Favourite hispanic books?

[Emerald Hill]

Daughter of Fortune and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I didn't like One Hundred Years of Solitude very much.

[victorianfan]

So far I read:

Gabriel García Márquez:
One Hundred Years of Solitude: not thrilled, but that was long time ago, so I'm planning to re-read it

Love in the Time of Cholera: very good novel; read it twice

Of Love and Other Demons: interesting novel, liked it


Mario Vargas Llosa:
The Way to Paradise: read it recently, so-so

[Wilde woman]

I'm surprised. I quite liked One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Also, Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate.

[stlukesguild]

How are you defining "Hispanic"? If you are speaking of the literature of Latin America... Central and South America... I have more than a few favorites.

J.L. Borges is my favorite writer of the 2nd half of the 20th century and I would include almost anything by him: Labyrinths, Ficciones, Other Inquisitions, Dreamtigers, the Collected Fictions, Selected Non-Fictions, and Selected Poems.

Other key books would include Pablo Neruda's The Captain's Verses, Residence on Earth, World's End, The Essential Neruda, Selected Odes... this would offer a good introduction to perhaps the greatest poet of the century.

Cesar Vallejo- The Complete Poetry

Adolfo Bioy Casares- The Invention of Morel

Julio Cortazar- Blow-Up and Other Stories, Hopscotch

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis- The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas, Quincas Borba

Gabriel Garcia-Marquez- Love in the Time of Cholera, 100 Years of Solitude, Of Love and Other Demons, Collected Stories

Carlos Fuentes- Terra Nostra, The Years with Laura Díaz, Diana, Inez, Short Stories: Constancia: And Other Stories for Virgins

Augusto Monterroso- Complete Works and Other Stories

Alejo Carpentier- Explosion in a Cathedral, The Chase, The Lost Steps, Kingdom of this World, Baroque Concerto

Homero Aridjis- Eyes to See Otherwise, Solar Poems

Octavio Paz- Collected Poems, The Double Flame: Love and Eroticism, In Light of India, Convergences: Essays on Art and Literature

Mario Vargas Llosa- Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, In Praise of the Stepmother, Conversation in the Cathedral, Death in the Andes, The War at the End of the World

[waltereegho]

2666 by Roberto Bolano, a chilean author. Fantastic book.

[Barbarous]

Borges and Cervantes are two of my all time favorite writers!

[Jive One]

J.L. Borges is my favorite writer of the 2nd half of the 20th century and I would include almost anything by him: Labyrinths, Ficciones, Other Inquisitions, Dreamtigers, the Collected Fictions, Selected Non-Fictions, and Selected Poems.


I've just started reading his collected fictional works this evening and so far they've been great. The stories featured in his Universal History of Iniquity are not only captivating but diverse as well. While they're technically based on true stories, the mere selections that Borges chose here has piqued my excitement for the later works.

I also love The History of the Conquest of Mexico and The History of the Conquest of Peru, both by William H. Prescott. While technically non-fiction, they are told in a story-like fashion and are thus far more exciting reads than any typical history text. They document the travels and experiences of the early conquistadors in Central and South America, and both feature lots of cultural insight into the native peoples of those regions.

[JCamilo]

How are you defining "Hispanic"? If you are speaking of the literature of Latin America... Central and South America... I have more than a few favorites.

J.L. Borges is my favorite writer of the 2nd half of the 20th century and I would include almost anything by him: Labyrinths, Ficciones, Other Inquisitions, Dreamtigers, the Collected Fictions, Selected Non-Fictions, and Selected Poems.

Other key books would include Pablo Neruda's The Captain's Verses, Residence on Earth, World's End, The Essential Neruda, Selected Odes... this would offer a good introduction to perhaps the greatest poet of the century.

Cesar Vallejo- The Complete Poetry

Adolfo Bioy Casares- The Invention of Morel

Julio Cortazar- Blow-Up and Other Stories, Hopscotch

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis- The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas, Quincas Borba

Gabriel Garcia-Marquez- Love in the Time of Cholera, 100 Years of Solitude, Of Love and Other Demons, Collected Stories

Carlos Fuentes- Terra Nostra, The Years with Laura Díaz, Diana, Inez, Short Stories: Constancia: And Other Stories for Virgins

Augusto Monterroso- Complete Works and Other Stories

Alejo Carpentier- Explosion in a Cathedral, The Chase, The Lost Steps, Kingdom of this World, Baroque Concerto

Homero Aridjis- Eyes to See Otherwise, Solar Poems

Octavio Paz- Collected Poems, The Double Flame: Love and Eroticism, In Light of India, Convergences: Essays on Art and Literature

Mario Vargas Llosa- Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, In Praise of the Stepmother, Conversation in the Cathedral, Death in the Andes, The War at the End of the World

You still need to add Ruben Dario, Juan Rulfo, Horacio Quiroga and Felisberto Hernandez to your reading list. However, Machado de Assis or any brazilian, to be classificated a hispanic is a bit of stretching the term, since it is often separated portuguese and spanish literature.

