José Martínez Ruiz was born in Monóvar in 1873, and died in Madrid in 1967. He graduated in law and immediately after began to become known through his articles in the press, when he first assumed his pen name. With Ramiro de Maeztu and Pío Baroja, he shared an admiration for the work of Nietzsche, as well as certain anarchist leanings. His first narrative trilogy (1902-1904), comprising 'La voluntad', 'Antonio Azorín' and 'Las confesiones de un pequeño filósofo', involved an extensive process of personal reflection which took him towards a more conservative stance. This is the line followed by his works 'Los pueblos' (1905), 'La ruta de Don Quijote' (1905) and 'Castilla' (1912), perhaps his best-known work. He attempted to revive the Spanish theatre tradition and assimilate it to the European, but this initiative failed to find favour with the public.
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Castile
In this essay, the writer José Martínez Ruiz, who was known as ‘Azorín’, was able to immerse himself in the spirit and cultural tradition of Castile through its landscape.
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La voluntad
The first novel by the writer José Martínez Ruiz, or ‘Azorín’, constituted an authentic stylistic renovation in Spanish narrative, dispensing with the formulas of realism and naturalism from the 19th century.
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Other highlighted works
- La ruta de don Quijote