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The Hedge
Jacinto, an office clerk, is sent to a company retreat after he collapses from exhaustion and gradually becomes cut off from the outside world
206 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1969
About the author
Miguel Delibes
190 books644 followersMiguel Delibes Setién was a Spanish novelist, journalist and newspaper editor associated with the Generation of '36 movement. From 1975 until his death, he was a member of the Royal Spanish Academy, where he occupied letter "e" seat. Educated in commerce, he began his career as a cartoonist and columnist. He later became the editor for the regional newspaper El Norte de Castilla before gradually devoting himself exclusively to writing novels.
He was a connoisseur of the flora and fauna of Castile and was passionate about hunting and the countryside. These were common themes in his writing, and he often wrote from the perspective of a city-dweller who remained connected with the rural world.
He was one of the leading figures of post-Civil War Spanish literature, winning numerous literary prizes. Several of his works have been adapted into plays or have been turned into films, winning awards at the Cannes Film Festival among others. He has been ranked with Heinrich Böll and Graham Greene as one of the most prominent Catholic writers of the second half of the twentieth century. He was deeply affected by the death of his wife in 1974. In 1998 he was diagnosed with colon cancer, from which he never fully recovered.
He was a connoisseur of the flora and fauna of Castile and was passionate about hunting and the countryside. These were common themes in his writing, and he often wrote from the perspective of a city-dweller who remained connected with the rural world.
He was one of the leading figures of post-Civil War Spanish literature, winning numerous literary prizes. Several of his works have been adapted into plays or have been turned into films, winning awards at the Cannes Film Festival among others. He has been ranked with Heinrich Böll and Graham Greene as one of the most prominent Catholic writers of the second half of the twentieth century. He was deeply affected by the death of his wife in 1974. In 1998 he was diagnosed with colon cancer, from which he never fully recovered.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 24, 2019
This seems so obviously of appeal to me -- stylistically inventive dystopian nightmare out of Franco-era Spain -- that I especially regret how mind-numbing I found it. Delibes' writes with such apparent absurdity that even the most horrifying parts that eventually come to light are undermined by an overwhelming arbitrary cartoonishness, and it's hard to feel much about it. Perhaps "arbitrary and cartoonish" describes totalitarianism all too well, but the general tone didn't pull it together for me, sadly. Also comma some of the more formally daring bits comma the bits where Delibes really pushes the reader comma which I'd usually comma under any other circumstance comma applaud comma could be a bit aggravating to actually read semi-colon I get why they were there comma but they overstayed their significance period end of paragraph
November 2, 2013
A Spaniard's attempt to do a "1984" (Orwell) with a Big Brother who sounds both sinister and silly, a principal protagonist whose job is to copy an endless rows of zeroes, nightmarish punishments (e.g., becoming dog-like and tied up on a leash, a relentlessly growing hedge imprisoning you) and some unique, supremely irritating writing tricks the most memorable of which would be those words with missing letters in the end (assho!") and punctuation marks spelled out in words--
"His muzzle was stubby and black and comma at the end of it comma the clearly defined holes comma like musical notes comma and the look in his hazel eyes watchful and alert as if he were still alive period The short stiff hair on the head became thicker at the ears comma where the graceful curve of the neck began comma brutally slashed by the knife blade at the point where the brown blot on the thorax began spreading over the back to the hindquarters period The ceiling of the room was high and the walls white and bare with large Gothic windows comma with no inside shutters or curtains comma open to the darkness of the night and over the long white marble table floated five globes of light comma whose studied arrangement eliminated all shadows period There was a strong smell of carbolic acid and after the dry and deliberate noise of footsteps along the long bare corridor click-click-click comma the silence of the room became especially thick period The head was resting on the clean cut made by the knife and a thin trickle of almost black clotted blood was spreading along the marble end of paragraph"
Like Delibes dictated the entire novel to a dumb secretary.
