Two Spanish Picaresque Novels (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

by Francisco de Quevedo (Author), Michael Alpert (Introduction, Translator) "WELL, first of all Your Grace should know that my name is Lazaro de Tormes, son of Tome Gonzales and Antona Perez, who lived in..." (more)
Key Phrases: hundred reals, Don Diego, Don Alonso, Don Felipe (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (April 30, 1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140442111
• ISBN-13: 978-0140442113
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #910,259 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars At the roots of the Picaresque., April 15, 2007

By	C. Gilbert "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In the last few years I've read so many novels that professed to be modern Picaresque novels, that I thought that it was time to read the original Picaresco works from which they draw reference.

Lazarillo de Tormes, published anonymously in 1554, is generally acknowledged as the first example of the genre. The picaro of Lazarillo is not a career criminal, but instead a poor boy whose mother cannot feed him after his father dies. She entrusts him to the care of a blind beggar, and in his hands he learns hardship, cynicism and the sting of hunger.

The hallmark of the Picaresco is that the picaro at some point chooses the criminal indolent life and becomes the cynical tough who is able to observe the hypocricies of his daily world from outside the margins of respectability. While both of the books mine this theme, Lazarillo is in some respects more interesting since his "choice" is less clear. He is clearly motivated by poverty and hunger. Even though flawed, the satire is sharper as his pathos is deeper.

It is interesting to see how the genre evolves with The Swindler, written in 1608 by Francisco de Quevedo. The picaro in The Swindler, Pablos, is born bad. His father is a criminal barber and his mother is a witch. Every chance that he has to get money, he loses it or spends it and has to flee to a new situation with a new challenge. As with Lazaro, there is the strong sense that even if Pablo wanted to go straight, fate would be against him. Unlike Lazaro, however, Pablo has a real glee in wrong-doing that becomes nearly as much part of the point as the social satire.

These are short novels, and interesting in their own right. Must-reads for anyone interested in the Picaresque novel. Should-reads for students of Spanish literature.

4.0 out of 5 stars Two Spanish Picaresque Novels, May 19, 2009

By	Victoria S. Franks - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book is in good conditions, but the pages are too yellow and have many underlines marks.