Spanish Stories/Cuentos Espanoles: A Dual-Language Book

by Ángel Flores (Editor)

Unique format offers 13 great stories in Spanish -- from classics by Cervantes and Alarcon to contemporary works by Borges and Goytisolo. Complete faithful English translations on facing pages.

Genres: Spanish Literature, Short Stories, Fiction, Language, Classics, Linguistics

367 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1960

Reviews

[Louise Bray · Rating 3 out of 5]

From a historical perspective this was an interesting read to understand how culture and mindset has changed over the past 800 years. However some of the stories, especially the earlier ones (taking a “disobedient wife” by killing a dog, cat and horse in front of her, for example) were extremely uncomfortable to read.

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this dual-language book of Spanish Short Stories to brush up on my Spanish--and perhaps learn a little bit about Spanish literature. On one page is the original Spanish, and facing it the English translation. There are 13 tales, ranging from a contemporary of Chaucer (Don Juan Manuel) to still living writers at the time of the 1960 publication: Borges, Cela, Goytisolo. My least favorite stories were two of the earliest ones by Don Juan Manual and Cervantes of Don Quixote fame--both were way too misogynist for me to find amusing, even if reflecting their times. Manual's story may have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew according to the Foreword and featured a woman terrified into obedience. Cervantes happy ending featured a woman marrying her rapist to recoup her honor. The anonymous story bookended by each "Lazarillo de Tormes" I did find amusing--even it's humor was dark indeed; it was among the most memorable of the tales. Parma is from Peru; Unamuno is from Uruguay and Lynch and Borges from Argentinia--the rest are Spaniards.

There is only one woman author, Pardo Bazan, who the editor names along with Alarcon and Clarion (both also represented) as one of the "great trinity" of 19th century Spanish writers. For me her story, "The Revolver" was easily the standout in the anthology, as chilling as anything by Poe and with a twist worthy of de Maupassant. If I seek out more by any of the authors in the collection, Bazan would be at the top of my list. I was also charmed by stories by Alarcon ("The Stub-Book), Palma ("The Scorpion of Fray Gomez") and Lynch ("The Sorrel Colt"). The rest of the stories I didn't find all that remarkable--and I can't blame the translation having the Spanish right before me. I do love the concept of these dual language books, and the Forward, Introductions to the stories and the Notes gave all the context I could have asked for.

[Kyriakos Sorokkou]

Διαβάστε την ελληνική κριτική στις βιβλιοαλχημείες.

I bought this parallel text book in 2011, when I was thinking of expanding my Spanish vocabulary, and failing miserably.

Then in 2016 when I already began reading from all over the world I read the four stories from this collection that were from countries other than Spain:
(Uruguay, Argentina, Peru)

This year thanks to the lock-down caused by the unnameable virus this was another unread book on my TBR shelves that was eventually read.

Unfortunately I read only the English text with a few glances on the Spanish original. Of course I didn't use the vocabulary at the end, or the questions for Spanish comprehension.
I feel this book is for someone who has at least the basis of Spanish around level B2 of CEDF not for someone in level C1 like me.

This collection included thirteen short stories from Spanish speaking countries but mainly from Spain beginning with Don Juan Manuel from the Middle Ages through Miguel de Cervantes, Miguel de Unamuno and Camilo José Cela.
Other well known authors were the Argentinian Jorge Luis Borges, the Peruvian Ricardo Palma and Uruguayan Horacio Quiroga.

Usually short story anthologies are a hit and miss but with this one it was a delightful experience, and I want to discover more about these authors.

P.S. I had read three of these authors before this collection and their longer works namely:
La tía Tula by Miguel de Unamuno
Don Quijote de la Mancha I by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
El libro de los seres imaginarios by Jorge Luis Borges

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not the kind of book I'd want to borrow. I'd never want to give it back. A treasure trove of short Spanish stories from the 16th to 20th centuries. This is definitely the best bilingual book I've come across. The only slight problem I had is that it's so easy to delve into the English side of the page that I sometimes would end up finishing a story in English (kind of defeats the purpose of the book). I really enjoyed reading the Cervantes story (La Fuerza de la Sangre). I'm just starting (attempting) Don Quijote for probably the 4th time. Not an easy read.
I can't recommend this book highly enough for intermediate to advanced students of Spanish.

[Thomas Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stories of cruelty from the 1300s onward. The one by Cervantes is pointless. Spanish and English on facing pages.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flores begins in 14th century Spain, and works his way into the 20th century, with 2 authors who are still alive. His short "Foreword" is a terrific introduction to the development of short stories written in Spanish. He chose mostly works not already available in English, and even for those which are, these are his own, new translations.

I really appreciated the dual-language style. How much of the Spanish I can manage varies a lot with the original author's style, so being able to compare the English, or even switch to it sometimes, was crucial for me in understanding the stories. And the extensive notes at the back are an additional learning too.

I especially enjoyed learning about Alarcon, and was very taken by this quote from Borges' story "The Shape of the Sword": "Lo que hace un hombre es como si lo hicieran todos los hombres." ("One man's deeds are like the deeds of all mankind.")

[Bill Carmean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous book. I actually could read Cervantes!! Lots of fascinating Spanish very short stories and selections, with Spanish on the left page and English on the right -- a great way for a beginner or beginner/intermediate to read Spanish for the first time.

