La Bodega: The Fruit of the Vine

By Vicente Blasco Ibáñez and Vicente Blasco; trans by Dr Isaac Goldberg Ibanez

Book Overview

La Bodega: The Fruit of the Vine is a novel written by Spanish author Vicente Blasco Ibanez. The story takes place in the late 19th century in the wine-producing region of Valencia, Spain. The main character, Juanito Santa Cruz, is the son of a wealthy wine merchant who owns a bodega, or winery. Juanito is sent away to study in France, where he learns about the latest wine-making techniques and falls in love with a French woman named Madeleine. Upon his return to Spain, Juanito is shocked to discover that his father's bodega is in financial trouble and on the verge of bankruptcy. He decides to take matters into his own hands and begins to modernize the winery, introducing new technologies and marketing strategies to increase profits. However, his efforts are met with resistance from his father and the traditionalist wine-making community. As Juanito's business ventures become more successful, he becomes embroiled in a love triangle with Madeleine and a local woman named Carmen. The novel explores themes of love, ambition, tradition, and the clash between old and new ways of thinking. La Bodega: The Fruit of the Vine is considered one of Ibanez's most famous works and is widely regarded as a classic of Spanish literature. It has been translated into multiple languages and adapted into several films and television series.1919. Ibanez, Spanish novelist and political activist, who wrote The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which made him world famous. La Bodega is the third of a notable series in which Ibanez attacks important questions of the day. It was preceded by The Shadow of the Cathedral and The Intruder and directly followed by The Horde. The first of these books deals with the retrogressive influence of the Catholic Church upon Spain; the second, with the Jesuits. La Bodega is a double assault: first, upon the vice of drunkenness, and second, upon the propertied interests that willfully keep the lower class in ignorance. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1417935774
• ISBN13: 9781417935772
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing
• Length: 380 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"