Book Description
The two short novels in this volume follow the adventures of two unlikely heroes-delinquent pícaros living by their wits among corrupt priests and prostitutes, beggars and idle gentlemen, thieves, tricksters, and murderers. Lazarillo de Tormes (1554), published anonymously, provided a literary model for Cervantes' Don Quixote and describes the ingenious ruses employed by a boy from Salamanca to outwit a succession of disreputable masters. Francisco de Quevedo's The Swindler (1626) is a comic yet brutal and sordid account of a servant who wants to become a gentleman but ends up a cardsharp and common criminal.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful translation, brilliant introduction.......2007-08-24
I find it simply miraculous being able to render into a foreign language such as English both the richness and flavour of the world of El Lazarillo de Tormes. Congratulations.
Lazarillo de Tormes.......2006-08-21
All I can say is that I never would have believed that this story (short and not so sweet) was written in the 1500s! Truthfully, not much has changed as far as "the church" and "the nobility" are concerned. There is a reason this little story has endured and it is because the world's problems, like the world's fashions, instead of petering out and dying, seem to recycle themselves for the sake of posterity (lest we forget).
Like Voltaire's "Candide," this short story offers a scathing social commentary paired with an expert knack for dark comedy. I literally laughed outloud all the way through. The abuses of young "Lazaro" are unfortunate but irresistable...and not without truth.
This is a two to three hour read at most. You have absolutely nothing to lose. If you have a good sense of humor and do not take the "powers that be" too seriously, you would be a fool not to give it a try.
Great examples of an old literary tradition.......2006-02-08
I picked this book up on a whim, having a certain fondness for literary tales of thieves and con-men, and I was not disappointed. The forward of the book would give you the impression that the Spanish invented the picaresque novel, a point on which I would differ, given that Petronius' The Satyricon, which while not a novel per se, is still the very spirit of the picaresque literary theme and is older by far. Nonetheless, I found these two short novels both entertaining and surprisingly educational, showing us if nothing else that human motivations and susceptibility to temptation and trickery really never change. The cons and tricks employed by the "heroes" of both novels are easy to identify with, being as many are the Renaissance era equivalents of modern day identity theft and business fraud. And as smaller examples of the literary style of the time, they also fit well alongside the much more famous work of the period, Cervantes' Don Quixote, in both the feel of the culture of that time and place and of the universal traits of human nature that transcend time and place. The translation is well done and reads quite smoothly, even though as it notes in the foward that some jokes, puns and other comic references were so tied to the language and the time that only lengthy footnotes could attempt to explain them in context, which would have marred the readability considerably.
My only disappointment, and it is a minor one, is that The Swindler ends referring to a second volume which apparently was never written. This may have been intentional, a literary device of sorts. Or, since DeQuevedo never intended The Swindler to be published in the first place, and when it did appear, never claimed authorship, it may simply be that he never got around to writing the alluded-to second volume. Still, that aside, both short novels are worth reading for anyone who has a fondness for the picaresque or for pieces of that period of Spanish literature.
An Entertaining Read.......2005-06-09
I tend to take more chances with my purchases on shorter
works and was rewarded in my impulse buy in this one.
These two novellas of scraggly characters trying to connive
their way to the top (or merely survive) are a pleasure to read,
fast-paced, full of wit, and a wonderful portrait of Spanish society in the 1600s.
profound, edifying and more entertaining than televison.......2005-03-03
"Picaresque." "Bildungsroman." "Beginning of the novel."
Literary historians (some of them, anyway) tell us that these works mark the transition from pamphlet and chapbook to the protonovel, picked up by Cervantes, later by the French & English novelists. I'll take their word for it.
These books are a lot of fun to read, if you enjoy fast comic action with flashes of pathos, and can stand some coarseness and brutality mixed in. Welcome to Spain in the 1500's. Welcome to Planet Earth.
The translation is excellent standard English, not quite the colloquial, which would be an affectation, under the circumstances.
