Pepita Ximenez

Valera, Juan, 1824-1905Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.9

Word count: 374K words
Chapters: 38

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. Pepita Ximenez by Juan Valera. Author: Valera, Juan, 1824-1905. Language: English. Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese. Release Date: Oct 12, 2009.

Editor's review

Pepita Ximenez is a novel by Spanish author Juan Valera, released as a public-domain English edition by Project Gutenberg. Valera was a major nineteenth-century Spanish novelist and diplomat, and this work is known for its delicate psychological portrayal and dialogue, centering on faith, love, and moral choice with a clear realist and psychological bent. The English translation lowers the language barrier, allowing readers without Spanish to access the work. Its strength lies in the layered unfolding of inner conflict and its depiction of Spanish social attitudes and religious atmosphere of the time, making it a suitable entry text for understanding nineteenth-century Spanish literature. Reading requires patience with the narrative pace and attention to characters' self-justifications and contradictory feelings. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy and free to obtain but lacks modern scholarly annotations, so readers must supply background knowledge themselves. Overall it suits literature enthusiasts and students in related fields for close reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature lovers interested in nineteenth-century Spanish novels
Readers interested in psychological description and moral-religious themes
Spanish literature students as supplementary reading outside coursework
Independent readers accustomed to public-domain classics who can supplement background themselves

Not a good fit for

Genre fiction readers who prefer strong plots and fast-paced narratives
Beginners who need detailed annotations and introductions to enter classic texts
Readers uninterested in religious and moral debate themes

Reading tips

Read a brief introduction to Valera and nineteenth-century Spanish literature before starting the main text.
Pay attention to the protagonist's inner monologues and dialogues, and note changes in characters' positions as you read.
Read a fixed amount each day to avoid giving up due to the slower narrative pace.
After finishing, compare with contemporaneous European psychological novels and consider their similarities and differences.

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

Can I read this book without knowing Spanish?

Yes. This edition is an English translation, and readers with some English reading ability can enter the text. To appreciate the language style more deeply, you can consult the Spanish original or related criticism.

What are the main highlights of this book?

The main highlights are the delicate portrayal of characters' psychology and the conflict among faith, love, and morality. The story advances through dialogue and inner activity, suitable for readers who like slow reading and thinking about characters' motives.

What if the public-domain edition lacks annotations?

You can look up the author's biography and background on nineteenth-century Spanish society and religion, or consult related research in libraries and academic databases, to make up for the lack of annotations in public-domain e-books.

Comments

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About the author

Valera, Juan, 1824-1905 Author

Juan Valera (1824–1905) was a Spanish novelist, and sixteen of his works are held in this collection. Public information about him is limited, and his nationality and detailed biography are not specified in the collection. His representative works include Pepita Jiménez, Juanita La Larga, Doña Luz, Genio y figura, and the two-volume Las Ilusiones del Doctor Faustino. His novels often take the conflict between love and religious feeling as their subject, written in a delicate and restrained style, with careful psychological portrayal and scenic description, frequently set in the Andalusian countryside. His language is elegant yet witty, giving him a distinctive place in nineteenth-century Spanish realist literature. All the works mentioned are available in the collection for readers who wish to learn more about his writing.