Literary Musings

  • I have recently noticed how little I read from Spain, and I don’t mean Spanish-language authors, such as from Latin America, but just Spain. This year I read Tristana by Benito Pérez Galdós, but I feel like I barely scratched the surface with this author, and such lists as this one – The Greatest Spanish Literature of All Time – certainly inspire me to read more Spanish authors. Perhaps some of my readers are very versed in this, but I have only recently discovered that there are many great books and hidden gems. There are novels The Hive (La Colmena) and The Family of Pascual Duarte (La familia de Pascual Duarte) by Nobel Laureate Camilo José Cela, and The House of Ulloa by Emilia Pardo Bazán is also highly praised. When it comes to Javier Marías, I am now less convinced. Though I still want to read his novel A Heart So White, I found myself almost DNFing his book Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me. Though it is beautifully written, I found the story lacking in logic and believability. The situation there was really too preposterous, and I was not at all convinced that the main character was really “trapped” in an impossible situation.

    Then, there is Time of Silence by Luis Martín-Santos Ribera. It is said to be “one most important Spanish novels of the twentieth century”, and I have also recently put into my TBR list Eduardo Mendoza’s The City of Marvels, which is “a novel describing the rise of the unspeakable Onofre Bouvila, an honestly self-seeking mafioso who starts in the gutters of Barcelona and leaves a trail of broken egos as he climbs up to his place in the sun” (goodreads). Perhaps I should do a Spanish Literature Challenge, similar to the one I did for Italy. Would you be interested to participate? 🇪🇸
  • When I was browsing unusual books, I stumbled across a curious genre of fiction – mathematical fiction, which is broadly any fictional work that is about mathematics or about mathematicians. One book caught my eye – Fantasia Mathematica (edited by Clifton Fadiman), an anthology of stories, poems, problems and essays on mathematical topics. It is very diverse, from short stories, such as by Richard Llewellyn and H. G. Wells, to riddles and poetry. For example, it contains the story Socrates & The Slave from Plato’s works. There, a student asks his teacher how it could be proven that every act of learning is merely a process of recollection, rather than learning, since the immortal soul already knows everything. To prove that, Socrates gave a slave boy, who had no mathematical training, a geometry problem to solve, and led him to the correct answer. Though it is obvious that the boy was prompted to respond correctly and Socrates did not prove the immortality of the soul, the idea that our souls intuitively already know certain things even if we do not know how we know them is thought-provoking. 📐
  • Last month, Faber published list “75 Great Plays from the Last 75 Years“, which I found interesting. Apparently, they asked many theatre lovers, including playwrights and staff members, what were their favourite/best plays, and then edited the list to 75 titles (and the list also includes plays not published by Faber). They called it “a celebration of modern theatre”. Normally, I prefer classic plays so I have only read or seen about ten from the list, including two by Brian Friel (Dancing at Lughnasa and Faith Healer). And, some of them I got to know as films first, including A Raisin in the Sun (1959), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1972) and A Taste of Honey (1958). The latter I recommend as a great social realist film of 1961 directed by Tony Richardson. The ones I think deserve to be on the list, but aren’t there are Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1970) by Dario Fo, and The Physicists (1962), The Meteor (1966) and The Visit (1956) by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Anyway, the Faber list is great to broaden one’s horizons. 🎭
  • I set a goal this year to read more graphic novels (or manga). I used to enjoy them a lot, especially when I lived in Belgium and Italy. I prefer graphic novels with deep stories and intricate artworks, and I read quite a number of them from publication Drawn & Quarterly. I had more misses (Doing Time, The Theory of the Grain of Sand) than hits (The Hunting Accident) this year though, so I am open to recommendations. 💭

29 thoughts on “Literary Musings”

  1. Ramón Perez de Ayala is a Spanish author you should consider. He was a 20th century Spanish diplomat, who was Spain’s Ambassador to the UK for a time. His two best works are:

    Tiger Juan. Perez de Ayala in this story contrasts an effeminate Don Juan with a virile anti Don Juan. The title character is an extraordinary creation: angry, bitter, opinionated, self-absorbed, and frankly disturbing. As the story progresses, he mellows, but I won’t give the game away by saying how. The Don Juan character is a travelling salesman known to Tiger Juan, and the relationship of these two very different men is well portrayed.