Anyway, a challenge would have been if Delibes had to write a sentence about a woman having her monthly period. Would he have written: "The woman is having her period period"? But the reader with an unaccustomed brain would probably interpreted it as "The woman is having her.." which might convey the idea that the sentence is not complete, like those in the dialogues of Faulkner or Gaddis novels.
What, anyway, is that click-click-click?
"His muzzle was stubby and black and comma at the end of it comma the clearly defined holes comma like musical notes comma and the look in his hazel eyes watchful and alert as if he were still alive period The short stiff hair on the head became thicker at the ears comma where the graceful curve of the neck began comma brutally slashed by the knife blade at the point where the brown blot on the thorax began spreading over the back to the hindquarters period The ceiling of the room was high and the walls white and bare with large Gothic windows comma with no inside shutters or curtains comma open to the darkness of the night and over the long white marble table floated five globes of light comma whose studied arrangement eliminated all shadows period There was a strong smell of carbolic acid and after the dry and deliberate noise of footsteps along the long bare corridor click-click-click comma the silence of the room became especially thick period The head was resting on the clean cut made by the knife and a thin trickle of almost black clotted blood was spreading along the marble end of paragraph"
Like Delibes dictated the entire novel to a dumb secretary.
Anyway, a challenge would have been if Delibes had to write a sentence about a woman having her monthly period. Would he have written: "The woman is having her period period"? But the reader with an unaccustomed brain would probably interpreted it as "The woman is having her.." which might convey the idea that the sentence is not complete, like those in the dialogues of Faulkner or Gaddis novels.
What, anyway, is that click-click-click?
November 8, 2010
obviously i didn't read this in spanish, in english it was called The Hedge and its a brutal fuckin book to get through. its like Brazil (movie not place)except with many many pages like this:
There was a strong smell of carbolic acid and after the dry and deliberate noise of footsteps along the long bare corridor click-click-click comma the silence of the room became especially thick period The head was resting on the clean cut made by the knife and a thin trickle of almost black clotted blood was spreading along the marble end of paragraph The woman comma motionless and silent up to that point comma put her handkerchief to her eyes comma then to her mouth and cried half-smothering the cry with her handkerchief Genaro, Genaro my darling!
delibes does not f around, For True Dudes Only
There was a strong smell of carbolic acid and after the dry and deliberate noise of footsteps along the long bare corridor click-click-click comma the silence of the room became especially thick period The head was resting on the clean cut made by the knife and a thin trickle of almost black clotted blood was spreading along the marble end of paragraph The woman comma motionless and silent up to that point comma put her handkerchief to her eyes comma then to her mouth and cried half-smothering the cry with her handkerchief Genaro, Genaro my darling!
delibes does not f around, For True Dudes Only
March 28, 2013
The Hedge by Miguel Dilibe is an engaging book and is not as difficult to read as I had anticipated from my reading of the comments of other reviewers. Dilibes’ use of language is amazing; there are no chapters, just one linear text with figurative prose, flashback loops, and at least one passage in reverse temporal order. Passages flow effortlessly from one time or place to the next; e.g. one passage follows Jacinto San Jose's, the protagonist, gaze as it transitions from one element in the rural landscape to the next until it physically Trans-locates him to the next passage of the text. An intermediate passage may contain only one element that is common to the previous passage but for all intents and purposes the new passage, though descriptive, could have fit anywhere without loss of continuity to the narrative; as if it were a dream sequence where logic is not questioned. However, this dream contains concise descriptions of objects and feelings that make the boundary between dream and reality nebulous and the reader always has an immediate sense of presence in both worlds.
We learn that Genaro “Gen” Martain who was one of Jacinto’s colleagues who has somehow gone afoul of the system is slowly transforming into a subhuman being. Genaro’s progression to his final dehumanization is revealed slowly throughout the text by Jacinto’s interactions with him though he is shunned by the rest of society. The hazing of another colleague provides us another glimpse of how the citizenry of this dystopian dream world are humiliated and enfeebled when they challenge the system and then are “recuperated” to make them stronger.
