, but his greatest book. It is the most important translation that has come out of Spain in our time in the field of fiction and it will be remembered as epochal.”--JOHN GARRETT UNDERHILL, Representative in America of the Society of Spanish Authors of Madrid.

”Ranks Baroja as a master of fiction, with a keen sense of character, constructive power and an active, dynamic style.”--_Philadelphia Ledger_.

”I read _Caesar or Nothing_ with a profound admiration for its power and skill. It is a great novel, which you deserve our thanks for publis.h.i.+ng.”--HAROLD J. LASKI, of Harvard University.

”A brilliant book--amazingly clever and humorous in its earlier chapters, gradually acc.u.mulating depth as it moves along until it becomes the stuff of tragedy at the close. The character he has created in Caesar Moncada is one of the few really notable portrayals in recent fiction.”--_Chicago Post_.

Translations of three other novels by Baroja are in preparation in the competent hands of Dr. Isaac Goldberg. The first, _LA DAMA ERRANTE_, will be ready in the Fall of 1920. Probable price, $2.00.

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