    Belarminio and Apollonio. The title characters are two shoemakers who are bitter rivals.. For most of the book, they don’t speak to each other. One of them fancies himself as a poet, and has written a play; the other thinks himself a great philosopher. The drama kicks of when the daughter of one runs off with the son of the other.

    Perez de Ayala’s style is playful and eloquent.

    The main problem you’ll have is finding copies at a reasonable price. He is a forgotten author in the English speaking world.

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    1. Ramón Perez de Ayala sounds like a great recommendation, thank you! I haven’t heard of him, and I don’t think I would have discovered his books by myself. I actually quite like stories where two different men grapple with each other and their identities. I think I fell in love with the theme after reading Pamuk’s debut The White Castle.

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  2. You are correct very little Spanish lit seems to have risen to the level of “classic” since Garcia Lorca. (Pessoa is Portuguese). I’d never heard of Cela (despite the Nobel).

    Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss is my favorite play from the past 75 years, see it in performance if you ever can.

    Manga and graphic novels there’s the incredible Watchmen, which I have read several times. I’d be sure to watch Ghost in the Shell, an anime which rewards multiple viewings that should appeal to your literary tastes, with its famous monologue on the boat.

    For math lit you can do no better than my poem “Math and the Universe,” an Editor’s Choice in Star*Line. 🙂

    https://sfpoetry.org/wp/starline/starline-48-4-fall-2025/#first

    You also might check out Oulipo, they use math in a lot of their writings…..

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    2. “You are correct very little Spanish lit seems to have risen to the level of “classic” since Garcia Lorca.” Beg to differ. It has not been made available outside of Spanish-speaking countries apart from maybe France. Mid-20th century lit in Spain has to be seen in the context of the Franco regime where many of the best writers were living outside the country or keeping quiet inside. Note how many of the titles mentioned here are actually by Catalan writers, that is an economic expedient, I would suggest; they have had more opportunity to get translated / marketed, and have been keen to differentiate themselves from “Spanish” writers. Then there was the craze for South American writers in the 70s to 90s. There were only so many translators to go round as Spain generally did not have a strong tradition of second language teaching. UK publishers were not interested beyond Driving Over Lemons.

      Barcelona was the first university in Spain to have a Modern Languages Department founded in the mid 1950s from where Prof Doireann McDermott launched Commonweath Studies. I think we will learn a lot from this proposed focus, and do look at Winston’s Dad’s blog (Stu as mentioned by Lisa) who has 71 reviews listed under Spain, another 13 under Catalonia, 6 Basque, 3 Galicia, which still leaves a lot of the Spanish regions and provinces unaccounted for. Each has their own character and their own authors. I shall try to pull together some lists of regional ‘classics’ and ‘worthwhile reads’ and which ones have been translated into English.

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  3. Cela wasn’t a very nice person so I wouldn’t start there. La ciudad de los prodigios (City of Marvels) is fantastic, especially if you know Barcelona at all. La Regenta (Leopoldo Alas), Pepita Jiménez (Juan Valera). There are wonderful chunky Civil War novels (or aftermath of the Civil War), Chaves Nogales – A Sangre y Fuego and Gironella, Los Cipreses Creen en Dios, tough reads. There is Juan Goytisolo and Carmen Laforet, Vicente Blasco Ibañez for the Valencia region. Every part of Spain is different and worth reading in its own right. Look out the women writers, the men tend to dominate the lists. Es un pastel muy rico, a very rich cake. If you can read some Spanish, even better. I am fortunate to be fluent having lived and worked there off and on since 1978. I know it can be hard to find these books in the UK. The States might be easier or even Paris. I have been excited by the Ma Nuit au Musée series which Brona posted up this week, several Spanish museums feature there. https://bronasbooks.com/2026/08/29/the-scent-of-flowers-at-night-leila-slimani/ gives the whole list so far. It is a project to last you a lifetime, poetry, plays and essays too. I will happily join you on the journey.