Jacinto’s reflections on of his oppressive environment doesn’t seem to stifle his own questioning attitude or his attempts to clarify the arbitrariness of language which he is convinced is the source of all disagreements. His new language, Contracto, invented to avoid arguments comically degenerates into argument amongst his apostles as soon as they start to use it.
Events become more bizarre as the narrative progresses and Jacinto becomes trapped within his “recuperation” hut where he has been sent when he has difficulty in distinguishing between the numeral zero and the letter O. The hedge that he plants around the hut and tends for therapeutic purposes becomes a metaphor for his personality and it traps him inside and ultimately engulfs him.
Disturbing and recurring images such as those of the obese benevolent dictator, Don Abdon, with his maternal breasts and black nipples cheered by the crowd as he flails about in a swimming pool or the trophy head of an antelope that is mounted over Jacinto’s fireplace morphing into Genaro’s decapitated head remind us that this dream world is inhabited with terrible things. The character of Jacinto does not evoke our sympathy but we feel and see what Jacinto experiences, his white knuckled fear, that cold and empty feeling in the pit of your stomach at 3:00 a.m when aloneness confronts you with the absurdity of existence.
We learn that Genaro “Gen” Martain who was one of Jacinto’s colleagues who has somehow gone afoul of the system is slowly transforming into a subhuman being. Genaro’s progression to his final dehumanization is revealed slowly throughout the text by Jacinto’s interactions with him though he is shunned by the rest of society. The hazing of another colleague provides us another glimpse of how the citizenry of this dystopian dream world are humiliated and enfeebled when they challenge the system and then are “recuperated” to make them stronger.
Jacinto’s reflections on of his oppressive environment doesn’t seem to stifle his own questioning attitude or his attempts to clarify the arbitrariness of language which he is convinced is the source of all disagreements. His new language, Contracto, invented to avoid arguments comically degenerates into argument amongst his apostles as soon as they start to use it.
Events become more bizarre as the narrative progresses and Jacinto becomes trapped within his “recuperation” hut where he has been sent when he has difficulty in distinguishing between the numeral zero and the letter O. The hedge that he plants around the hut and tends for therapeutic purposes becomes a metaphor for his personality and it traps him inside and ultimately engulfs him.
Disturbing and recurring images such as those of the obese benevolent dictator, Don Abdon, with his maternal breasts and black nipples cheered by the crowd as he flails about in a swimming pool or the trophy head of an antelope that is mounted over Jacinto’s fireplace morphing into Genaro’s decapitated head remind us that this dream world is inhabited with terrible things. The character of Jacinto does not evoke our sympathy but we feel and see what Jacinto experiences, his white knuckled fear, that cold and empty feeling in the pit of your stomach at 3:00 a.m when aloneness confronts you with the absurdity of existence.
December 18, 2023
Parábola de un náufrago es un libro extraño, tanto que me costó mucho leerlo. Lo dice una persona que es una fiel admiradora de Miguel Delibes y que ha leído la mayor parte de su obra.
Es su novela más experimental tanto por los recursos lingüísticos que utiliza como la temática alejada del habitual realismo castellano.
Parece ser que el viaje que Delibes realizó a Checoslovaquia justo antes de la primavera de Praga le afectó bastante. Esta novela aparece publicada un año después.
La novela es distópica, no sabemos dónde ocurre, en una ciudad castellana seguramente, donde hay una especie de líder supremo llamado Don Abdón. Sabemos que hay consignas que se repiten en todos los lados y los personajes hacen funciones sin sentido donde no se cuestiona nada. El protagonista, Jacinto San José, se dedica a sumar ceros, produciéndole mareos y osando cuestionar qué es lo que está sumando. Esta insubordinación le causa que lo envíen a un refugio en el campo y que esté totalmente aislado con la única misión de hacer crecer un seto.
