Anyone read one of the classics in Spanish?

[MrMark]

You know the type - Fortunata y Jacinta or 100 years of solitude.The type of book (like something by Hardy, Bronte or Dickens) that you're led to believe you should read, yet suspect you won't enjoy it. And if you did read something in this category, was it in Spanish or a translated version?

[eldeano]

I've read Cien años and it didn't rock my boat. I enjoyed Don Quijote very much. Just reading El guardián entre el centeno (Catcher In The Rye) and it's good. All 3 in Spanish.

[Ben]

I managed Chronicle of a Death Foretold in Spanish a few years back and really enjoyed that, as well as a couple of other GGM shorties that I forget the name of... un Naufrago perhaps... but Love in a Time of Cholera defeated me in English, let alone Spanish...

Also read The Disinherited (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Disinherited-Benito-Perez-Galdos/dp/1861591349/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200248626&sr=1-16) by Perez Galdos and enjoyed that... but it was in English I'm afraid....

[Steve W]

I'm half way through El Árbol de la Ciencia by Pío Baroja. A bit boring, and I'm really only reading it for the grammar. I read Catcher in the Rye as well earlier this year, which was fine, but a friend warned me off translated works if I was reading to learn.

[richardksa]

It depends........ With translated works from your own culture you don't have the problem of trying to understand why so and so is doing what he is. I buy translated Agatha Christies and P G Wodehouses from the retiro book market on Sundays. (For 1 or 2 euros each!) I find they are fine for new vocab.

[Culebronchris]

It depends........ With translated works from your own culture you don't have the problem of trying to understand why so and so is doing what he is. I buy translated Agatha Christies and P G Wodehouses from the retiro book market on Sundays. (For 1 or 2 euros each!) I find they are fine for new vocab.

I absolutely agree. English language books in Spanish are dead easy - they flow in an English way and they are quite different to novels written in Castilian. And the Wodehouse translations are a hoot.

I was surprised how easy Cien Años was in Spanish, I expected it to be hard work and it wasn't at all. I tried a children's version of one of the Perez Galdos books and it was tedious enough and outdated enough to put me off trying the real thing but I read my way through lots of the children's shelves of the local library and I enjoyed lots of them and the simplification worked for me.

[Juanjo]

I absolutely agree. English language books in Spanish are dead easy - they flow in an English way and they are quite different to novels written in Castilian. And the Wodehouse translations are hoot.

I was surprised how easy Cien Años was in Spanish, I expected it to be hard work and it wasn't at all. I tried a children's version of one of the Perez Galdos books and it was tedious enough and outdated enough to put me off trying the real thing but I read my way through lots of the children's shelves of the local library and I enjoyed lots of them and the simplification worked for me.

As with most languages, ease of reading depends on the quality of the writing and the reader's familiarity with both the culture of the target country and the style of language in use at the time of writing.

Take some examples in English and castellano. I suggest that English versions of 17C-19C English authors are as difficult for non-native English readers (for some natives as well!) as non-Spanish readers of "La edad de oro" writers. [I had to study Góngora!:o]

But when you get to more modern writers it becomes a litle easier because the cultural environment is more recognisable. The task is also eased by more familiar writing styles.

Probably some 50% of my reading is devoted to modern Spanish works these days- non-fiction for my research, fiction for leisure; I usually find that when reading the same book in both translation and original that the original is by far more revealing because it avoids the translator's necessarily nuanced interpretations.

Also the style aids or hinders my enjoyment. For example, the style of Arturo Barea's trilogy of la Guerra Civil is annoyingly primitive. That of Gabriel Garcia Márquez is outstanding: I have just reread Gabo´s "Cien Años"and his biography: and I frequently return to his "Crónica de una muerte anunciada" purely for the pleasure of enjoying his style and use of language. Pérez-Reverte is another such author whose style and use of language is outstanding, e.g. La Reina del Sur" and others,

So my advice for those struggling to read castellano in the original is to stick to a few good authors, read as many of their books as you can,so you get into their style of writing and use of language- it will not only improve your vocabulary and grammar, but also your enjoyment.

Juanjo

[eldeano]

So my advice for those struggling to read castellano in the original is to stick to a few good authors, read as many of their books as you can,so you get into their style of writing and use of language- it will not only improve your vocabulary and grammar, but also your enjoyment.

Agreed. The style/ability of the traductor(a) must also make a difference. I think that the same person has been used on all HP books - which must help for consistency.

[José Miguel]

Classics on Madrid in the 19th century are:
* The trilogy entitled La lucha por la vida (The fight for life) by Pio Baroja. Volume 1: La Busca (Going and fetching?). Volume 2: Mala hierba (Weed). Volume 3: Aurora roja (Red dawn).
* Madridian novels by Pérez Galdós: Fortunata y Jacinta, Las novelas de Torquemada (The novels on Torquemada) and Miau (Miaow).
* La Horda (The Horde) by Blasco Ibáñez.

[tad]

Agreed. The style/ability of the traductor(a) must also make a difference. I think that the same person has been used on all HP books - which must help for consistency.

According to Wicki

HP traductores:
Alicia Dellepiane Rawson (I)
Nieves Martín Azofra (II-IV)
Adolpho Muñoz Garcia (II-IV)
Gemma Rovira Ortega (V-VI)

...and this is a customer comment for ...y la piedra filosofal. (from Amazon)

Nunca se deberia traducir palabras como "embarrased" a "embarazado". No tiene sentido. Le quita la dicha a uno de leer este libro. Lo compre para leereselo a mi hijo pequeno y tengo que siempre cambiarle las palabras "al vuelo" para que las oraciones tengan sentido. Una lastima que una obra tan buena se feamente desmejorada por la pesima traduccion

[eldeano]

According to Wicki

HP traductores:
Alicia Dellepiane Rawson (I)
Nieves Martín Azofra (II-IV)
Adolpho Muñoz Garcia (II-IV)
Gemma Rovira Ortega (V-VI)

I only said I thought.

[tad]

No I meant Wills 'Wicki' Wilkinson (known for his innovative wickerwork) that I met up the pub one night. Great fan of Spanish HP stories too.:p

Regarding classics, my Spanish is nowhere good enough to really understand (or prob will ever be) anything written on a 'higher level' so I'm definately sticking to straightforward stories. I've only read two Dickens novels (Great Expectations is still one of my favourite books) but one of the pleasures of his stories is the language and style he uses: I find it hard to believe that I would ever get it in Spanish or indeed that any translator would get all the nuances anyway. I just don't think it could work as well, in another language.

[Palmerito]

...uh, that $3.99 Harlequin Romance paperback "Bianca: Amor mediterraneo" which I hid under my jacket after I left Border's Books today... that doesn't qualify as a classic, I suppose. ;D

But it sure is easy to read at my level of Spanish. It will probably be a few years until I can tackle Don Quijote or anything by Marquez.

[Culebronchris]

There's lots of mistranslation isn't there? Like the embarrassed, pregnant example above.

I read the Gerald Brenan "La Faz de España" on Ben's recommendation and the copy I got was in Spanish. I noticed lots of mistranslation as I was reading it - like suburbios for suburbs - and my Spanish is rubbish It must be quite painful for native speakers.

[Gudes]

"Cien años de soledad" is the best book I´ve ever read. And since we are in the business of recommending books and to keep it short:
Anthony Trollop in English and
Juan Rulfo´s "Pedro Páramo" in Spanish.