Novel
The Tree of Knowledge
El árbol de la ciencia
Pío Baroja · 1911
Synopsis
Madrid, in the late 1880s. Andrés Hurtado begins his medical studies, full of expectation of science. Motherless, distant from his father, he finds support in his uncle, Dr Iturrioz, with whom he discusses philosophy. At university, where he befriends Julio Aracil and Montaner, he is disappointed by mediocre professors and turns to Kant and Schopenhauer. He meets Lulú, an intelligent and mocking young woman. Having become a doctor, he goes to practise in a village in La Mancha, Alcolea del Campo.
Context
Published in 1911, the novel closes the trilogy La raza. It is partly autobiographical, and its action spans 1887 to 1898, under the regency of Maria Christina. Two symmetrical parts frame a long philosophical conversation between Andrés and his uncle Iturrioz, in which the latter evokes the two trees of Eden, the tree of life and the tree of knowledge, from which the book takes its title. The author regarded it as the most accomplished and complete of his books.
Who it is for
A novel in seven parts, the fourth of which, placed at the centre, is a long philosophical dialogue.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as its author's masterpiece; Cátedra published an annotated edition in 2023 by Pío Caro-Baroja, the author's nephew.