Travels on foot through the Spanish countryside

Journey To The Alcarria

Literature & Fiction

Cela, Camilo José

History & Criticism

University of Wisconsin Press

In this extraordinary novel of life in Madrid after the Spanish Civil War, Camilo Jose Cela conveys with startling immediacy not only the brutality but also the vitality of life in the city. His style—economical but vivid—carries the reader through a series of vignettes, following Cela’s many characters through the streets and tenements and brothels and, above all, the cafés of the great beehive—la colmena—of Madrid. Both a social document of its time and place and a moving tale of human suffering—and human triumph--under a totalitarian regime, The Hive is “a brilliant and original work” (Gerald Brenan, The New York Times Book Review).

The Hive: A Novel

Literary

Farrar. Straus and Giroux

At the end of the Spanish Civil War, Tanis Gamuzo sets out to avenge the death of his brother, who was abducted and killed during the war, in a work set in a backward rural community, by the 1989 Nobel Prize winner.

Mazurka for Two Dead Men: A Novel

New Directions

Mazurka for Two Dead Men

New Directions Publishing

Awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize for Literature, Cela, now well on in his eighties, is yet as crafty and craftful as ever. Boxwood, which can perhaps best be described as a non-novel, has none of the structural signposts readers generally expect: there is no exposition, no crux, no denouement. Instead we have a mix of folklore, tradition, superstition, autobiographical snatches, cooking directions, a litany of nautical disasters on the coast of Deathships from afar with cargoes of oranges, typewriters, iron ore, oil, spiceselements of nature both cruel and beautiful, of man both saint and sinner, whales, witches, mermaids, ghosts, the exquisite, the crass all against the background of Cela's birthplace, Galicia.

Boxwood: Novel

Haugaard, Patricia

The extraordinary experimental final novel by the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Boxwood might perhaps be best described as a kind of whirlwind: a vortex of marvelous writing about folklore, traditions, superstitions, cooking, nautical disasters on the Coast of Death (ships from afar spilling cargoes of oranges, typewriters, iron ore, oil, spices), elements of nature both cruel and beautiful, whales, priests, witches, ghosts--sprinkled with various autobiographies-- everything exquisite and crass in Cela's native home, Galicia, Spain. If the Holy Ghost were a bat instead of a dove our religion would not be the one true faith and there would be fewer Catholics, and if he were a magpie or a jackdaw there would be none at all, the devil appears in the guise of a billy goat whose rump you kiss as a mark of homage and respect, the Holy Ghost could have been a swallow, but not a cormorant, the form taken by the Holy Ghost is well thought out, you immediately see the hand of God in it, Father Xerardino, the priest of San Xurxo, supposes the form might also have been a butterfly in all the colors of the spectrum.... (from Boxwood)

Boxwood

Contemporary

A New York Times Best Book of the Year
Nobel Prize Laureate Mazurka for Two Dead Men, the culmination of Camilo José Cela‘s literary art, opens in 1936 at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War: Lionheart Gamuzo is savagely murdered. In 1939, as the war ends, his brother avenges his death. For both deaths, the blind accordion player Gaudencio plays the same mazurka. Set in backward rural Galicia, Cela’s excellent novel portrays a reign of fools, and works like contrapuntal music, its themes calling and responding, alternately brutal, melancholy, funny, lyrical, and coarse.

United States

Widely regarded as one of the best works by the winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize for Literature, San Camilo, 1936 appears here for the first time in English translation. One of Spain’s most popular writers, Camilo José Cela is recognized for his experiments with language and with difficult subject matter. In San Camilo, 1936, first published in 1969, these concerns converge in a fascinating narrative that is as challenging as it is rewarding, as troubling as it is compelling.A story of history as it happens, by turns confusing and startingly clear, echoing with news and rumors, defined by grand gestures and intimate pauses, the novel leads the reader into the ordinary life of extraordinary times. Beginning on the eve of the Spanish Civil War, San Camilo, 1936 follows a twenty-year-old student’s attempts to sort out his private affairs (sex, money, career) in the midst of the turmoil overtaking his country. In vivid and richly textured prose that distinguishes Cela’s work, the emotional reality of civil war takes on a vibrant immediacy that is humorous, tender, and ultimately transforming as a young man tries to come to terms with the historical moment he inhabits—and hopes to survive. Readers new to Cela will find in this novel ample reason for the author’s growing reputation among audiences worldwide.

San Camilo, 1936: The Eve, Feast, and Octave of St. Camillus of the Year 1936 in Madrid

Duke University Press Books

Widely regarded as one of the best works by the winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize for Literature, San Camilo, 1936 appears here for the first time in English translation. One of Spain’s most popular writers, Camilo José Cela is recognized for his experiments with language and with difficult subject matter. In San Camilo, 1936, first published in 1969, these concerns converge in a fascinating narrative that is as challenging as it is rewarding, as troubling as it is compelling. A story of history as it happens, by turns confusing and startingly clear, echoing with news and rumors, defined by grand gestures and intimate pauses, the novel leads the reader into the ordinary life of extraordinary times. Beginning on the eve of the Spanish Civil War, San Camilo, 1936 follows a twenty-year-old student’s attempts to sort out his private affairs (sex, money, career) in the midst of the turmoil overtaking his country. In vivid and richly textured prose that distinguishes Cela’s work, the emotional reality of civil war takes on a vibrant immediacy that is humorous, tender, and ultimately transforming as a young man tries to come to terms with the historical moment he inhabits—and hopes to survive. Readers new to Cela will find in this novel ample reason for the author’s growing reputation among audiences worldwide.

Awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize for Literature, Camilo José Cela has long been recognized as one of the preeminent Spanish writers of the twentieth century. Journey to the Alcarria is the best known of his vagabundajes, Cela’s term for his books of travels, sketchbooks of regions or provinces. The Alcarria is a territory in New Castile, northeast of Madrid, surrounding most of the Guadalajara province. The region is high, rocky, and dry, and is famous for its honey. Cela himself is the traveler,” an urban intellectual wandering from village to village, through farms and along country roads, in search of the Spanish character. Cela relishes his encounters with the simple, honest people of the Spanish countrysidethe blushing maid in the tavern, the small-town shopkeeper with airs of grandeur lonely for companionship, the old peasant with his donkey who freely shares his bread and blanket with the stranger. These vignettes are narrated in a fresh, clear prose that is wonderfully evocative. As the New York Times wrote, Cela is an outspoken observer of human life who built his reputation on portraying what he observed in a direct colloquial style.”

Journey to the Alcarria: Travels Through the Spanish Countryside (Winner of the Nobel Prize)

Travel

Europe

Atlantic Monthly Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cela, Camilo José. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Cela, Camilo José

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cela, Camilo José. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Journey To The Alcarria

The Hive: A Novel

Mazurka for Two Dead Men: A Novel

Mazurka for Two Dead Men

Boxwood: Novel

Boxwood

Mazurka for Two Dead Men

San Camilo, 1936: The Eve, Feast, and Octave of St. Camillus of the Year 1936 in Madrid

San Camilo, 1936: The Eve, Feast, and Octave of St. Camillus of the Year 1936 in Madrid

Journey to the Alcarria: Travels Through the Spanish Countryside (Winner of the Nobel Prize)