El jinete polaco

The Polish Rider (Spanish: El jinete polaco) is a Spanish novel by Antonio Muñoz Molina, published in 1991. The plot revolves around a man just about to enter mid-age reconstructing his family past, all cast against the background of a small Andalusian town. In terms of structure the narrative is non-linear; the book is a patchy structure of numerous episodes from 1870 to 1991, referred from different perspectives and in non-chronological order. In terms of style the novel is viewed as multi-genre exercise, which combines elements of detective fiction, heroic sonnet, feuilleton, realist novel, Doppelgänger, adventure story, generational saga, Bildungsroman and Gothic prose. In terms of major themes it is usually viewed as a discourse upon relationship between identity and memory, either in case of an individual or in case of the collective Spanish self. Upon release the novel was highly valued by both critics and readers; the novel earned Premio Planeta for 1991 and topped the Spanish weekly list of best selling novels from November 1991 till February 1992. In some rankings compiled today it appears among the best Spanish-language novels of the last few decades.