Overview
Hernán Cortés toma la pluma nuevamente hacia el final de su vida. Esta vez no se dirige al emperador ni a un numeroso y anónimo lector, sino a su primogénito, Martín Cortés, hijo de la Malinche, para contarle su vida. Le habla de su infancia en Medellín, de sus días de estudiante en Salamanca y, por supuesto, de su llegada al Nuevo Mundo y de sus amores con doña Marina.
Acompañamos a Martín en el descubrimiento de sus padres. Hallamos a una mujer dulce y determinada, arquitecta del México moderno. Encontramos a un conquistador victorioso que detesta la guerra y a un hombre poderoso que desconfía del poder, pues para él es sólo un medio para acceder a la libertad más plena.
Cortés le confiesa a su hijo que ha sido muchos hombres, que tiene el alma vagabunda y que ama conquistar. Pero su conquista más grande no fue la de un territorio, sino la de la memoria. Gracias a su ingenio pudo salvar para la eternidad la crónica de su aventura por el Nuevo Mundo, y así dejó escrita, bajo el manto protector de un artificioso seudónimo, su Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España.
Con esta novela, el historiador Christian Duverger completa la desmitificación de Hernán Cortés. Rigurosamente basados en los archivos y las crónicas del siglo XVI, los hechos de esta autobiografía ficcional reflejan a un literato, a un hombre del Renacimiento absolutamente cautivado por el mundo indígena y, sobre todo, convencido de que el mestizaje era la clave para forjar una realidad mejor. Memorias de Hernán nos recuerda que, en ocasiones, sólo la ficción puede desentrañar la historia verdadera.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
“My dear Martín, a man’s life is a sum; nothing is vacuous, nothing is vain, nothing is accessory. Cultivate two things: memory and will.”
Hernán Cortés picks up his pen yet again towards the end of his life. This time not addressing the emperor nor a vast anonymous reader, but his firstborn, Martín Cortés, Malinche’s son, to tell him about his life. He recounts his childhood in Medellín, his schooldays in Salamanca, and of course his arrival at the New World and his affair with Doña Marina.
We accompany Martín’s discovery of his parents. We find a sweet and determined woman, the architect of modern Mexico. We find a victorious conquistador who detests war, and a powerful man who distrusts power, mere means to access the most absolute freedom.
Cortés confesses to his son that he has been many men, has a wandering soul, and loves to conquer. And his greatest conquest was not of the land, but of remembrance. Through his wit, he managed to salvage for eternity the chronicles of his adventures in the New World, and so wrote, under the protecting cloak of an ingenious pseudonym, his own True History of the Conquest of New Spain.
With this novel, historian Christian Duverger ends Hernán Cortés’ demystification. Strictly based on archival research and sixteenth-century chronicles, the facts found in this fictional autobiography reflect a man of letters, a Renaissance man absolutely enthralled by the indigenous world, and above all, convinced that miscegenation was the key to forge a better reality. Hernán’s Memoirs reminds us that, on occasion, only fiction can unravel the actual history.
This book title, Memorias de Hernán Cortés / Memoirs of Hernán, ISBN: 9786073834575, by Christian Duverger, published by PRH Grupo Editorial (December 12, 2023) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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