Baroja: The Road to Perfection

The Road to Perfection (Camino de Perfeccion) was written in 1901 and published the following year. It marked a pivotal point in Pio Baroja’s development as a writer and thinker. It tells the story of Fernando Ossorio, a young man who makes a spiritual and physical journey through parts of central Spain. At the start of the book, Baroja narrates and guides Ossorio before leaving him to his own resources. On this epic journey Ossorio has an incestuous affair with his aunt, travels with a philosophical wagon driver, seeks spiritual purification, and finally gets married and becomes a father. The work has been subjected to much censorship in its time, and of all Baroja’s works, this one has elicited the most enmity towards the views of its writer. This complete edition is the first time that this seminal work has appeared in English. Spanish text with facing-page translation, introduction and notes.