Bullfighting

<p>Ernest Hemingway best-known to layman and aficionado alike in his fiction described bullfighting or <em>toreo </em>as a cross between romantic risk and a drunken party or as an elaborate substitute for war ending in wounds or death. Although his descriptions of the beautyin <em>toreo </em>are lyrical they are short on imaginative creation of how such beauty through techniques and discipline comes about. Hemingway may have sculpted a personal mystique of <em>toreo </em>but in the opinion of some he ignored or slighted the full unique nature of the subject.</p><p>In <em>Bullfighting: Art Technique and Spanish Society </em>John McCormick sorts through the complexities of <em>toreo </em>to suggest the aesthetic social and moral dimensions of an art that is geographically limited but universal when seen in round. While having felt the attraction of Hemingway's approach McCormick knew that he was being seduced by elements that had little to do with <em>toreo. </em>To try to right Hemingway's distortions he named the first edition of this book <em>The Complete Aficionado </em>but then realized that the volume was directed at more than just the spectator: <em>BullFighting </em>is written from the point of view of the <em>torerro </em>as opposed to the usual spectator's impressions and enthusiasm. With the help of a retired <em>matador de toros </em>Mario Sevilla Mascarenas who taught McCormick the rudiments of <em>toreo </em>as well as the emotions and discipline essential to survival the authors rescue <em>'toreo </em>from romantic cliches. They probe the anatomy of the matador's training and technique provide a past-and-present survey of the traditions of the <em>corrida </em>and furnish dramatic portraits of such famous figures as Manolete Joselito Belmonte and Ordonez.</p><p>Here then is an informed analysis and critique of the origins and myths of <em>toreo </em>and a survey of the novels it has inspired. Defending the faith in a lively as well as clear and discerning manner this volume provides a committed and vivid approach to the rich history ritual and symbolism of the bullfight as it currently exists.</p>