Students of Spanish might well want to try "Lazarillo" in Spanish. It's surprisingly un-difficult for the motivated intermediate student. There have been several annotated editions for English speakers over the years.
What a wonderful country Spain has been, ever since the Romans incited war against Carthage by drawing a line in it. And still is. Thanks, Spaniards, for throwing out your stupid government that kow-towed to the American warmongerers.
Book Description
The first picaresque novel, and one of the gems of Spanish literature. A brief, simply told tale of a rogue's adventures and misadventures — full of laconic cynicism and spiced with puns and wordplay. Introduction, Notes, and new English translation by Stanley Appelbaum.
Customer Reviews:
Lazarillo de Tormes: sátira y ansias de vivir en medio del sufrimiento........2006-10-20
El Lazarillo de Tormes es la primera o una de las novelas que comenzaron este género en el Siglo de Oro. Impresa en 1554, se piensa que pueda haber sido escrita en 1553. Traducida a varios idiomas: francés, ingles, holandés, alemán e italiano, es sin dudas una especie de autobiografía que atrajo la lectura de muchos por su realismo en medio de fantasías caballerescas. El niño Lazarillo sufre, victima de una sociedad pesimista y fría, pero no pierde sus ansias de vivir y poder narrar esa vida.
Aún cuando en ella no vemos toda la realidad de la sociedad, esta novela nos deja ver un realismo vivo de un mundo bajo que había sido olvidado en las idealizadas páginas caballerescas y pastoriles. Lazarillo de Tormes nos anuncia con su narración una nueva forma de novela y escritura que llega hasta nuestros días. Crítica la sociedad en que vive en la forma de tres personajes: el mendigo por herencia, el clérigo hipócrita, y el hidalgo fantasma. Esta novela picaresca esta llena de valor también puesto que nos hace pensar, comparar, y asimilar un mundo bajo que existe, triste y doloroso, pero real, sin la magia turbia de la mentira, sino la verdad de nuestra pequeñez.
El Lazarillo es de baja extracción social, nace en un hogar sin amor ideal, fruto de orfandad tiene que, siendo aún niño, enfrentarse a un mundo duro como el Peñón de Gibraltar, sin mas Dios que el deseo de sobrevivir, de seguir adelante hasta ver a dónde nos lleva esta aventura viviente; hasta ver cuánto aguanta nuestro estómago vacío al tocar fondo con su hiriente hambre; hasta ver si la tristeza no nos consume. Así estaba España: triste, luchando contra un pesimismo aceptándolo.
Este pesimismo no quitó a Lazarillo sus ansias de seguir: ¡Cuántos debe de haber en el mundo que huyen de otros, porque no se ven a sí mismos! (Tratado 1ro). El no desea su muerte en cada instante de desfortunio, sino que con una sátira fina pero directa, lucha por seguir sin quedar callado. Un mundo que huye porque no se quiere ver a sí mismo. ¡Tan difícil es vernos en nuestro propio espejo! que Lazarillo siendo un muchacho ya lo ve y es capaz de denunciarlo; contrario a España, quizás aún nación-muchacha, pero incapaz de mirarse en su propio espejo para resurgir una vez más conociéndose a sí misma.
Hay una crítica a la supuesta clase académica, pero no sin dejarla huérfana de la Iglesia y su hipocresía, no ya en el personaje del clérigo, avariento y cobarde, sino que en el mismísimo prólogo ya lo implica con finísima sátira: "Y así en las artes y letras es lo mismo. Predica muy bién el presentado, y es hombre que desea mucho el provecho de las ánimas. Mas pregunten a su merced si le pesa cuando le dicen: ¡Oh qué maravillosamente lo ha hecho vuestra reverencia!". Nos pareciera que el Lazarillo esta envidioso, pero no, simplemente cansado de tanto brillo falso.
