Libros en español - Page 3

Chirimoya · #21 11-09-2005, 05:41 PM

I looked up The House on the Lagoon, by Rosario Ferre on Amazon and it is definitely the one I read. I happened to be reading it while my Puerto Rican friend was around and she filled me in on Ferre's interesting background. I liked the book and may check out her others.

Julio Cortazar I have read, but could never get into Borges. Ditto Carlos Fuentes.

Skarmeta wrote the book 'El cartero de Neruda' that the Italian movie 'Il Postino' was based on - one of my all-time favourites. While on the subject, what about Neruda's autobiography, 'Memoirs'?

Marianopolita · #22 11-09-2005, 10:58 PM

-I have not read anything by Pablo Neruda.

-I share the same sentiment regarding Carlos Fuentes. I am not interested in his work although I have tried to read some of his books.

-I think once one finds an author or authors that s/he likes one tends to look for similar literature. At least that's how it is for me. Although I am willing to try other authors I am trapped in the sentimental literary style (sentimentalismo) of the Cuban authors I mentioned (except for Pedro Juan's work. He is not sentimental about Cuba). Also a few Peninsular authors like Rosa Montero intrigue me and the rest is trial and error. All I can say is I have read some great Spanish literature along the way.

LDG.

Chirimoya · #23 11-10-2005, 07:58 AM

I've never been able to understand or appreciate poetry (except for the comical or satirical variety) so I can't say I've read Neruda's, but I read his 'Memoirs' because he was such an interesting figure.

Tordok · #24 11-11-2005, 10:56 PM

Chiri, I don't read poetry either. But Neruda had a very interesting life. For example, he was a diplomat (of communist sympathies) in Spain during the Guerra Civil. Someone in my family recommended his Memoirs, but I haven't tried it yet.

Too bad you ladies don't favor Fuentes. I have the greatest respect for his intellectual depth and range. His essay books are better than his prose, I cannot give opinions about any poetry he has produced since I don't read anyone's poetry. La Muerte de Artemio Cruz makes for complicated reading, but it is a masterful, compelling narrative.

Gang please don't forget the Spanish Nobel prizewinner, Camilo José Cela and his pastoral Pascual Duarte.

- Tordok

Marianopolita · #25 11-12-2005, 02:00 PM

C. Fuentes is no doubt a talented author but I just can't get a handle on his style. Maybe in years to come.

We definitely have similar taste in contemporary Spanish literature. I am not surprised although I definitely bend towards sentimentalismo in my preferences. I was going to mention Camilo José Cela but I didn't because I do have one book of his La colmena but I have not read it yet although I know this author is among the elites in Iberian literature.

Since we are speaking of greats again I wanted to mention José Saramago. He is Portuguese but all is novels have been translated to Spanish. In general I enjoy his work. One book that I thought was excellent was Ensayo sobre la ceguera. In my opinion it was a masterpiece.

Have you read any of his books? Chirimoya, Tordok?

LDG.

Tordok · #26 11-12-2005, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lesley D

C. Fuentes is no doubt a talented author but I just can't get a handle on his style. Maybe in years to come.

We definitely have similar taste in contemporary Spanish literature. I am not surprised although I definitely bend towards sentimentalismo in my preferences. I was going to mention Camilo José Cela but I didn't because I do have one book of his La colmena but I have not read it yet although I know this author is among the elites in Iberian literature.

Since we are speaking of greats again I wanted to mention José Saramago. He is Portuguese but all is novels have been translated to Spanish. In general I enjoy his work. One book that I thought was excellent was Ensayo sobre la ceguera. In my opinion it was a masterpiece.

Have you read any of his books? Chirimoya, Tordok?

LDG.

I have read only parts of "..la Ceguera", my wife favors Saramago and she has read more than one of his books. I feel like he deserves a more serious reader than me, since I seem to always be in a hurry, even with my reading.
I like his use of mega-metaphors and he has a reputation of being a very humane author, full of creativity. I know that I'll eventually read his work.