Antes de esto hay unos pasajes extraños en los que se nos habla de Genaro y su conversión a perro por un error y para su propia felicidad. Estos episodios son de difícil lectura, porque toda la puntuación aparece escrita y los pasajes mezclados con otros.
Se nos habla de Darwin y el origen de las especies, de la evolución y de la revolución, que es más bien una involución a un estado más primario.
El aislamiento de Jacinto es donde la novela empieza a tener sentido y las piezas a encajar y acompañamos a Jacinto en su descanso y poco a poco en su angustia por sus miedos y su lucha por la supervivencia en una historia con tintes kafkianos que acaba en una involución para su paz mental.
El libro nos habla de una sociedad deshumanizada gobernada por un jefe supremo, autócrata, que hace de padre para todos, aunque en realidad es una persona cruel que trata a las personas como animales.
Me he pensado mucho que puntuación darle a la novela. Me costó mucho comenzarla por su nivel de absurdidad y la dificultad de comprensión inicial. El lenguaje difícil y las técnicas disruptivas de comprensión son a posta para demostrar una sociedad donde no hay comunicación fluida, sólo consignas que se repiten. Estuve tentada a dejarla, pero la obra mejora a medida que avanza y cobra sentido.
Una sorpresa más dentro de la obra de Miguel Delibes y su capacidad de experimentar.
Es su novela más experimental tanto por los recursos lingüísticos que utiliza como la temática alejada del habitual realismo castellano.
Parece ser que el viaje que Delibes realizó a Checoslovaquia justo antes de la primavera de Praga le afectó bastante. Esta novela aparece publicada un año después.
La novela es distópica, no sabemos dónde ocurre, en una ciudad castellana seguramente, donde hay una especie de líder supremo llamado Don Abdón. Sabemos que hay consignas que se repiten en todos los lados y los personajes hacen funciones sin sentido donde no se cuestiona nada. El protagonista, Jacinto San José, se dedica a sumar ceros, produciéndole mareos y osando cuestionar qué es lo que está sumando. Esta insubordinación le causa que lo envíen a un refugio en el campo y que esté totalmente aislado con la única misión de hacer crecer un seto.
Antes de esto hay unos pasajes extraños en los que se nos habla de Genaro y su conversión a perro por un error y para su propia felicidad. Estos episodios son de difícil lectura, porque toda la puntuación aparece escrita y los pasajes mezclados con otros.
Se nos habla de Darwin y el origen de las especies, de la evolución y de la revolución, que es más bien una involución a un estado más primario.
El aislamiento de Jacinto es donde la novela empieza a tener sentido y las piezas a encajar y acompañamos a Jacinto en su descanso y poco a poco en su angustia por sus miedos y su lucha por la supervivencia en una historia con tintes kafkianos que acaba en una involución para su paz mental.
El libro nos habla de una sociedad deshumanizada gobernada por un jefe supremo, autócrata, que hace de padre para todos, aunque en realidad es una persona cruel que trata a las personas como animales.
Me he pensado mucho que puntuación darle a la novela. Me costó mucho comenzarla por su nivel de absurdidad y la dificultad de comprensión inicial. El lenguaje difícil y las técnicas disruptivas de comprensión son a posta para demostrar una sociedad donde no hay comunicación fluida, sólo consignas que se repiten. Estuve tentada a dejarla, pero la obra mejora a medida que avanza y cobra sentido.
Una sorpresa más dentro de la obra de Miguel Delibes y su capacidad de experimentar.
May 2, 2022
En el principio era Jacinto, Jacinto San José, quien fue abrumado por una oleada de mareos al escribir el octavo o noveno cero de una cifra insustancial que tanto podía referir a personas (esclavitud), como a mujeres (trata de blancas) e incluso monedas, oro o algún otro objeto material. El mareo, dictaminó Darío Esteban, podía deberse a que Jacinto San José estaba pensando en lo que sumaba, lo cual (pensar en lo que se suma) es considerado una grave enfermedad en las dependencias de Don Abdón (el jefazo).