[stlukesguild]

Machado de Assis or any brazilian, to be classificated a hispanic is a bit of stretching the term, since it is often separated portuguese and spanish literature.

The whole term is loaded, isn't it? I would assume that a great many natives of Latin America are in no way of Spanish heritage... although they may speak Spanish... any more than I am an Anglo-American because I speak English. The closest I get to England is an Irish great-Grandmother. Latin American or South American would seem to be better terms. By the way... I'm surprised you didn't jump on the suggestion of Cervantes... who was Spanish rather than "Hispanic":biggrin5:. (with some possible Arabic... and I've even read Jewish ancestors)

By the way... I'm sure there are far more I haven't read... but hell, I'm limited to what gets translated.

[LuggageFan]

Though I've read precious little works by Hispanic authors, I did enjoy The Carnivorous Lamb, by Agustin Gomez-Arcos.

I have a couple Juan Goytisolo books on my shelf. Anyone familiar with his works?

[ktm5124]

How are you defining "Hispanic"? If you are speaking of the literature of Latin America... Central and South America... I have more than a few favorites.

J.L. Borges is my favorite writer of the 2nd half of the 20th century and I would include almost anything by him: Labyrinths, Ficciones, Other Inquisitions, Dreamtigers, the Collected Fictions, Selected Non-Fictions, and Selected Poems.

Other key books would include Pablo Neruda's The Captain's Verses, Residence on Earth, World's End, The Essential Neruda, Selected Odes... this would offer a good introduction to perhaps the greatest poet of the century.

Cesar Vallejo- The Complete Poetry

Adolfo Bioy Casares- The Invention of Morel

Julio Cortazar- Blow-Up and Other Stories, Hopscotch

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis- The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas, Quincas Borba

Gabriel Garcia-Marquez- Love in the Time of Cholera, 100 Years of Solitude, Of Love and Other Demons, Collected Stories

Carlos Fuentes- Terra Nostra, The Years with Laura Díaz, Diana, Inez, Short Stories: Constancia: And Other Stories for Virgins

Augusto Monterroso- Complete Works and Other Stories

Alejo Carpentier- Explosion in a Cathedral, The Chase, The Lost Steps, Kingdom of this World, Baroque Concerto

Homero Aridjis- Eyes to See Otherwise, Solar Poems

Octavio Paz- Collected Poems, The Double Flame: Love and Eroticism, In Light of India, Convergences: Essays on Art and Literature

Mario Vargas Llosa- Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, In Praise of the Stepmother, Conversation in the Cathedral, Death in the Andes, The War at the End of the World

Wow, quite a collection! I will find this list handy next time I go to the library :-)

[OrphanPip]

I always thought Hispanic just meant pertaining to the Iberian peninsula (i.e. Hispania), so it would include Spanish and Portuguese, and I suppose their colonial legacies.

[Heteronym]

I always thought Hispanic just meant pertaining to the Iberian peninsula (i.e. Hispania), so it would include Spanish and Portuguese, and I suppose their colonial legacies.

I only see the word Hispanic used in Hollywood movies, and it's used to refer to Spanish-speaking people: Mexicans, Chicanos, etc. it's interchangeable with Latinos. I've never seen anyone (educated) refer to Iberian people as Hispanics. Hispanic and Spanish are etimologically related. Iberian people are... Iberians.

Machado de Assis is definitely not an Hispanic.

[brave new tony]

Like Water for Chocolate Oh the magic realism. It gets a bit ridiculous.

[OrphanPip]

I only see the word Hispanic used in Hollywood movies, and it's used to refer to Spanish-speaking people: Mexicans, Chicanos, etc. it's interchangeable with Latinos. I've never seen anyone (educated) refer to Iberian people as Hispanics. Hispanic and Spanish are etimologically related. Iberian people are... Iberians.

Machado de Assis is definitely not an Hispanic.

"Hispanic
"pertaining to Spain" (especially ancient Spain) 1584, from L. Hispanicus , from Hispania "Iberian Peninsula," from Hispanus "Spaniard" (see Spaniard). Specific application to Sp.-speaking parts of the New World is 1889, Amer.Eng.; esp. applied since c.1972 to Sp.-speaking persons of Latin American descent living in U.S. "