The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes (Markham translation)


Read by Expatriate

(4.1 stars; 27 reviews)

A whimsical collection of stories about a wandering street urchin, Lazarillo de Tormes is a classic of the Spanish Golden Age, even paid homage in Cervantes’ Don Quixote. Rendered homeless by the arrest of his father and poverty of his mother, the boy Lazarillo has no choice but to go out and find masters to serve. Unfortunately, each of his masters is worse than the one before, and in each case Lazarillo is cast upon his own wits in order to survive. Clever, hungry, and desperate, he always has a sharp eye for lessons on how to outwit the greedy and unscrupulous people who surround him. There is much of wit and humor in this little book, but the anonymous author obviously also intends to expose the brutal inequalities of society, especially toward children and women. Many of his arrows are aimed directly at the Church and its representatives, which explains why the author chose to remain anonymous, slyly publishing the book in three different cities simultaneously, and why the authorship of Lazarillo is still a mystery almost 500 years later. (Expatriate) (1 hr 34 min)

Chapters

Prologue 7:58 Read by Expatriate
First Master 18:38 Read by Expatriate
Second Master 16:42 Read by Expatriate
Third Master 33:23 Read by Expatriate
Fourth through Seventh Masters 18:12 Read by Expatriate

Reviews

Very interesting!!


(4 stars)

Lazarillo de Tormes as “a work of genius unlike anything that had preceded it". Its object is to give a pungent satire on all classes of society. It is written in a very bold, rich, and idiomatic Castilian style. Some of its sketches are among the most fresh and spirited that can be found in the whole range of prose works of fiction. Those of the friar and the seller of Indulgences were put under the ban of the Church. (George Ticknor, in his "History of Spanish literature") Thank you very much, Expatriate

interesting


(5 stars)

nice book about a boys trials with various Ill tempered masters, excellent reader.