Aún los ciegos tienen algo que aportarle a Lazarillo: "Y fue así; que después de Dios éste me dio la vida y, siendo ciego, me alumbró y adiestró en la carrera de vivir". España, ciega, pero sigue en la carrera de vivir como nación, de no dejarse olvidar, de arrimar orgullo para hacerse escuchar. "Huelgo de contar a vuestra merced estas niñerías, para mostrar cuánta virtud sea saber los hombres subir siendo bajos, y dejarse bajar siendo altos, cuánto vicio" (Tratado 1ro). La nación sufre en su tristeza pero no pierde su sagacidad y astucia.
El corazón de una nación, como el de un humano, como el de un Lazarillo, a veces parece enterrarse en la desesperanza, y es allí donde la muerte siempre se ofrece gratuitamente. ¿Mataréis una nación con pesimismo? ¿Enterraréis a ella o a un hombre aún respirando en vida? Nos preguntamos al ver a este muchachillo viendo oscuridad, y solo oscuridad en su entorno: "De manera que en nada hallaba descanso, salvo en la muerte, que yo también para mí, como para los otros, deseaba algunas veces. mas no la vía, aunque estaba siempre en mí" (Tratado 2do). Un mundo mezquino que nos quiere atar por un lado con sus prebendas, y por otro nos quiere exprimir hasta las lágrimas.
El Lazarillo, entre tanta tristeza no pierde su sincero humor. ¿Podríamos hablar de algo sincero en una novela picaresca como esta? Creemos que si; no pierde el hombre el humor de ridiculizarse y así como antídoto alimentarse de la esperanza de la risa. En el Tratado 3ro podemos reír a carcajadas cuando el orgulloso hidalgo le repite casi a diario al niño que su casa era lóbrega y oscura, triste y desdichada, sin comida ni bebida. Un dia el Lazarillo, camino a comprar algo de comer, ve el procesamiento de un muerto que traían y asustado vuelve a toda prisa a su pasajera casa porque había escuchado, según su entender, que llevaban al muerto al mismo lugar de su aposento y el tenía que impedirlo cerrando la puerta con todo lo disponible: "...y venía diciendo (refiriéndose al muerto quienes lo llevaban)... ¿a dónde os llevan? ¡A la casa lóbrega y oscura, a la casa triste y desdichada, a la casa donde nunca comen y beben! Acá, señor, nos le traen" (Le dice asustado Lazarillo a su amo).
Y aquí llegamos a nuestra conclusión: ¿Era España esa casa lóbrega y oscura, desdichada, triste, llena de hambre y orgullo? Si es así, el Lazarillo no es tal pícaro que rechacemos. Ha sufrido, ha conocido solo desventuras y desamor: ¿Qué más podemos pedirle a este miserable humano? Al menos lleva el humor en sus infortunios y el deseo de vivir con lo poco que la vida le ha deparado. El y España aún ríen, con lágrimas en los ojos.
Alejandro Roque.
Book Description
Spanning El Cid (1140) to El burlador de Sevilla (1630), Classic Spanish Stories and Plays contains eight great Spanish classics works including Don Quixote, one of the masterpieces of world literature. Expertly abridged and adapted for the intermediate learner, each tale and play includes ample cultural notes and translations of difficult words. An extensive vocabulary is included at the back of the book.
Customer Reviews:
Very high quality.......2007-09-18
A superb effort . A real pleasure to use . Just the right ammount of background is provided in the footnotes . I'm very fussy , but I cannot find fault with this book . Highly recommended .
Painless short intro to Spanish lit.......2006-05-09
This is a review of Classic Spanish Stories and Plays, adapted by Marcel C. Andrade. McGraw-Hill, 2001 (ISBN 0658011383).
