Le Fou d'Elsa is a 1963 novel written by Louis Aragon

Louis Aragon

Louis Aragon , was a French poet, novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt.- Early life :...

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Synopsis

In this book Aragon's intellectual work is reflected through the description of Arabic and Muslim culture in both poetry and prose. Aragon describes the relationships between the Muslim and Catholic world at the time of Inquisition in Spain

Spanish Inquisition

The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...

 by using the fall of Granada

Granada

Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...

 and the escape of Boabdil

Boabdil

Abu `Abdallah Muhammad XII , known as Boabdil , was the twenty-second and last Nasrid ruler of Granada in Iberia. He was also called el chico, the little, or el zogoybi, the unfortunate...

 in front of Isabella the Catholic

Isabella I of Castile

Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...

as a background.

As most of the books of Aragon, Le Fou d'Elsa is a book about love. Aragon announces a new woman to come, a woman called Elsa, in the quote "Woman is the future of man". But Le Fou d'Elsa is not only about love. The book is also a description of the beginnings of the depression of the Muslim world, first with the fall of Granada until the colonization.

Le Fou d'Elsa represents a political opinion as the book was written at the time of decolonization in France.

Nowadays, Le Fou d'Elsa is still a great book talking about tolerance and the treasures of all the different cultures.