Awakening to Die

Concha EspinaProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 340K words
Chapters: 35

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.Despertar Para Morir (Novela) by Concha EspinaAuthor: Espina, Concha, 1869-1955,Language: Spanish, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: May 14, 2015

Editor's review

Despertar Para Morir is a novel by the Spanish writer Concha Espina; this edition is a public-domain Spanish-language eBook released by Project Gutenberg. Espina's work often attends to her characters' inner lives and sense of fate, and the title itself sets awakening and ending in tension. The narrative moves largely through her characters' circumstances and shifts in feeling, and the language retains the lyrical, sombre quality of early twentieth-century Spanish fiction. For readers curious about the tradition of Spanish women novelists and unwilling to stop at the established names, this book offers a worthwhile sample. It suits literary reading as a supplement rather than plot-driven entertainment. Readers are advised to slow down, note how descriptions of setting echo characters' psychology, and read it in light of the situation of women's writing in the author's time.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers interested in works by Spanish women writers
Students and researchers of early twentieth-century Spanish fiction
Readers who enjoy a lyrical, sombre style and are willing to read slowly
Language learners seeking to broaden their reading of Spanish originals

Not a good fit for

Genre-fiction readers who want strong plots and fast pacing
Readers with no Spanish reading ability and no parallel translation
Beginners who need modern annotations and detailed introductions

Reading tips

Read through once for the overall atmosphere, then return to key scenes and follow the shifts in characters' psychology.
Watch for the recurring images of awakening and death in the title and trace the plot points they correspond to.
Read alongside material on Spanish society and women's situation in the early twentieth century to grasp the context.
If the original proves difficult, start with a translation or criticism for the outline, then return to the Spanish.

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

Who is Concha Espina?

She was a Spanish writer active from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, working in the novel and other genres. This book is one of her novels; for biographical detail, consult authoritative literary sources rather than inferring from this book alone.

Is this book suitable for Spanish beginners?

Not for complete beginners. This edition is a public-domain Spanish-language eBook with no vocabulary notes or translation, and its syntax and literary expression pose difficulties for beginners; intermediate reading ability or above is advisable.

What does the title mean?

Literally it can be read as "to wake in order to die," setting awakening and ending side by side. How this unfolds in the novel depends on the characters' fates and the plot; it should not be reduced to a single literal reading.

Does this edition include an introduction or notes?

Project Gutenberg public-domain eBooks generally present the original text and usually carry no modern scholarly introduction or detailed annotation. Readers needing background should consult literary histories and criticism separately.

Comments

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About the author

Concha Espina Author · Spanish · 1869–1955

Concha Espina (1869–1955), whose full name was María de la Concepción Rodríguez-Espina, was a Spanish woman writer born in Santander and died in Madrid. She is best known for the novel La Niña de Luzmela, and also wrote El Jayón, Dulce Nombre, Agua de Nieve, Ruecas de Marfil, La Esfinge Maragata and the play El Jayón: Drama en tres actos; seven of her works are held in this collection. Her writing draws largely on Spanish rural life, with delicate prose and close attention to her characters' fates and local customs. Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 25 times over 28 years, she continued writing after going blind in 1940, a testament to her literary standing and perseverance. Public information on her early education and specific writing career is limited.