After finishing Spanish IV at my community college, I started Don Quijote with the aid of Tom Lathrop's `Don Quijote Dictionary.' Even with the dictionary, Cervantes was slow going, so I decided to retrace my steps and gain some reading practice with something simpler. That's when I found this book. It contains eight Spanish stories (El Cid, Los cuentos el conde Lucanor, La Celestina, Lazarillo de Tormes, Don Quijote, Fuenteovejuna, La verdad sospechosa, and El burlador de Sevilla) greatly simplified for the intermediate student. (NB: an `intermediate' student knows what past subjunctive and conditional are.) I found that the editor's glosses matched my knowledge pretty closely; e.g. I very rarely had to look up a word that wasn't glossed. By the way, a vocabulary is included in the back of almost every word used in the text. Footnotes are used to explain cultural issues, though the notes to Don Quijote makes me think Andrade doesn't have a lot of sympathy with that ingenioso hildago.
All stories except Don Quijote are complete. But Andrade judiciously adapts chapter by chapter with Don Quijote, and includes only fourteen. He stops with the narrator finding the Arabic continuation of the tale by Cide Hamete Beningeli. Having read that far of the real Don Quijote, I enjoyed reinforcing my vocabulary with the glossing, and I liked being able to enjoy the story without looking up every fourth word.
My goal in Spanish is to read it semi-fluently. The only way to attain that goal is to read, read, read. Andrade's Spanish reader makes that possible, and rather painlessly at that. It's an excellent choice for any intermediate student who wants reading practice and doesn't mind gaining a superficial knowledge of some Spanish literary masterpieces at the same time - highly recommended.
Great Intro To Spanish Literature & Culture.......2005-03-21
This delightful book is the second volume of the Spanish Reader Series, which began with the Easy Spanish Reader. This book follows the same general principles--immediate immersion in the readings, no tedious grammar or vocabulary drills, no verb conjugations, just reading and understanding. So, I found myself advancing rapidly and enjoying myself immensely.
The readings are modernized and abridged versions of the classic literature of Spain--from 1140 (the Cid) to 1630 (El Burlador de Sevilla). Needless to say, they reflect a different world than ours, a world preoccupied with honor and gallantry, kings who are (supposed to be) wise, and nobles who dress well even if they have nothing to eat. And a view of women that is almost unbelievable from the America of 2005. You've read about the feudal age in Europe, but this book draws you into the soul of that long vanished era. I was surprised to find these works charming, interesting, and often quite humorous, in spite of their enormous distance from my own time and customs.
The author supplies marginal glosses for new vocabulary and extensive notes explaining the cultural background and possibly obscure allusions. After each section, there is a set of questions to test one's comprehension.
All in all, a delightful next step in my Spanish studies and one I can recommend highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.
A Perfect Aid To Learning Spanish.......2004-12-26
No matter how much you study Spanish in school or out of textbooks, you will never be able to write well in the language unless you read real Spanish literature. Although the stories in this book are watered down a bit, they're still quite entertaining, and definitely increase the reader's understanding of the Spanish language.
Great book for intermediate students of the Spanish language.......2002-01-11
I love this book.
This is perfect for someone with intermediate-level Spanish knowledge who wants to start reading in Spanish and greatly improve his/her vocabulary.
It has classic short stories and plays that are very entertaining. But the best thing about the book is that it offers definitions of obscure words on the same page (at the bottom, out of the way of the rest of the text), and all less obscure words are included in a dictionary in the back of the book. So, I can sit down and read this book without having to constantly refer to a Spanish dictionary; I can take this book along with me anywhere just like any other book in English.
The only downside is that the stories aren't the originals - they have been heavily edited down, but this means archaic language has been updated to be more modern.
I had fun reading this book, and was impressed with how far I could take my Spanish knowledge.
--Joe
Book Description
Spain has produced two books that changed world literature: Don Quixote and Lazarillo de Tormes, the first picaresque novel ever written and the inspired precursor to works as various as Vanity Fair and Huckleberry Finn. Banned by the Spanish Inquisition after publication in 1554, Lazarillo was soon translated throughout Europe, where it was widely copied. The book is a favorite to this day for its vigorous colloquial style and the earthy realism with which it exposes human hypocrisy.