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    1. Thanks a lot for these amazing recommendations! La Regenta and Pepita Jiménez are definitely books I want to check out at some point, and I see that many politicians seem also to be novelists in Spain, he? Some hidden trend? I see now that the only one from your mentions I read is Carmen Laforet and her novel Nada, though I don’t remember much of it – will have to re-read! Yes, I can read in Spanish, which I am sure will make this task much easier, but actually and perhaps strangely what I really love doing is reading English classics translated to Spanish, maybe because I know some of them very well and don’t have to look up an odd word here and there. Agatha Christie in Spanish is my favourite – her books are mostly about plot and twists, and not the language, so it works for me. Ma Nuit au Musée series sounds fascinating. Didn’t know about it, but you are so right – what a project!

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  4. I am very poorly read in Spanish literature (Latin American, too for that matter) so many thanks for the link (and to Castlebooks for their suggestions) — I’m busy jotting down titles! Of the little I’ve read, I loved Laforet’s Nada; hearkening back to an earlier time I’d add Leopold Alas’ La Regenta and Galdos’ Fortunata and Jacinta (both of these were Penguin editions, real doorstops but oh, so worth the time). I’d definitely be interested in any type of “Reading Spain” project but couldn’t promise to participate actively — it’s almost impossible for me to stick to any sort of reading program as I tend to read where my every-shifting mood takes me!

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    1. Yes, I have just said above that I did read Laforet’s Nada, too. I am sure I liked it but don’t remember much, and would love to check out her other novels. I would probably put on my list both La Regenta and Fortunata and Jacinta, especially since you say they are so worth it (and I am not afraid of big books (if they are not too difficult – that is :))). I know how exhausting reading challenges can be, and if I decide to run the challenge, it will be very laid-back and I will probably make it run for the whole year, so minimal pressure 🙂

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  5. Yes, why not a Spanish lit challenge?

    Besides Don Quixote, the religious classics (St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross), and the poets from ths list, I haven’t read any novel. Oh yes, Zafon, whom I DNFed.

    When I think math and lit, I think right away of this Japanese novel: https://wordsandpeace.com/2012/06/28/2012-32-review-the-devotion-of-suspect-x/

    Graphic novels: if you like nonfiction graphic-“novels”, check my list here:
    https://wordsandpeace.com/2021/11/15/nonfiction-november-2021-expert-on-graphic-nonfiction/
    I’m also super picky for the art part.
    I enjoyed this manga autobiography (5 books) of the author artist herself:
    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5439193382

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    1. I haven’t really tried much Zafon to be sure, but I will heed your warning. Thank you for these lists – there is a lot to consider. I see on your list a graphic novel about Claude Monet. I have acquired it only recently and I am curious now how will I get on with it. I do also like the idea of the manga you recommend because I love stories about art and artists.

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  6. First: contributions to your maths books. I read this review and then bought the book for my son who used to watch The Simpsons as a teenager: https://weneedtotalkaboutbooks.com/2026/08/14/the-simpsons-and-their-mathematical-secrets-reviewing-simon-singhs-most-playful-book/ There’s also A Universe of Sufficient Size by Miriam Sved, and Seduced by Logic by Robyn Arianrhod (reviewed on my blog if you are interested).

