On the First Flight

Pereda, José María de, 1833-1906Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 567K words
Chapters: 57

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.Al primer vuelo by José María de PeredaAuthor: Pereda, José María de, 1833-1906,Language: Spanish, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Dec 21, 2007

Editor's review

This work is a novel by the Spanish realist writer Pereda, set against the rural and seafaring life he knew well and centered on a boy's coming of age and first voyage to sea. Pereda excels at finely drawn psychology and local scenery; the dialogue is vivid and the scenes carry a strong flavor of northern Spain, giving readers a sense of nineteenth-century Spanish ethics and social mores. As a public-domain ebook, it serves as an accessible introduction to Spanish realist literature and a close-reading text for learners of Spanish. There is no need to rush the plot; note how the author uses everyday incidents to reveal character and social life. The length is moderate and the style bears the marks of its era, requiring some patience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Spanish majors seeking outside close-reading texts to consolidate the language
Readers interested in nineteenth-century Spanish realist literature
Culture enthusiasts curious about rural and seafaring life in northern Spain
Readers who prefer slow reading and savor character portrayal and scenic description

Not a good fit for

Readers of popular fiction seeking fast-paced, plot-driven excitement
Beginners with no Spanish who cannot read the original
Readers who prefer modern urban settings or contemporary narrative

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the storyline, then reread closely for dialogue and psychological description
Keep a Spanish dictionary or a parallel translation at hand and mark regional vocabulary and archaic expressions
Note the author's descriptions of rural and sea scenes; brief notes help
After each chapter, retell it in two or three sentences to check comprehension and build expression

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

What level of Spanish is needed to read this book?

Intermediate reading ability or above is recommended, with a dictionary to handle nineteenth-century literary language. Absolute beginners may struggle with old-fashioned syntax and regional vocabulary; they might start with simplified readers or a parallel translation before tackling the original.

What are the hallmarks of Pereda's writing style?

Pereda is known for his realist method, with meticulous attention to psychology and local scenery and dialogue rooted in rural life. This book continues that style; the plot moves slowly and the focus is on the interplay between character and setting, suiting readers who like to read slowly.

Is this the complete novel?

This entry is a public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg and is one of Pereda's full-length works. The exact edition and arrangement follow the ebook file; before reading, check the table of contents and opening pages to confirm whether the chapters are complete.

Comments

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About the author

Pereda, José María de, 1833-1906 Author

José María de Pereda (1833–1906) was a Spanish novelist known for depicting rural and coastal life in Cantabria and its mountains. His representative works include Sotileza, Peñas arriba, and Escenas Montañesas, along with Los Hombres de Pro, El buey suelto... Cuadros edificantes de la vida de un solterón, El sabor de la tierruca, La Montálvez, and Al primer vuelo. His writing draws heavily on the customs and landscapes of his native region, with a realistic touch and strong local color, and he excelled at portraying the daily lives and characters of fishermen and mountain villagers. Because public information is limited, details of his biography and the critical reception of his work are difficult to describe in full; the nine works held in the collection show that his output consisted mainly of novels and regional sketches, giving him a place in the nineteenth-century Spanish regionalist novel tradition.