The Crimson Bookshelf

Bull fighting is a strange sport to most Americans, but to some aficionados it is a supreme art. Other art forms are merely reflections of life; the corrida de torros (festival of bulls) is the realistic struggle of life and death with unfeigned violence and power. Man and mind fight the brute strength of the bull with skill and artistry.

Tom Lea wanted to explain this picture of the festival of bulls to Americans. As a painter, he first thought of drawing pictures of it, but he changed his mind. What he wanted to show was not just a painting of the festival. He wanted to explain how the bulls affect the lives of the people who work with them, how the spirit of the fight captures the toreador, how he rassles with fear, and how fear sometimes wins. This picture of a peoples' spirit behind the great pageant of the corrida required a novel. Tom Lea called his novel "The Brave Bulls."

The story centers on the life, love, and fear of Luis Bello, matador de torros. He is one of the top bull fighters of Mexico, the one the small arena at Cuenca wants for its grand festival. But before this corrida occurs, Luis goes into a slump. An older matador is killed by a bull, Luis' girl and his best friend are killed together in an automobile crash, and Luis Bello can no longer stand up to the bulls. For the first time in his career, he is afraid of the horns. Forced into the Cuenca corrida, Luis conquers his fear and regains his bull fighting spirit.

Two elements of the story are extremely well presented: the study of Bello's fear and the way it affects his attitude toward the bulls, and the picture of the festival of bulls.

Luis Bello, the experienced matador, gradually becomes aware of the power of the bulls and afraid of their horns. His wariness makes him a poor fighter. A fine contrast is created between Luis and his younger brother, Pepe, a new matador who is eager to fight and does not know of fear. The spirit of the fight eventually returns to Luis and drives out the fear, but the reader is left with a vivid impression of the power of sharp horns.

The climax of the story, when Luis regains his fighting spirit on the sands of Cuenca arena, on the surface resembles the ending of a high school sports story, but it is essential to Tom Lea's study of the bull fighter. As his fear vanishes. Luis regains the spirit of the bull fight, and the painting of the sport is completed.

Lea had a difficult problem in creating a style that would reveal the emotions of the matador at work and tell what is happening in the arena. In describing the fight, the author presents the thoughts and feelings of the matador. At times, it is difficult to tell exactly what the bull has done, but the rapid tempo and the strong emotional grip of this description make up for the factual problem.

Finally, the author succeeds in his major purpose of making his audience understand the bull fight, its violence, bloodshed, and death. The bull is not the hopeless underdog most American think it is. In Lea's books, the bull becomes the brave animal whose fighting spirit is the prime example of valor. Man must muster all his skill, artistry, bravery, and strength to conquer the animal, and he does not always win. In painting the skillful technique which brings the bull to his death, Lea creates a picture of violence and beauty--a rare combination that makes bull fighting a great art to some people and makes "The Brave Bulls" an unusually interesting book.