- Tordok

Chirimoya · #27 11-12-2005, 03:26 PM

Lesley, both the authors you mention are winners of the Nobel Prize for literature. I haven't read either of them but I'll get around to reading Saramago (at least) at some point. Not one for mincing his words, judging by some of the statements he makes about politics and religion.

MaineGirl · #28 11-12-2005, 03:40 PM

Pablo Neruda is one of my favorite poets and I teach a unit on poetry that features him and his odes.

Rosario Ferre is one of the first authors I've read in Spanish and I really enjoy her style.

I also like Paolo Coelho because I have found he is easy for a new Spanish reader to understand.

I have read "the Buried Mirror" in English and it helped me pass a major exam for my profession. I ordered the video series for my students and they all fell asleep. Narrated by him.

Marianopolita · #29 01-02-2006, 11:38 PM

I was hoping to read this book before the year came to a close simply because I wanted to read it the same year it was published since it was one of the most popular Spanish novels of 2005. Although I have so many others still to read last week I decided to read El Zahir by Paulo Coelho.

First of all I had no idea what the book was about except for the small details given in the editorial summary, which was enough to spark my interest. Secondly, I decided I would not highlight anything as I read through the book, which I normally do if I come across an intriguing paragraph, a thought provoking phrase etc. Well, that lasted until page 80 and then the highlighting began as this interesting story began to unfold.

I have not read many novels by this author (only four) however, I think I can safely conclude that one either likes a particular novel by P.Coelho or not. There's seems to be no middle of the road. This book will definitely be well critiqued by its readers since Paulo C attempts to express via literature the complexity of love, relationships, men, women, etc. through an intriguing mystery of a man whose wife disappears and who can no longer move forward until he finds out 'why'. Although the protagonist does get into a relationship with another woman, El Zahir is always on his mind. As I read the novel I thought this could be a testimony of the author's personal experience.

El Zahir is a novel with simple but yet masterful prose and full of deep underlying messages to keep the reader intrigued by the protagonist's journey of his inner soul. However, the most intriguing part of the book is definitely the first half IMO and I felt a decrease in the intensity of the plot half way through. What kept my interest to finish was Paulo Coelho's prose and writing style. He's definitely creative and the ending was worth it. However, after reading El Zahir my favorite two books by this author still are Once minutos which I read exactly two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed and Veronika decide morir.

-PD. I am still waiting patiently to acquire Jaime Bayly's new book which will be released at the end of this month.

LDG.

macocael · #30 02-16-2006, 09:50 AM

I have just read through this wonderfully informative list and I cannot wait to get my hands on some of these titles. I have read several of the more famous authors in translation, Cela, Borges, Fuentes et al., and believe it or not they read quite well in English, though I dont know whether I can form an opinion of their work on that basis! I happen to like Fuentes' essays very much, so now I am curious to see what his prose is like in Spanish. Borges, I agree, is a bit too heavy on the mental games, but in my youth I had a pronounced taste for metaphysical puzzlers.

I know that the emphasis on this thread is on contemporary literature, but I was wondering if anyone had anything to say about some of the classics as well? I am about to start "Los de Abajo" and I just finished struggling through, but enjoying Carpentier's first novel, Ecue Yamba O, which he himself renounced, but is in fact a very very interesting book for its stylistic experiments (a bit of surrealism, and lots of colloquialisms, etc). When I was an academic, my specialty was the 19th century novel -- I happen to love those big ambitious novels of social realism (Balzac, Dickens, Zola) where all these different narrative threads are pulled together in a magisterial manner -- are there any examples of this in Spanish literature?

There also appears to be a decided taste for novels as compared with poetry, but Spanish poetry is just sublime! Neruda has been mentioned, but let us go back a bit in time and acknowledge the wonderful accomplishment of Antonio Machado!

Just as a sidebar -- I see that Saramago,a Portuguese writer, was mentioned. I dont know if any of you have ever read any of Jorge Amado's work -- his later stuff, which I like less, is well known, but his first novel, Terra sem Fim, available in English as The Violent Land, is actually a very very good novel about the cocoa plantations. It is not Modernist in its style, reads more like a 19th century realist novel.