Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
Carmen Laforet (1921-2004) had a profound impact on Spanish literature. Her debut novel, Nada, was awarded the first Premio Nadal in 1944. She is also wrote a collection of short stories and five other novels, including Al doblar la esquina (Around the Block) and La mujer nueva (The New Woman), which won Spain’s National Prize for Literature in 1955.Edith Grossman is the distinguished translator of works by many other Spanish and Latin American writers, including Miguel de Cervantes, Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Álvaro Mutis. She is the recipient of two Translation of the Year awards from the American Literary Translators Association, and the 2006 PEN Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation. She lives in New York City.
Mario Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America’s preeminent fiction writers and essayists. His novels include The Feast of the Goat, The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto, and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter.
From the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis
Mientras vive con estrecheces en una casa misteriosa de la calle de Aribau, la joven Andrea conoce a un grupo de estudiantes ricos, que representan un contrapunto atractivo para la miseria de su vida cotidiana. Con sus nuevas experiencias, la inocente Andrea va averiguando poco a poco la verdad inquietante de las personas que la rodean. Entre la crisis existencial y el umbral de la madurez, Andrea emergerá de su apasionado viaje interior más sabia, más fuerte y llena de esperanza para el futuro.
Con su profunda penetración sobre la condición humana, la clásica novela de Carmen Laforet, inspirada en su propia vida, merece ocupar su lugar como una de las mejores novelas europeas del siglo XX.
"Profundamente conmovedor y fascinante….una de las grandes clásicas de la literatura europea contemporánea." — Carlos Ruiz Zafon, autor del bestseller La sombra del viento
"Un trabajo de genio [que recuerda] a Sartre y Camus a la vez más moderno y más vibrante." — Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Una oscura obra de ficción hermosamente austere…Su inquietante relación con el clima politico y las actitudes sociales de la actualidad es dificíl de ignorar." — San Fancisco Chronicle
"El espíritu de astuta resistencia que expresa la novela de Laforet…no ha perdido para nada su poder de persuasion." — The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times - Fernanda Eberstadt
Laforet died in 2004, having published five more novels and a book of short stories. The seedy, lugubrious Barcelona she evoked in Nada is now vanished, given way to a chic metropolis famed for its avant-garde chefs and bijou bars. But the spirit of sly resistance that Laforet s novel expresses, its heroine s determination to escape provincial poverty and to immerse herself in lights, noises, the entire tide of life, has lost none of its power of persuasion.
Editorials
Fernanda Eberstadt
Laforet died in 2004, having published five more novels and a book of short stories. The seedy, lugubrious Barcelona she evoked in “Nada” is now vanished, given way to a chic metropolis famed for its avant-garde chefs and bijou bars. But the spirit of sly resistance that Laforet’s novel expresses, its heroine’s determination to escape provincial poverty and to immerse herself in “lights, noises, the entire tide of life,” has lost none of its power of persuasion.— The New York Times
Jonathan Yardley
That this complex, mature and wise novel was written by someone in her early 20s is extraordinary. The success it enjoyed seems to have weighed rather heavily on Laforet, whose subsequent five novels generally are regarded as less accomplished. But after six decades, this first novel has lost none of its power and originality, and we are fortunate to have it in this fine translation.— The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
Available in English for the first time in the U.S., Laforet's moody and sepulchral debut novel, a 1945 Spanish cult classic, has been given new life by acclaimed translator Grossman. The story follows 18-year-old Andrea as she spends a year with crazy relatives in a squalid, ramshackle townhouse on Calle de Aribau in post-civil war Barcelona. Although Andrea is young, she isn't adventurous or carefree like others her age, and much of the action takes place within her extended family's dank flat or along the melancholic city streets immediately surrounding it. But the narrative is no less interesting because of this, as it leaves plenty of room for the larger-than-life characters that occupy the house to fully flex their gross vitality and charming decrepitude. The violent Uncle Juan and his manic wife, Aunt Gloria; the crusty, devilish, magnetic violinist, Uncle Román; insanely embittered Aunt Angustias; and an oblivious, antiquated grandmother all offer up their own chaotic storylines, while perfectly balancing Andrea's stoic, ruminative personality. To compliment their frenetic vignettes, Andrea's narration is gorgeously expressive, rippling with emotion and meaning. U.S.-bound fans of European lit will welcome this Spanish gothic to the States with open arms and a half-exasperated, "What took you so long?" (Feb.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information