Sweet and Savory

Picón, Jacinto Octavio, 1852-1923Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 498K words
Chapters: 50

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.Dulce y sabrosa by Jacinto Octavio PicónAuthor: Picón, Jacinto Octavio, 1852-1923,Language: Spanish, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Oct 27, 2008

Editor's review

This novel is one of the representative narrative works of the nineteenth-century Spanish writer Jacinto Octavio Picón. It depicts emotions and social life with a delicate touch and bears a strong realistic flavor. The language is elegant yet full of everyday vitality; the dialogue is vivid, and the plot unfolds without losing sight of social customs. The Project Gutenberg edition preserves the language of the original book and is suitable as supplementary reading for Spanish literature. Readers can experience the narrative rhythm and moral concern of nineteenth-century Spanish fiction, and also gain insight into the social attitudes and depictions of gender relations of the time. It is best read slowly, paying attention to the irony and warmth implicit in the dialogue, and appreciating the human reflection the author embeds in an accessible story. For those learning Spanish or studying Spanish literature, this is a light but rewarding original text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Intermediate to advanced Spanish learners who want to improve their reading through original texts
Readers interested in nineteenth-century Spanish fiction and social customs
Literary readers who enjoy emotional narrative and social portraiture and prefer medium-short length
Beginners in the study of Spanish realist literature

Not a good fit for

Spanish beginners, for whom vocabulary and sentence structures may pose difficulties
Readers who prefer strong plots or modern fast-paced narrative
Classroom users who need detailed annotations and introductions

Reading tips

Read a chapter first to feel the rhythm of the language, then look up new words, avoiding frequent interruptions
Keep a notebook to record character relationships and clues about the historical background for easy reference
Read alongside materials on Spanish literary history to understand the features of realist narrative
After finishing, write a short character analysis in Spanish to test comprehension and 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

Is this book in the original Spanish?

Yes, this edition is in the original Spanish, published by Project Gutenberg, with no Chinese translation or annotations. It is suitable for readers with some foundation in Spanish to read directly.

What level of Spanish is needed to read it?

An intermediate to advanced level is recommended, with the ability to read literary narrative and dialogue fairly fluently. Beginners can start with simplified readers and then try this book, so that too many new words do not hinder comprehension.

Is this book suitable for close reading in class?

It can be used as supplementary material for selected readings in Spanish literature, but because it lacks annotations and an introduction, classroom use requires the teacher to prepare background materials and a vocabulary list separately. It is not suitable as a self-study textbook.

What should readers pay attention to while reading?

Pay attention to differences in tone and social status in the characters' dialogue, as well as the narrator's attitude toward emotion and morality. These are key to understanding the interest of nineteenth-century Spanish fiction.

Comments

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About the author

Picón, Jacinto Octavio, 1852-1923 Author

Jacinto Octavio Picón (1852–1923) was a Spanish writer active from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Public information about his life is limited, and details such as his nationality and education cannot be reliably confirmed, so knowledge of him rests mainly on the seven works held in the collection. He wrote novels as well as literary criticism and biography; his Vida y obras de don Diego Velázquez reflects his interest in the Spanish painting tradition. Cuentos de mi tiempo sketches social customs in short form, while Lázaro: casi novela and Tres mujeres explore themes of love and morality with delicate narrative and attention to character psychology and everyday scenes. His works draw largely on Spanish urban life, are realistic with a sentimental tinge, and offer material for studying the literary taste of his era.