[Weronika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2 / 5 stars
On a journey to learn Spanish, I picked this up on a whim, deciding that short stories with translations were perfect as a learning resource. For the most part the 2 stars come from the vocab I have learnt, the ease with which reading comes now for me and the tranlations of these stories. However, the stories were not to my liking - upon finishing some, I thought to myself Really? That's the end? and thus, was left disappointed. Further, these stories are for more advanced speakers due to the nature of their origins taking place decades ago, and so, that in itself may not provide the most useful source of learning.

The Bottom Line
The translations were good and the layout worked, however, personally, most of the stories were a let down.

[Boris · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many dual-language story collections out there, but what sets this one favorably apart from others is that this is real literature. As such, you will find yourself wanting to read more as much because you'll actually like the stories as because of your interest in learning Spanish. Some stories are definitely harder to understand than others, and the English translation is instrumental in helping understand them -- at least it was to this advanced-beginner/low-intermediate reader. But the occasional challenge will eventually bring you a sense of accomplishment -- as well as a sense of having caught a glimpse of the wealth of the Spanish literature.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estos cuentos son un gran lugar para empezar a leer las obras de escritores españoles (en particular, los más antiguos).
Más específicamente...
Me pareció estupenda la historia de Don Juan Manuel.
También, fue un placer leer Cervantes en español por primera vez. Mi primera experiencia con sus obras fue El Quixote que leí en inglés. ¡Quizás, en el futuro, yo tenga la confianza para leer el texto original!
Había muchas historias en este colección que me gustaron. Algunos menos que otros. Sin embargo, sobre todo fue una aventura emocionante recorrer los siglos de la literatura española a través de las palabras de estos escritores fundamentales.

[Yee-Kay Chan · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars because I love dual language books in general and think they are great for learning, but I really hated the selection in this particular book. Yes the stories span backwards to the 1600s and cultural norms were very different, but three of the stories were very sexist and I did not enjoy them at all. One in particular was extremely sexually violent (ie a woman is kidnapped and raped and has a child and then happily marries her rapist), another played off stereotypes of an ugly and mean wife who kowtows to her husband. If I could recommend someone a book to practice Spanish I would recommend any other title for dual language learning -- this collection was old school and cringey.

[Sheela Word · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of stories from Spain and Central and South America. They span many genres and writing styles, and all are good. The side-by-side English translations are a boon for those who are strong in English and weak in Spanish (as I am).

[Elizabeth]

I read the first story in this book. It was written in the 1500s and was pretty messed up! I stopped reading the book because it seemed like, given how old the stories are, a fair amount of the Spanish used isn't exactly modern and I think it might confuse my language acquisition.

[Keith Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixed bag. Up to and including Cervantes, the neanderthal ideas of honor and the proper place of women are a bit hard to stomach. In one of the stories a teenager gets to marry her rapist, and that is considered a happy outcome.

[Belle Meade School]

863

[Oktay Yagiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un conjunto razonablemente compilado de trece historias representativas de la literatura español de los siglos XVI al XX.

[Suzanne Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of famous works in Spanish.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to Spanish language literature for the intermediate student.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good practice for reading Spanish. It was a bit difficult, since many of the stories were written in Spanish specific to an area of Spain or Latin America, and unfamiliar to me. It was nice that the translation was on the opposite page, so I could easily verify my assumptions about what I thought it said.

That being said, I didn't like many of the stories. There either wasn't much to them, or they were depressing. I have found Hemingway's stories particularly dark and depressing, and one of the authors in this book was even compared to Hemingway!

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for anyone trying to get along in Spanish that has had at least a little practice already.

The stories are in consecutive order by the time at which they were printed, and otherwise offer little in the way of being related.

My two favorites were by the authers Alarcon and Borges; both write in a style very much similar to American authors, though the wrote several hundred years apart.

[Maureen Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

great practice reading at times aloud in espanol. luckily the English translation was on opposite pages.

the short stories were mostly written late 1800 to early 1900 so they are a little different and many idioms which i'm not sure are still in use. still a worthwhile effort as i continue to improve my Spanish.
thinking this is a book i should try to read again in a year, to see how much better my Spanish is.

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I set a goal to go through the Spanish and English versions, which was extremely hard for me. I would get really interested in the story-line on the English side, and then I would get bogged down with the language on the other. I love short stories, though

[Saul Arturo]

mui bienThe Defiant Muse: Hispanic Feminist Poems from the Middle Ages to the Present

[Teressa]

This is a collection of short stories by Spanish authors with both the original Spanish and an English translation.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good stories in here, but this is not a great book for learning or practicing your Spanish.

[Erik]

The city of Merida, Mexico with its Colonial architecture which presumably recalls Spain is a great place to read these old Spanish tales. Get stoned and read these in the Zocalo.

[Rodrigo d'Orey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es siempre un placer leer cuentos de escritores de la lengua española. Cuentos buenisimos.

[Christie Gilmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

strange stories but love the format and it's helping me learn vocabulary, remember verb tenses and read some new slang.

[Up Abril · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable material to review my foreign languages skills :)

[Kara]

A collection of dual-language stories (like the French one from a few months ago), a really nice progression of the Spanish-language short story over time, including really famous authors from Cervantes to Borges. Thinking about using this for SP5!