Pero Jacinto no fue castigado, no como Genaro que fue degradado a perro, sino que, gracias a la benevolencia de Don Abdón (el padre más madre de todos los padres), quien lo acogió (a Jacinto) mientras se encontraba acuclillado con sus pechos turgentes al aire. Jacinto experimentó cómo su mirada era imantada por los negros pezones nutricios que reposaban en los desnudos pechos turgentes (en las maternales mamas) de don Adbón.
Y así fue Jacinto San José enviado a una casa de recuperación a plantar setos (la planta de los tímidos). En sus momentos de confusión, Jacinto San José encontraba que aproximarse a la servidumbre emocional de las ubres sofocantes de don Abdón, a sus pechos bamboleantes, se le antojaba la única oportunidad de justificar su escaso intelecto. Aunque a veces, Jacinto San José también era cohibido por los cónicos pezones nutricios instalados en las mamas henchidas de don Abdón.
Un día, cuando Jacinto se pensó náufrago, cuando imaginaba al agua subiendo e inundando su cuerpo en la escasa habitación de su confinamiento, las tetas, los pechos turgentes, de negros pezones nutricios, de don Abdón, se le antojaban, quizá, como el único refugio para su desventura. Buscaba en esos pechos salvavidas, en esas tetas invulnerables, su seguridad. Pasó, pues, Jacinto, de un mamífero a otro.
Pero Jacinto no fue castigado, no como Genaro que fue degradado a perro, sino que, gracias a la benevolencia de Don Abdón (el padre más madre de todos los padres), quien lo acogió (a Jacinto) mientras se encontraba acuclillado con sus pechos turgentes al aire. Jacinto experimentó cómo su mirada era imantada por los negros pezones nutricios que reposaban en los desnudos pechos turgentes (en las maternales mamas) de don Adbón.
Y así fue Jacinto San José enviado a una casa de recuperación a plantar setos (la planta de los tímidos). En sus momentos de confusión, Jacinto San José encontraba que aproximarse a la servidumbre emocional de las ubres sofocantes de don Abdón, a sus pechos bamboleantes, se le antojaba la única oportunidad de justificar su escaso intelecto. Aunque a veces, Jacinto San José también era cohibido por los cónicos pezones nutricios instalados en las mamas henchidas de don Abdón.
Un día, cuando Jacinto se pensó náufrago, cuando imaginaba al agua subiendo e inundando su cuerpo en la escasa habitación de su confinamiento, las tetas, los pechos turgentes, de negros pezones nutricios, de don Abdón, se le antojaban, quizá, como el único refugio para su desventura. Buscaba en esos pechos salvavidas, en esas tetas invulnerables, su seguridad. Pasó, pues, Jacinto, de un mamífero a otro.
August 19, 2024
Si Giórgos Lánthimos pilla este libro hace la película de su vida. Creo que es la novela más loca que he leído desde su forma (la puntuación 🤯) hasta el contenido. En ella se cuenta cómo es la vida en una suerte de dictadura, dominada por un tal Abdón, en la que si piensas y te haces preguntas, te degradan. ¿Cómo? Puedes acabar comportándote como un perro o ser condenado a ser cercado por un seto y acabar como una cabra.
Fue mi reto del verano. Dice Delibes que unos le aplaudieron la audacia y otros se la censuraron. Yo la sufrí y la disfruté.
