Arturo Pérez Reverte Kitapları
www.perezreverte.com
Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez (born 25 November 1951) is a Spanish novelist and journalist. He worked as a war correspondent for twenty-one years (1973–1994). His first novel, El húsar, set in the Napoleonic Wars, was released in 1986. He is well known outside Spain for his "Alatriste" series of novels. He is now a member of the Royal Spanish Academy, a position he has held since 12 June 2003.
Style
Pérez-Reverte's novels are usually centered on one strongly defined character (male or female), and exhibit the author's Hemingway-like ability to build layers of complexity around each person. His plots move along swiftly, and the writer often employs the services of a narrator who is somehow a part of the story but apart from it.
The majority of action usually takes place in Spain or around the Mediterranean, and often draws on numerous references to Spanish history, colonial past, art and culture, ancient treasures and the sea. The novels frequently deal with some of the major issues of modern times such as drug trafficking or the relationship of religion and politics.
Often, he has two plots running in parallel with very little connection between them except for shared characters. For example, in The Club Dumas, the protagonist is searching the world for a lost grimoire and keeps meeting people who parallel figures from Dumas novels; the movie made from it, The Ninth Gate, jettisoned the Dumas connection with no loss of narrative momentum. In The Flanders Panel, a contemporary serial killer is awkwardly juxtaposed with the mystery of a 500 year old assassination.
In his columns and his main characters, he usually displays a pessimism about human behaviour, shaped by his wartime experiences in places like El Salvador, Croatia or Bosnia[1] and his research for crime shows.
He originally refused to have his novels translated from the original Spanish to any language other than French. However, English translations were eventually made available for some of his works. Most of his work is also available in Portuguese.
His books have been translated into Turkish: The Flanders Panel (Flaman Tablosu), the Captain Alatriste series (Komutan Alatriste, Güney'in Kraliçesi, Saflığın Çekiciliği), The Club Dumas (Dumas Kulübü), The King's Gold and others.
Throughout his career, and especially in its latter half, he has been notorious for cultivating his now trademark maverick, non-partisan and at times abrasive persona. This has occasionally been a source of conflict with more sectarian journalists and writers.[2]
Personal life
Pérez-Reverte was born in Cartagena, Spain. He started his journalistic career writing for the now-defunct newspaper Pueblo and then for Televisión Española (the Spanish state-owned television), often as a war correspondent. Becoming weary of the internal affairs at TVE, he resigned as a journalist and decided to work full-time as a writer.
His teenage daughter Carlota was billed as a co-author of his first Alatriste novel. He lives between La Navata (near Madrid) and his native Cartagena, from where he enjoys sailing solo in the Mediterranean. He is a friend of Javier Marías, who presented Pérez-Reverte with the title of Duke of Corso of the Kingdom of Redonda micronation.
Bibliography
Captain Alatriste novels
El capitán Alatriste (1996; tr: Captain Alatriste), presenting the character of a swordsman in the Spanish Golden Century. Komutan Alatriste
Limpieza de sangre (1997; tr: Purity of Blood), about the "purity of blood" demanded from Conversos. Saflığın Çekiciliği
El sol de Breda (1998; tr: The Sun over Breda), about the war in the Spanish Netherlands - specifically, the Siege of Breda (1624).
El oro del rey (2000; tr: The King's Gold), about the Spanish treasure fleet.
El caballero del jubón amarillo (2003; tr: The Man in the Yellow Doublet). Alatriste clashes with king Philip IV of Spain.
Corsarios de Levante (2006). Alatriste fights Barbary pirates.
El puente de los Asesinos (2011). Alatriste tries to kill the Doge of Venice.
Other novels
El húsar (1986). Set in the Napoleonic age.
El maestro de esgrima (1988; tr: The Fencing Master). A lady requests lessons from a fencing master. Kılıç Üstadı
La tabla de Flandes (1990; tr: The Flanders Panel). About a mysterious Flemish painting. Flaman Tablosu
El club Dumas or La sombra de Richelieu (1993; tr: The Club Dumas). A Cult of followers of the novels of Alexandre Dumas. Dumas Kulübü
La sombra del águila (1993). Set in the Napoleonic age.
Territorio comanche (1994). A novelization of his Balkan war experience.
La piel del tambor (1995; tr: The Seville Communion)
Un asunto de honor (1995)
La carta esférica (2000; tr: The Nautical Chart). Treasure hunting.
La Reina del Sur (2002; tr: The Queen of the South). Story of a Mexican woman who becomes a leader of a drug trafficking gang in the south of Spain. Güneyin Kraliçesi
Cabo Trafalgar (2004; tr: Cape Trafalgar), about the battle of Trafalgar.
El pintor de batallas (2006; tr: The Painter of Battles). A retired war photographer confronts his past.
Un día de cólera (2007). 2 May 1808. The battle in Madrid against the French army for independence, hour to hour.
Ojos azules (2009). Spanish soldiers flee the Aztecs.
El Asedio (2010). Set in 1811, during the siege of Cádiz.
El tango de la guardia vieja (2012). Romance.
Non-fiction
Obra breve (1995)
Patente de corso (1998). Collection of press columns.
Con ánimo de ofender (2001). Further columns.
No me cogeréis vivo (2005)
Cuando éramos honrados mercenarios (2009)
Films based on novels by Pérez-Reverte
El maestro de esgrima (1992) (based on The Fencing Master)
Uncovered (1994) (based on The Flanders Panel)
Cachito (1995) (based on Un Asunto de Honor)
Territorio Comanche (1997)
The Ninth Gate, by Roman Polanski (1999) (very loosely based on El club Dumas)
The Road to Santiago (1999), Spanish television miniseries (story)
Alatriste (2006) (based on the series Captain Alatriste)
The Nautical Chart (2007) (based on La Carta Esférica and starring Aitana Sánchez-Gijón)
Quart: El Hombre de Roma (2007), Spanish television miniseries based on The Seville Communion
La Reina Del Sur (2011), Spanish Novela (Soap Opera) airing on Telemundo
