Book Review — Pierrot/Lorca: White Carnival of Black Desire

Through poetry man more quickly approaches the edge where the philosopher and mathematician turn their backs in silence.

~García Lorca

Pierrot/Lorca: White Carnival of Black Desire by Emilio Peral Vega is a well written and extremely well-researched book. It is very much on the academic category of books and written for a small audience. I picked this book up thinking it was poetry. It does contain information on poets and artists. Pierrot, in general, is a mime the White Carnival. The Black Desire reflects what was hidden behind the white mask. Pierrot, in this particular case, is a representation of the poet himself. Lorca seems to have been forgotten after his execution by the Spanish nationalists and the banning of his work. His influence does seem to reach outside of Spain as Vega goes into great detail to prove.

Unfortunately, I had no previous knowledge of either Lorca or his version of Pierrot. He did however lived and saw a hidden world — The one that lives below the surface and the one we hide. I will say I learned something from the reading, but the topic was quite out of my league but, the research and documentation are very well done.

Not rated based on my limited knowledge and the level needed to appreciate this work. This book, however, has created an interest in reading Lorca’s poetry.