“que Genaro es más feliz que antes, te lo digo yo, Jacinto, dónde va a parar, no me digas, que si la mujer, que si los hijos, cada día una tecla, un lloraduelos... Y ahora, ya lo ves, le llevas un hueso y bien, tan contento, y no se lo llevas y también bien, que no te creas que lo echa en falta, ni se preocupa, ni se indispone, ni nada de nada. Y es que, ¿sabes tú cuál es lo malo de nuestra condición, Jacinto, eh? Pues eso: pararte y pensar, que todavía me acuerdo del día que Genaro vomitó aquel estofado porque vio una mosca en la salsa al acabar de comer, ¿qué te parece? Anda, mírale ahora. Y es que la mosca no es lo malo, Jacinto, convéncete, sino pensar la mosca, eso, que si no piensas la mosca es como si la mosca no existiera. ¿Te das cuenta? Lo que pasa es que cada día nos hacemos más remilgados y así nos luce el pelo. Por eso te prevengo que si a lo que aspira don Abdón es a evitarnos pensar la mosca, bendito sea don Abdón.”
Fue mi reto del verano. Dice Delibes que unos le aplaudieron la audacia y otros se la censuraron. Yo la sufrí y la disfruté.
“que Genaro es más feliz que antes, te lo digo yo, Jacinto, dónde va a parar, no me digas, que si la mujer, que si los hijos, cada día una tecla, un lloraduelos... Y ahora, ya lo ves, le llevas un hueso y bien, tan contento, y no se lo llevas y también bien, que no te creas que lo echa en falta, ni se preocupa, ni se indispone, ni nada de nada. Y es que, ¿sabes tú cuál es lo malo de nuestra condición, Jacinto, eh? Pues eso: pararte y pensar, que todavía me acuerdo del día que Genaro vomitó aquel estofado porque vio una mosca en la salsa al acabar de comer, ¿qué te parece? Anda, mírale ahora. Y es que la mosca no es lo malo, Jacinto, convéncete, sino pensar la mosca, eso, que si no piensas la mosca es como si la mosca no existiera. ¿Te das cuenta? Lo que pasa es que cada día nos hacemos más remilgados y así nos luce el pelo. Por eso te prevengo que si a lo que aspira don Abdón es a evitarnos pensar la mosca, bendito sea don Abdón.”
June 18, 2021
I picked up this book randomly from a used book store because the cover and description drew me in. A dystopian society with a “bizarre encounter with nature”. And, While I found sections of this book amusing the different sections of the book just didn’t come together to say anything more meaningful than dictatorships are bad within the context of a very silly society.
August 19, 2020
Tan complejo de leer como perturbador. Delibes es un maestro de la palabra y en este caso, por muy barroco que se ponga, no permite que pierdas el hilo. El final es soberbio, a Jacinto lo quiero siempre en mi equipo. Beeeee.
June 16, 2023
Un libro cuanto menos original acerca de la alienación en todas sus modalidades, tanto individual como social y, más concretamente, política y económica con la figura del gran empresario benefactor. Lo mejor de la novela, las reflexiones del protagonista y su transformación progresiva.
April 23, 2022
El libro más raro que he leído en mi vida. Eso sí, bien escrito.
September 12, 2024
This is a very difficult book, and I didn't really enjoy it. However, it's worth reading for the originality and quality of the writing, and for the amazing translation by F.M. Lopez-Morillas.
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May 5, 2025se
October 16, 2025
Buf! Quizás la más difícil de las novelas de Delibes. No sé si le pegan los experimentos formales que otros autores sabían desarrollar mejor que él.
Read
October 18, 2014No recuerdo el contenido del libro, seguro que me gusto siendo de Delibes, pero así como otros libros del autor me dejaron, por diferentes razones una referencia de su contenido, en este no lo tengo lo que me hace pensar que debe ser un poco anodino comparado con otros del mismo autor.
September 1, 2022
Raro. El libro es raro con avaricia, novedoso sin duda en la forma, y de argumento suficientemente interesante. ¡Bizarrísimo! Pero te regala alguna carcajada, más de una sonrisa aunque a veces sea amarga, y sin duda es entretenida de leer.
tasted
August 18, 2016I enjoy parables, but I couldn’t get into this one. I stuck with it over 50 pages, but me and Delibes just didn’t jibe.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews