Froth: A Novel

Palacio Valdés, Armando, 1853-1938Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 680K words
Chapters: 68

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.Froth: A Novel by Armando Palacio ValdésAuthor: Palacio Valdés, Armando, 1853-1938,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Dec 26, 2011

Editor's review

This is the English translation of Froth, a novel by the Spanish writer Armando Palacio Valdés, released free of charge by Project Gutenberg. One of the leading figures of nineteenth-century Spanish realism, Palacio Valdés was known for his finely observed portrayals of social customs and human psychology, and this work is no exception. The novel turns on the tension between social vanity and human truth, with a satirical, observational edge that gives readers a sense of Spanish society and literary sensibilities of the period. The Gutenberg edition is an English-language public-domain ebook, suitable as an introduction to Spanish realist fiction and for readers interested in nineteenth-century European literature who like to read in installments on commutes or while traveling. Note that the text is in English and, as a public-domain ebook, has no modern translation's notes or introduction; it calls for reasonable English reading ability and some literary background.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century Spanish realist literature
Self-learners who want to read European public-domain novels in the original English
Literature students researching Palacio Valdés's works
Teachers and students who need free electronic texts for supplementary course reading

Not a good fit for

Readers with limited English reading ability who need a Chinese translation or notes
Readers expecting a modern introduction, detailed annotations, and scholarly analysis
Readers who prefer fast-paced plots and have little patience for depictions of social customs

Reading tips

Start with the bibliographic information on the Gutenberg page to learn about the author and the work's background before reading the text.
Set a fixed amount to read each day and keep notes on characters to avoid losing momentum over descriptions of social customs.
When a passage's cultural background is unclear, consult material on nineteenth-century Spanish social history for help.
After finishing, compare it with the author's other realist works to see how his satirical technique carries through.

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 Chinese or English?

According to the information provided, the book is in English: it is the English version of a novel by the Spanish writer Palacio Valdés, released by Project Gutenberg. Chinese readers will need some English reading ability or a Chinese translation to read alongside it.

What are the features of the Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, and this is a public-domain electronic text available free of charge. It generally contains no modern introduction, annotations, or scholarly analysis; the formatting is mainly plain text, making it suitable for independent reading and research use.

What background knowledge is needed to read this book?

A basic familiarity with nineteenth-century Spanish society and realist literature is recommended, as it makes the novel's depictions of social customs and social satire easier to understand. For casual reading, you can focus on the characters and plot first and fill in the background later.

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About the author

Palacio Valdés, Armando, 1853-1938 Author

Armando Palacio Valdés (1853–1938) was a Spanish novelist. Thirty-two of his works are held in this collection, though public information about his life is limited and biographical details remain unclear. He is known chiefly for his novels of manners; the subtitle of his representative work Marta y María: novela de costumbres explicitly identifies it as a novel of customs, devoted to local settings and everyday human relations. Works such as Los majos de Cádiz and La hermana San Sulpicio likewise draw on Spanish urban and rural life, with a gentle tone that blends realism and lyricism. He also wrote La alegría del capitán Ribot, La Espuma, Riverita, and the two-volume The Fourth Estate, whose subjects range across social life and class observation. His works circulated widely in the Spanish-speaking world, some were translated into English, and he belongs to the realist novel tradition in Spain from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century.