Summer Reading for Him: Swashbuckling Adventures With Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte

  As you can imagine by title and the picture above, this book is very popcornable i.e ripe to be turned into a movie. If this was what you were thinking, then you are correct! This book will be released as a movie starring Viggo Mortensen from the recent Lord of the Rings films. The movie will be cut the title short to Alatriste and is surprisingly to be released first as a Spanish language film. According to Wikipedia, Alatriste is the most expensive Spanish film to date at 30 million dollars. So, for you lazy guys who will be waiting for the film, it is better to read the book first than brush up on your Espanol.

 Moving on, the book plays like a comic book so you have to be a silly cape boy mood to read this. You can't take it if you are into being "serious". Otherwise, the book will comeout as a satiric Don Quixote experience which is fun too in my case. To get a feel of Capitan Alatriste's character, below is a bad ass moment from our lead character who is being coaxed by an employer to do some dirty work:

"You have been out of prison only a few hours and you haven't a coin in your purse," he said. "Before two days pass, you will have accepted some paltry employ, escorting some conceited young peacock to prevent his beloved's brother from running him through on a street corner to slicing off a man's ears on behalf of a creditor…..Before you know it, you will be in trouble: a bad wound, a quarrel, a change against you. And then it will start all over again. He took a small sip from his jar and half closed his eyes, though he never took them off the captain. "Do you call that living?"                                                                                   Diego Alatriste shrugged. "Can you think of something better?" 

  Definitely Bad Ass with a capital B and A right? This I why I recommend it as a great way to play with your imagination this summer if you are all burned out from whatever you are doing, especially for guys. It just like a comic book with the clear cut heroes and villians, cheesy dialogue, high testoterone action and lady loves in the side. I guess the girls would rather wait for the movie and oggle at Viggo Mortensen instead .

 Before you start scavenging for this title, I must warn you can to take the book with the wonder of a five year old who doesn't over analyze. The book is placed in a time frame which is the the Inquisition but you can't believe its historical accuracy. This is because Alatriste builds on stereotypes like a comic book writers do and portrays everyone as seedy, vile, and grimey because it highlights Alatriste as a true hero and since it is much cooler that way. Thus, I think you will have no moral qualms if you just sit back and take the ride as it is, which is simple FICTION.

If you are really lazzzzzzzyyyyyy, click the link to watch the trailer below:
Youtube Alatriste Trailer with English Voice Over 

Author: Arturo Perez-Reverte

Author's Website: Captain Alatriste

Movie Website: Alatriste (Spanish Site )

Price: Php 675.00

National Bookstore Release: Available Now!