The Death and Life of Miguel de Cervantes

One of the best books I've ever read - it has humor, intelligence, and imagination - all woven together into a magnificent story that captures the reader from the very first sentence.

This picaresque novel is a sweeping historical/satircal/mock autobiography that should please readers with different interests. Marlowe's novel is a well researched historical story that shows the tensions bewtween the uper and lower class Spaniards as well as the stuggles among Christinas, Muslims and Jews. These stuggles are highlighted by the section devoted to the Algerian prison. marlowe deftly blends in satire throughout the novel whose targets include literary critics, Lope de Vega, Christopher Marlowe and even William Shakespeare. In addition to these two aspects, and most importantly, this is the life of Miguel de Cervantes, told to us by the writer himself. Marlowe traces Cervantes's life and stuggles in a smooth narrative that never loses pace. Cervantes becomes a tangible character who is passionate, depressed, humorous, bitter and ultimately successful. This novel becomes a highly accesible (auto)biography that combines illusion and historical fact with well formed assumptions about Cervantes's life. The only short coming of the novel is Marlowe's hinting at some keen philosophy on writing but not carrying it through to any conclusion. Cervantes (Marlowe) should be more complete in his discussions on the creative process and substance of quality literature. This is a fine novel that should be read by anyone with an interest in Cervantes, Don Quixote de la Manch or the European Renaissance.