Spanish novels

Guest 224   Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:34 am GMT
Now that I have a little bit more time on my hands, I want to further my dedication to learning the Spanish language. I want to read my first Spanish novel, but I don't know which book to choose!

Considering that my Spanish is very elementary, I want a novel that is fairly short and written in prose that is easy to understand.

So can anybody recommend a short Spanish novel that has easy sentence structure and easy vocabulary?
Franco   Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:45 am GMT
Crónica de una muerte anunciada

Gabriel García Márquez.
Babel   Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:38 am GMT
I recommend you some bilingual novels. There are simplified novels very useful for elementary level. For instance, some novels written by Mark Twain:

The 1,000,000 Bank Note- El billete de un millón de libras

A Dying Man’s Confession- La confesión del moribundo


Other examples: short stories written by Jose Luis Borges, Miguel de Cervantes, Edgar Allan Poe, or Jack London (you need a bilingual and simplified version).
Guest   Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:30 am GMT
Puedes elegir todo tipo de literatura ya que lo vas a tener traducidos al español. Sobre todo lee cuentos/novela cortos. They are cheaper.
Check out: El Viejo Y El Mar (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/El-Viejo-Y-Mar/dp/8408020013/ref=cm_cr-mr-title/105-3965891-9104402
Libros en español:
http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_4782872_1/105-3965891-9104402?ie=UTF8&node=301731&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=special-offers-1&pf_rd_r=0SXM2SG2EVJDRN9XX23Z&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=286895001&pf_rd_i=8408020013

If you have problems buy bilingual literature.
K. T.   Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:06 pm GMT
Crónica de una muerte anunciada

Gabriel García Márquez

I think I read this a long time ago. Is this an easy read in Spanish for beginners? Oh well, Spanish is not too tough, and GGM is an interesting writer, so maybe that would work.

Bilingual books are good, but a dictionary is better. Conquer the book and gain a lot of language, but jmo.
Adolfo   Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:11 pm GMT
A mí me gustan las novelas de Isabel Allende, como "La casa de los espíritus o la última que ha escrito, titulada "Inés del alma mía". Sin embargo creo que son demasiado difíciles de leer para alguien con un nivel básico de Español. Cuando tengas un nivel de español avanzado verás que hay mucha literatura de gran calidad escrita en este idioma.
Franco   Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:00 pm GMT
La mayor parte de los libros de Isabel Allendes son dificiles, pero te recomiendo "mi país inventado". Es bastante fácil aunque un poco aburrido.
Franco   Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:01 pm GMT
Lo mejor es que es un libro muy corto.
Loris   Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:27 pm GMT
"Platero y yo" de Jiménez would be a good choice. Easy and clear as water flowing
Guest   Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:00 pm GMT
Of course it's a matter of taste, but Isabel Allende is vastly overrated.
I agree Jiménez is a good choice and easy to read. I´ll add any translation from Indian Rabindranath Tagore. You won´t have any problem finding an Spanish translation from his works.
Franco   Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:30 am GMT
Sí, tienes razón. Después de leer el libro 'Mi país inventado' llegué a la conclusión de que Allende es un imbécil. Saca un montón de generalizaciones con respecto al pueblo chileno, la mayor parte de las cuales son falsas. Pese a esto, el libro es mal escrito y no tiene ninguna estructura.