Fiction
in Spanish
(many titles have
English translations)
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Go here for fiction in English with Latin American or Spanish themes
Confession:
I am extremely weak on Spanish novels (i.e. novels by Spaniards). I
would welcome suggestions to include here.
Don
Quijote de la Mancha is generally considered the greatest novel ever
written in Spanish--indeed one of
the very greatest in any language. Almost unbelievably, it may be more popular now than when it was written four centuries ago.
With Quijote, you have three choices.
In the original Spanish:Don
Quijote de laMancha
In English:
Don
Quijote: A New Translation,BackgroundsContexts, Criticism
or excerpts
in both Spanish and Englishon facing pages (illustration on the right): Selections
from Don Quixote:
Seleccciones de Don Quijote de ls Mancha: A Dual-Language Book
Cien
Años de Soledad
One
Hundred Years of Solitude
Another
choice of Spanish or English or both. García Marquez is the
most highly regarded contemporary Latin American novelist, and is a
Nobel Prize winner. Cien años de soledad is his best known
work. Personally, I liked El amor en los tiempos de
cólera, which is also available in Spanish
and in English.
For language purposes, reading the original and the translation in tandem
can be very helpful. When you get stuck in the Spanish version, you
can check the English version.
Los
de abajo This
is THE novel of the Mexican Revolution, which in turn is one of the most
important events in Latin American history. Los de abajo was written
in 1915, and is still being reprinted. Los de abajo means
"Those from below", refers to Mexico's poor peasants. The
book is available in English with the title The
Underdogs .
Como
agua para chocolate The
book from which the popular movie was made. Doesn't disappoint with
the magical realism we expect from Latin authors. Also available in
English translation with the rather clumsy title Like
Water for Chocolate : A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes,
Romances, and Home Remedies. My
usual advice: get them both, and use the English version to help you with
the Spanish.
La
muerte de Artemio Cruz An
old revolutionary and founding member of the kelptocracy known as the PRI
(Partido de Revolución Istitucionalizado -Party of
Institutionalized Revolution) faces death. Carlos Fuentes is not one
of my favorite authors, but a lot of people think he's great. He has
received his full portion of the goodies the PRI had for its tame
intellectuals, including ambassadorships. Fuentes has been very
prolific, but this is considered his best work, and one that has more
cultural insights than others. Also in English as
The
Death of Artemio Cruz.
La
Tia Julia y El Escribidor
Mario
Vargas Llosa is Peru's best-known author--probably Peru's best-known
citizen. Unlike most other Latin American intellectuals, Vargas
Llosa is not a leftist (another example is Octavio Paz). Indeed,
running as a conservative, he came very close to becoming Peru's president
to replace the disgraced Alberto Fujimori, who turned out not to even be a
citizen of Peru. La Tia Julia was his first work to gain
international fame. It is available in English translation as Aunt
Julia and the Scriptwriter.
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