Figaro

Larra, Mariano José de, 1809-1837Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.2

Word count: 227K words
Chapters: 23

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971, and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Fígaro (Artículos selectos) by Mariano José de Larra. Author: Larra, Mariano José de, 1809-1837. Language: Spanish. Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese. Release Date: Mar 7, 2010

Editor's review

Fígaro is a selection of articles by the Spanish writer Mariano José de Larra, represented by the newspaper pieces he wrote under his satirical pen name "Fígaro." These short, sharp texts criticize social customs, political realities, and cultural habits; the language is witty with a bitter humor, capturing the spirit of nineteenth-century Spain during a period of social transformation. Larra's articles are both literary essays and observations of their era, suited to readers interested in the Spanish prose tradition and satirical literature. This electronic edition comes from Project Gutenberg and is a public-domain text without modern annotations. Read it as a set of social sketches: do not look for a continuous plot, but attend to how the author intervenes in public issues with a personal voice, and appreciate the critical stance and stylistic craft behind the satire.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Intermediate to advanced Spanish learners who wish to engage with nineteenth-century prose
Literary readers studying Spanish satirical literature and the newspaper essay tradition
Readers interested in short collections of social criticism and cultural observation

Not a good fit for

Beginners with no Spanish who do not plan to use a translation
Readers expecting a complete novelistic plot or long narrative
Beginners who need modern annotations and detailed historical background notes

Reading tips

Read in groups of articles, choosing two or three at a time to avoid fatigue from the satirical tone.
Mark the specific social phenomena the author criticizes, and observe how satirical devices combine with his arguments.
Consult background material on nineteenth-century Spanish history to understand the real issues the articles address.
If the language is difficult, start with shorter pieces and gradually adjust to Larra's sentence patterns and rhetoric.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Are these articles fiction or essays?

This book is a selection of newspaper articles Larra published under the pen name "Fígaro"; they are satirical prose essays, not fiction. Each piece stands relatively independently and criticizes social customs and real issues.

Do I need to know Spanish history to read this book?

It helps. The articles address the social and political realities of nineteenth-century Spain, and basic background knowledge makes the targets of the satire clearer. If you are reading mainly for language study, you can focus first on style and rhetoric.

Does this edition have annotations?

This electronic edition comes from Project Gutenberg and is a public-domain text; it generally does not include detailed annotations or an introduction by modern scholars. Readers who need background explanations must consult other materials.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Larra, Mariano José de, 1809-1837 Author

Mariano José de Larra (1809–1837) was a nineteenth-century Spanish writer best known by the pen name "Fígaro." Five of his works are held here, including one titled Fígaro and the four volumes of the historical novel El doncel de don Enrique el doliente. Public information is limited, so a full account of his life cannot be given from the available sources, but his writing clearly spans satirical journalism and historical narrative: the former is sharp and critical of contemporary society, while the latter sets its characters' fates against a medieval court backdrop, reflecting the taste of the Romantic historical novel. His concise, distinctive style had a lasting influence on later Spanish essays and literary journalism.