LA Colmena (Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Camilo Jose Cela (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1985

The critically acclaimed novel by the Spanish Nobel laureate offers a portrait of Madrid and its colorful inhabitants as they struggle to survive in the era between the two World Wars. Reprint.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Publicada en Buenos Aires a causa de la censura, LA COLMENA irrumpio en 1951 en la anodina escena literaria espanola de la epoca, introduciendo en ella una decidida corriente de critica y renovacion. Como el propio CAMILO JOSe CELA afirma en una nota a la primera edicion, esta novela ""no es otra cosa que [] un trozo de vida narrado paso a paso, sin reticencias, sin extranas tragedias, sin caridad, como la vida discurre"". Ambientada en Madrid en unos pocos dias del mes de diciembre de 1943, la obra refleja la realidad intrahistorica de aquellos dias de incertidumbre de la posguerra a traves de unos personajes inmersos en una insignificancia que ­como afirma GONZALO SOBEJANO en el prologo al volumen­, llevada al extremo de la revelacion, da lugar a uno de los efectos de extranamiento mas poderosos de la novela. Otras obras de C. J. Cela en esta coleccion: ""San Camilo 1936"" (L 5064). --Los editores --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: Spanish --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Lectorum Pubns Inc (J); 43 edition (June 1985)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 8427908911
• ISBN-13: 978-8427908918
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,245,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, March 29, 2000

By 

Gustavo Gomez (Caracas, Venezuela) - See all my reviews

This review is from: La colmena (Clasicos Castalia) (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

Those who try to write the names of the characters down or even try to center the novel in any particular place completely miss the point of this novel. This is a novel about a community, a wolrd, where names and places are irrelevant. The only relevant thing is the city, Madrid, and the struggle of the people we read about in this novel. A wonderful masterpiece, a fast-paced cinema-like novel that beautifully portrays the suffering during the years of Franco's regime

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars La Biblia de la posguerra, January 23, 2001

By 

Alex Lukic "cool_book_man" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: La colmena (Paperback)

With his characteristic ironic humor Mr. Cela centers "La Colmena" in the most dramatic period of Spain's 20th century history: the postwar. The characters are exquisitely molded into poor wretches, intransigent manipulators, neurotic business owners, garrulous salesmen, diffident bourgeois and aloof poets. The synergy is powerful because of its contrasts: each a survivor of the war and condemned to lead an egregious life. However, Cela's main theme is not just survival or improvisation, but imagination. The cafe dwellers are mostly penniless intellectuals hoping to trade a labored sonnet for a cup of coffee; or forlorn creatures longing for lost (and never-known) ones. An admiral of modern Spanish literature, Cela is a nobel prize laureate.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A book full of destinies, September 16, 1998

By 

Per Jorgen Walstroem - See all my reviews

This review is from: LA Colmena (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

an interesting book about people and their efforts to survive in Madrid during the second world war. The heart of the story is Dona Rosa's cafe, where all different kinds of people meet, laugh, argue, cry and generally having a hard time. It is interesting to read about all the different destinies in this difficult world, but the problem was that there were too many people, I lost track after a while. An advice to other readers is to write down the names of all characters and a short personal description. After a while, you will realize that they all are connected in one way or another.