Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

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Captain Alatriste, by Arturo Pérez-Reverte and translated by Margaret Sayers Peden.
Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1996, 2005.

A book is a material object.

Alright so far, most people know that, see books, touch books perhaps every day, if they are fortunate.

The reason one understands what a book is beyond being a material object, is how the reader transforms it; this is why one does judge a book by its content in lieu of the pretty wrapping, seeing beyond the cover, the art, or the type face each contributing to the pleasurable experience seeing the object, but the story must win the day to be read. Books are material objects for the fortunate.

When viewed in this manner the idea of what the word ‘treasure’ means is very easily grasped.

However, the same could be said of paper towels for instance. Have you ever been in a spot where a paper towel was just what your needed at the moment? Humans are such needy creatures, but it is by practice, and perhaps by expectation we are thus.

Sometimes one expects a manhole cover to be in its place. When it is not certain ill-fated events occur. Finding a spill one needs a paper towel; object, clean up. Finding an open manhole in a street one needs a new front end for a vehicle. Connecting with other humans, one needs a good story.

I need books to fill a void, to win the day for me. I have an expectation to have my fancy tickled in ways that my own writing cannot fulfill, it is the story I need in my real world of spills and broken vehicles.

Books are the physical objects that encase the treasure of literature, the collective of words ‘engineered’ into narrative that might be described as a net which captures the reader and keeps her buoyed within the story from the beginning through to the middle and finally releases her at the end. The best capture and release program ever, perhaps she has been changed forever. Certainly, that book will not be her last.

What is captivating about Captain Alatriste written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte and translated by Margaret Sayers Peden is the immediacy with which the author introduces the main character Diego Alatriste, the Spanish Musketeer, by un-packing the man’s opening situation while giving a sketch of how the Captain came to his current condition through the voice of his valet, squire, confidante, Íñigo, the first person relayer of Captain Alatriste’s story.

Pérez-Reverte writes as if to sculpt the tone of the story from the aether that is fitting to the character and to the historical setting of the book. He does not burden the reader with history but snippets are provided as supporting structure to the progression of the tale. The history does not slow down the reading.

Humor, weakness, courage, piety, and misbegotten love fill the story. Captain Alatriste is at once a tale of action then deep introspection of a veteran mercenary set in a turbulent Spain of the late 16th and 17th century. It is full of sinister intrigue and plenteous daring exploits; chilling in places profane in others Pérez-Reverte provides his treasure with the irreverent and the full-blooded heroics of a stinking mortal making decisions who may briefly utter a prayer, explode his ready wit and trust his limber blade will cure all, sometimes all work but in ways mysterious, hence the story Pérez-Reverte has created.

As fortune granted, I was not cured of wanting more story of the good and gritty Captain and Pérez-Reverte has been a busy bee provending so much delicious honey.

More Captain Alatriste books by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, the second date is the UK & USA publication date:

Purity of Blood 1997, 2006
The Sun over Breda, 1998, 2007
The King’s Gold, 2000, 2008
The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet, 2008, 2009
Pirates of the Levant, 2006, 2010
The Bridge of the Assassins, 2011 with perhaps two more novels in progress or pending publication.