    Second, I’ve been participating in Stu’s annual Spanish Lit Month at Winston’s Dad for ages, so I’ve read quite a bit. I would recommend as a starting point Spanish Literature, a Very Short Introduction by Jo Labanyi, and if you have it the section on Spain in (my bible for translated lit) The Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction by M A Orthofer. I think these are good at explaining the barren years of the C20th, i.e. the impact of the Civil War and the repression of the Franco years, and the blossoming of Spanish Lit since his death and membership of the EU.

    Third, I have 28 books by Spanish authors reviewed on the blog, mostly recently published by Open Letter Books, Peirene Press etc. So I’d suggest Mercé Roderedo’s La plaça del diamant (In Diamond Square, also translated as The Time of the Doves; and In the Night of Time (2009), by Antonio Muñoz Moline; and Maria Barbal is (I think) the first to write about the Civil War from the perspective of peasants living a subsistence lifestyle in rural Spain. The Basque author Bernardo Atxaga is interesting too. You can find them all via category/origin-identity-of-author-others-by-continent/europe/spanish-authors/.

    PS I love that Taschen book about Bruegel in your side bar!

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    2. I wish I liked the Simpsons more to pick up this book, but I don’t! – not really! (shocking) Perhaps I just haven’t watched them enough and don’t have the usual nostalgia people have. The other two books sound interesting, though, thank you. And, it’s such a brilliant suggestion to start with this introductions and compilations. I will definitely try to get my hands on the Complete Review Guide! The Time of the Doves or Diamond Square somehow sounds familiar, and I will definitely put it as part of my challenge, too thanks! Secretly I guess I wanted to avoid civil war-heavy books but I guess for this challenge, it won’t be possible, so will also check out In the Night of Time.

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      1. Apart from ditzy self-absorbed 20-somethings who think their vacuous lives are worth writing about, I don’t see how Spanish authors can avoid their sombre C20th. It’s too recent and there is still a deeply politicised social climate. In 1975 The Spouse was a young man living in the inner city when suddenly there was dancing in the streets: Franco had died and the exiled community were celebrating. But even when we went to Spain 35 years later in 2010, they had not at that time done anything about exhuming the mass graves or memorialising the Fallen, and it is only this year (2026) that they have established a Truth and Reconciliation process… which has ensured that most witnesses must be dead by now, and only atrocities in the latter period of Franco’s reign can have any clarity.

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  7. I’ve just read The Time of Cherries by Montserrat Roig set in Barcelona and do enjoy a Spanish setting; I’m nervous of signing up to any challenge as I’m such a slow reader and an even slower reviewer but I would love a challenge to see what everyone’s reading and recommending!

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    1. I would love to read novels which are set in Barcelona. I’ve been there only once on vacation, but had such a good time. I read Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones, a long time ago now, and I think it was set in Barcelona, though in the fourteenth century and revolved around the construction of a church. I didn’t like the novel (and its depiction of women), though I liked the descriptions. As for the challenge, I think I will mirror my previous Italian one – even one book suffices to participate & I will probably make it year-round one so no hard obligations!

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    1. Thank you for your link, will have to explore. It is interesting that you found The Hive nothing special, and I now wonder whether the book’s unusual structure also contributes to its “success” (book prizes just love “unusual” book structures). It is not that Zafón is not my thing, it is just I think he might not be but I haven’t really tried him to know for sure. I know, for example, Ildefonso Fancones is not my thing, though I like your reviews of his books. Do you know what is the best book to start with Zafón ? Or his novels are a series…?

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      1. Oh, tough question. My first Ruiz Zafón book was The Shadow of the Wind and I fell in love with him. You can read any of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series in whatever way you like, they all refer to each other. Then there are his other books, they are all more magic realism and shorter, he wrote them as youth books. But very enjoyable for adults.
        I’m glad you like my reviews of the Falcones books, I did enjoy them. But we can’t all like the same ones, right?
        And you are right, book prizes do like “unusual” books, no matter how. But I usually like the Nobel Prize winners, very few exceptions. Cela is one of them, I’m afraid.

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