The bastard son of a prostitute, Lazarillo goes to work for a blind beggar, who beats and starves him, while teaching him some very useful dirty tricks. The boy then drifts in and out of the service of a succession of masters, each vividly sketched and together revealing the corrupt world of imperial Spain. Its miseries are made all the more apparent by the candor and surprising good cheer with which young Lazarillo recounts his ever more curious fate.
This version of Lazarillo, by the prizewinning poet and translator W.S. Merwin, brings out the wonderful vitality and humor of this universal masterwork.
The author of Lazarillo de Tormes is unknown.
Customer Reviews:
Inspiring English translation.......2006-08-21
One of the finest renditions into the English language of the Spanish novel "The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes", the fountainhead of the Picaresque in modern European narration.
Average customer rating:
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Lazarillo de Tormes: A Kaplan Spanish-Language Vocabulary-Building Novel
Anonymous
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Lazarillo de Tormes (Dual-Language) (Dual-Language Book)
ASIN: 0743262840 |
Book Description
Considered the first of the picaresque novels, Lazarillo de Tormes follows the adventures of a young rogue (picaro) who struggles with the social and religious hypocrisy of 16th century Spain -- and with his own survival.
A classic work of Spanish literature presented
in a unique format:
·Full Spanish text of the novel on the right-hand pages
·More than 700 challenging Spanish vocabulary words highlighted throughout the text
·Definitions in English for each highlighted word on the left-hand pages
Lazarillo de Tormes: A Kaplan Spanish-Language Vocabulary-Building Novel is ideal for individuals who are trying to build their Spanish vocabulary, and for students preparing for SAT II and AP Spanish exams -- as well as for readers who want extra help reading this classic story.
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Lazarillo De Tormes, El
Diego Hurtado De Mendoza
Manufacturer: Fredonia Books (NL)
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ASIN: 1410108570 |
Book Description
Each title in this series, created by teachers and writers, provides a complete and thoughtful analysis of several of the most valuable works of world literature. Intended as a starting point for a better understanding and appreciation of literature, each analysis also imparts information about the author, social and historical background information, structure and traditions of literary genres, facts about characters, and a bibliography to encourage further intellectual exploration.
Esta colección es una herramienta indispensable para el estudio y análisis de obras clásicas de la literatura universal. Los libros de formato agradable y presentación moderna ofrecen un análisis crítico, información sobre los personajes y los géneros literarios, una bibliografía, y un compendio de la obra en particular junto a un estudio del autor y su época.
Book Description
Una de las grandes creaciones artísticas en el decurso de las letras españolas, tanto por su propia entidad como por su transcendencia.
Customer Reviews:
Lazaro o el antiheroe.......2001-07-09
Situemonos en la Espana antigua, donde los valores, la pobreza, las aventuras, la decadencia son el vivir latente de sus habitantes... Lazaro, apenas un muchacho, sale de hogar a enfrentarse al mundo con el fin de buscar el pan de cada dia; sin embargo, lo que encuentra a su paso es la habilidad para mentir y robar. Con cada uno de sus amos, desde el mas letrado hasta el mas ignorante, comienza su escuela de la vida convirtiendose poco a poco en un maestro del engano y de la astucia. Cruel, cruda y literal, esta novela anonima( pues nadie se atrevio a darle autoria debido a que iba contra todas las reglas de su epoca o porque estaba escrita por alguien perteneciente a alguna institucion de poder que se atrevio a exponer la hipocresia de la sociedad de ese entonces...), lleva al lector en un viaje de agonia en cada una de las aventuras de Lazaro, hasta que este llega a su mayoria de edad. No obstante, todos los sufrimientos, traiciones y tristezas vividos por nuestro protagonista, nos devuelven un producto sencillo, incorrupto y con capacidad de amar con el fin de mostrarnos que, por mas sentimientos negativos que se hayan experimentado, todavia existe una experanza para el hombre....Lazaro nos da la mejor leccion de vida: la reivindicacion del ser humano en todo sentido
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El Lazarillo De Tormes
Anonimo
Manufacturer: Edelsa Grupo Didascalia S a
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ASIN: 8477111251 |
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Don Quixote
