The Swindler and Lazarillo de Tormes
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Product Description
Product Description
The unlikely heroes of the Spanish picaresque novels make their way - by whatever means they can - through a colourful and seamy underworld populated by unsavoury beggars, corrupt priests, eccentrics, whores and criminals. Both Lazarillo de Tormesand Pablos the swindler are determined to attain the trappings of the gentleman, but have little time for the gentlemanly ideals of religion, justice, honour and nobility.
About the Author
Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645), author of The Swindler, was a prolific writer of poetry and prose and closely involved in Spanish and Italian politics. After killing an opponent in a duel in 1611, he moved to Italy where he spent some time as a prison governer, and some time imprisoned in a monastery as a result of his writings. The authorship of Lazarillo is unknown.
Michael Alpert is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wesminster and has published widely on Spanish history.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
It is a volume containing two very old classic Spanish texts, which are quite enjoyable and funny. They could be read by everybody.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I loved this book. It was written in 1554 and in this accessible translation it starts off like an episode of Shameless. It seems there has always been an underclass, subversively flouting the normal rules of society. It is an episodic tale of a boy's efforts to survive in a terrifyingly inhospitable world. He suffers hunger, cruelty and violence and survives on his wits. This makes a great starting point for an exploration of Spanish literature and is certainly not hard work, which you might guess it would be.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Great examples of an old literary tradition
7 Feb 2006
Format: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.
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
Lazarillo de Tormes
21 Aug 2006
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
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
Picaro
5 Oct 2009
Format: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.
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