Torquemada [Hardcover]

Benito Perez Galdos (Author), Frances M. Lopez-Morillas (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Perez Galdos (1843-1920) has been hailed as a Spanish Balzac or Dickens. In this tetralogy (published in one volume), the novelist satirizes the increasing materialism of his time. Torquemada "the Worse," a miser and parvenu whose late marriage into an impoverished noble family creates intolerable conflict between his native character and his social pretensions, is materialism personified. Given over to "the fury of losing, the sadness of making only a little, the delirium of making a killing," Francisco de Torquemada is as cruelly usurious in 19th-century Madrid as another Torquemada was infamously inquisitorial four centuries earlier. The ironic use of cliches in dialogue adds flavor to these novels. A worthwhile addition to the range of Continental literature available in translation. L.M. Lewis, Social Science Dept., Eastern Kentucky Univ., Richmond
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish (translation)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 569 pages
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr (April 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231062281
• ISBN-13: 978-0231062282
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.8 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,817,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Torquemada as a character is unsurpassed. What a rascal!, October 24, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Torquemada (Hardcover)

As an English major my background in Spanish literature was unfortunately limited. I have begun a personal project to fill in some of these gaps and it is proving to be a wonderful experience that has certainly been rewarding thus far. "Torquemada" by Benito Perez Galdos offers one of the truly great characters of literature in my opinion. He is nothing short of a rascal and an outrage, but you will love him and the book and find it very difficult to put the book down once you start reading. The cultural mosaic of Madrid and Spanish bourgeois society for better and for worse is brought clearly to the reader. Galdos is certainly a writer that deserves more attention in North America and the international literary community. He is truly one of the greatest on the stage of world literature and accomplished writing.