Customer Reviews

El Lazarillo de Tormes (Clasicos de la literatura series) (Spanish Edition)

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Nobody knows for sure who wrote "Lazarillo de Tormes," but the book was a great success when it was published in Spain in 1554, and its appeal is undiminished by time. The story takes the form of a fictional autobiography of a street boy's "apprenticeship" to various cruel and treacherous masters: a blind beggar, a miserly priest, a bankrupt "gentleman." Told in a voice that presages Huck Finn, Lazarillo's hilarious tale is a wickedly artful satire of relentless venality, pretense, and brazen self-seeking. Our picaresque "hero" ultimately marries a priest's mistress and becomes a town-crier (walking condemned criminals to their executions). "Don Quixote" is often called the first novel, but one of its inspirations was "Lazarillo de Tormes" - which has the virtue of being nearly as slender as Cervantes' epic is long: just 56 pages in a Penguin Classic paperback that is (like all other trade editions of this irresistible book) sadly out of print.

Esta novela es un ejemplo perfecto de la tradicion de la novela picaresca. Lazarillo es un huerfano que trata de servir diferentes amos, pero todos son coruptos y no le tratan bien. Muestra una critica fuerte de la sociedad espanola durante el siglo 16. Toma lugar en Espana por supuesto, y en la ciudad de Toledo tambien. Es cerca de Madrid y es una ciudad hermosa pero aqui muestra la corrupcion de la sociedad. Esta novela es muy importante en la historia de literatura de Espana y si quieres entender la historia de Espana, esta novela es necesario. This novel is a perfect example of the picaresque tradition in literature. Lazarillo is an orphan who tries to serves his masters, but they are corrupt and don't treat him very well. It shows a strong criticism of spanish society in the 16th century. It takes place in Spain of course, and also more specifically, in the city of Toledo. It is close to Madrid and is a beautiful city but here it shows the corruption of society. This novel is very important in the history of literature in Spain, and if you want to understand the history of Spain, this novel is neccesary.

When i first started reading Lazarillo de Tormes on my own, i immediately was amazed with how quick the language and style of the novel caught onto me. I am in a Spanish 3 class, and while reading this, it made me wonder why we NEVER read spanish literature like this! We always read very pointless short stories that are poorly written, and just have a poor cheap plot in general. So it was very refreshing to read a real piece of Spanish literature for the first time in my life. I believe Lazarillo will have a special place in my bookshelf just like that of Don Quixote and other famous works of world literature. If you like Huckleberry Finn, and a story that is full of brutality yet wit and satire, this novel will give u that and more! I didn't realize until now that this is one of the first picturesque novels of Spain, and the story itself became a canvas for other contemporary characters and novels that somewhat has similar characeristics to Lazarillo. Any determined intermediate level Spanish student could read this novel just fine, you may have to have your Spanish dictionary beside you, but all in all it's not an extremely difficult or tedious novel to read in its native language. I highly recommend this book! I believe that Lazarillo de Tormes is highly underrated, and should get just as much hype, respect, and attention as Don Quixote.

As a Spanish student, I used to get scared off ot the "old stuff." You know, the stuff you may not be interested in but are forced to read in college, anyways. This book changed it all for me ,though. You don't often think of Neo-classic literature as "laugh-out-loud-funny," but that's what I found myself doing while reading Lazarillo. If you're one of the rare people who really got the physical comedy of Don Quixote while still appreciating the pathos, please please read try this book, too!

Nobody knows for sure who wrote this early novel. But we should be glad he did. This book takes the form of an autobiographical tale, where Lazaro de Tormes tells his misadventures. He is a street-boy, an orphan in constant risk of starvation in a poor Spain, where the richess of the New World never trickled down to the poor inhabitants not connected to the Conquest.

Lazarillo, then, makes a living -if you can call that to make a living- as servant to different miserable characters who exploit and abuse him. But he is anything but a fool. Lazaro is always on the move to cheat and deceive his masters, if only to be able to put something into his stomach and avoid starvation. His adventures are not nice, but brutal. Be it with a blind master, or an avaricious and poor priest, Lazaro is always having funny and hysterical adventures. The best thing about the book is Lazaro's attitude: deep inside, the guy is a winner, not a loser, and he is willing to do anything to go up in life, as far as he can, which is not much: he ends up marrying a priest's mistress (check the mock at the Church) and landing a job which required him to accompany prisoners to their execution (not the nicest of jobs, but at least he got a salary). The adventures are hilarious, the character unforgettable by any means. Besides, you can get a good glimpse at the state of Spanish society at the time, but never forget that, even in rich societies, miserable people abound, and the Lazarillos are still out there, in the streets, living day by day, having adventures not funny at all. Good literature with a great social landscape.

Had to read this book for class. It was not as bad as some other old Spanish texts from this period. An interesting and often funny look at the simple life of a picaro and the tricks of the trade. The reader follows Lazarillo from his childhood as the son of a thief and his simple struggle to survive and make his life moderately bearable. The author is very critical of his contemporary Spanish society, and especially the church (this book was banned by the Inquisition). Fear not students, this book is worth the read.