Brace yourself, because I’m about to use some words that might make you cringe: Epic. Historical. Nineteenth-century.
I had my doubts about Isabel Allende’s ZORRO, too, for those very adjectives. And also because it’s translated from Spanish. And the one-step-above-Harlequin cover. Oh, and the “about the author” illustration which most embarassingly depicts her in Zorro garb. But despite all that, this ZORRO turned out to be a mostly rousing, highbrow chronicle of the swashbuckler’s first 20 years of life.
Born in a California mission to the unlikely couple of a Spanish military expert and an Indian warrior, Diego de la Vega grows up with a thirst for fencing and a strong moral code. He also has a bit of mischief in him, as when he traps and captures a live bear. Tragedy strikes the village when it’s attacked by pirates, and Diego soon sets sail – encountering sharks along the way – for Barcelona for schooling. There he duels for the affections of his host’s eldest daughter, performs magic tricks at a circus and joins La Justicia, a secret society whose few members include one Julius Caesar.
When his fencing teacher is held prisoner, Diego fully dons the famed mask, cape and sword to become Zorro. From there, the story dishes out more pirates, more rescues and more damsels in distress, ending with a bravura breakout from an impenetrable jail menacingly known as El Diablo. To my surprise, it doesn’t end up where I expected it would, nor did I ever think voodoo and telepathy would weave into the overall fabric of the story.
My problem with it? Too little dialogue. Allende expounds on the action to the point where her paragraphs go on for a page or more. And her writing is fairly simplistic, though it’s difficult to tell if that’s intentional for its narrator or a product of the translation. But she knows her characters and gives them depth, making the novel a rich, grand adventure written in an old-fashioned style, while also serving as a modern reimagining of one of literature’s first and most enduring superheroes.
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