The novel opens when Gallardo is already a famous man, ready to appear before cheering fans in Madrid. His background is disclosed in the following chapter. The action of the novel flows in a logical manner, and the reader witnesses the development and deterioration of the love affair between the bullfighter and Sol. Her name means "sun." The sun, here used as a synonym for the fiesta de toros, together with the blood and the sand of the title ensnare the protagonist; he is trapped, in a trap of his own making that he cannot escape.

The author, in a self-confident and forceful manner, uses the characters and the narrative to advance his ideas.

The reader is carried along by the excitement of the bullring yet, at the same time, is repelled by the other side of the magnificent show. The blood and gore are inescapable. The bullfighter...