#De vanger in het graan wikipedia skin#
#De vanger in het graan wikipedia full#

I read a translation by J M Cohen (in consultation with Arturo Barea) and so I might have missed something of those patterns of speech.

Much of the book consists of dialogue and so the reader also has to become familiar with the patterns of speech and the cultural background of the characters. It is the overall impression that left it's mark on me.

#De vanger in het graan wikipedia full#

With so many characters having their brief moment of fame as it were by appearing in the vignettes it is difficult to keep track of them all, but as we are not getting the full story in many instances this does not seem to matter. However it is that 'what is going on' that serves to provide an almost historical document of life at that moment in time in Madrid. The short interludes gives the book it's unquestionable dynamism and the impression of a city teeming with life with the reader peeping into just a small fraction of what is going on. The novel was published in Spain in 1951 and translated into English in 1953 and has been celebrated for its stylistic innovations and its sometimes candid description of life in a catholic country (although religion does not play a major part in the majority of the stories). There are instances of kindness and even love in evidence, but when life for many of the people is a struggle to get enough food to eat then the streets of Madrid in winter can be cold and lonely. The girls and women struggle in a world dominated by men, and by the time the book is into its stride much of the content is stories of girls forced into one kind of prostitution or another. The impressionistic writing in chapter one continues through the book although some of the stories around the characters develop further. It is estimated that 10% of the customers are suffering from tuberculosis. It is a large cafe with a team of waiters, a manager, a shoeshine boy and a cigarette boy, but many of the customers are poor and spend their days in the cafe counting their pesetas. Then she snaps out of it, begins to walk up and down again, and smiles at the customers, whom at heart she loaths, showing her blackened little teeth encased in filth. When she is deep in thought, she forgets herself and picks strips off her face, sometimes as lons as paper streamers.

#De vanger in het graan wikipedia skin#

for Dona Rosa her cafe is the world and everything revolves around the cafe.Дona Rosa's face is covered with blotches, it always looks as if she were changing her skin like a lizard. Dona Rosa often says 'damn it to hell' and 'what a pain'. Dona Rosa is the first to be described:Дona Rosa comes and goes between the cafe tables, bumping into customers with her enormous backside. Chapter one contains pen picture of some of the characters who will appear and reappear in the book and from the very start a picture of selfishness and greed emerges.

The reader concentrates on these fragments which radiate out from the cafe culture at Dona Rosa's cafe. Life goes on but life in hard times is a struggle which rarely brings out the best in people. The second world war rages in the distance and many people are hungry, some in fear of retribution following the Victory of Franco that ended the Spanish Civil war. Marguerite Yourcenar - Memoirs of HadrianДЇragments or vignettes of prose are set down in generally non chronological order to capture life in Madrid during a few days in 1942. John Steinbeck - The log from the sea of CortezД®lizabeth Taylor - A game of hide and seekДylan Thomas - Do not go so gentle into that good night If I was going to do that then the list would be as follows:Д®mile Danoen - Un maison souffleГ© aux ventsДЄnthony Powell - A question of upbringing So with my intention read literature from 1591 and science fiction from 1951, it would seem a logical (to me) step to read non science fiction literature from 1951.