Lazarillo de Tormes and The Swindler: Two Spanish Picaresque Novels (Penguin Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Anonymous (Author), Michael Alpert (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: August 26, 2003

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645) was a distinguished and prolific writer of prose and poetry but chose a political career. Towards the end of his life he was imprisoned in a monastery as a result of his writing. The Author of Lazarillo de Tormes, who published the novel anonymously, is thought to come from sixteenth-century Erasmian or New Christian circles. Michael Alpert, Professor Emeritus of Modern and Contemporary History of Spain at the University of Westminster, has published several books and articles on Spanish history.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics; Revised edition (August 26, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140449000
• ISBN-13: 978-0140449006
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > European

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great examples of an old literary tradition, February 7, 2006

By 

Whitt Patrick Pond "Whitt" (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lazarillo de Tormes and The Swindler: Two Spanish Picaresque Novels (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lazarillo de Tormes, August 20, 2006

By 

Fitzgerald Fan (Royal Oak, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Lazarillo de Tormes and The Swindler: Two Spanish Picaresque Novels (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Picaro, October 5, 2009

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Lazarillo de Tormes and The Swindler: Two Spanish Picaresque Novels (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

These two picaro novels are one of the earliest examples of a novel written in confessional form. Lazarillo de Tormes tells of a poor boy's rise to success, while The Swindler details the fall into a life of crime. Both are well-translated, fast reads that keep the reader amused and entertained even while learning of the terrible hardships facing someone at the bottom of society in the 16th century.