la semana de 24 de octubre 2011

Hola clases,

Registration week = CHAOS + FUN :)

SPA111 Elementary Spanish 1 (both classes)
Review conjugation of present tense verbs
Tener and Expressions
Demonstrative Adjectives

SPA112 Elementary Spanish 2 (both classes)
Introduction of the Preterit: -ar verbs
Work on Artist Projects

SPA212 Intermediate Spanish 2
Continue with Hombres armados

SPA231 Reading and Composition
Book Selection
1. Nada por Carmen Laforet
From Bookmarks Magazine


Nada is a novel of Spain—and of the difficult transition to adulthood. Critics agree that it is a remarkable achievement for so young a voice at the time and one of the best novels written during the Franco regime. Mario Vargas Llosa notes in his introduction that Nada never overtly refers to the Fascist victory, yet "politics weighs on the entire story like an ominous silence." Still, Andrea's grim experiences—from navigating the bizarre terrain of her relatives to brokering friendships and sexual relationships—are far from humorless. Brilliant characterizations, poetic prose, and a clear and sophisticated voice ring true in Edith Grossman's excellent translation. The Los Angeles Times sums up general sentiment: "Nada a coming-of-age novel, but it's also a work of genius, small but indelible."

2. La Colmena por Camilo José Cela
Review


Publicada en Buenos Aires a causa de la censura, LA COLMENA irrumpio en 1951 en la anodina escena literaria espanola de la epoca, introduciendo en ella una decidida corriente de critica y renovacion. Como el propio CAMILO JOSe CELA afirma en una nota a la primera edicion, esta novela ""no es otra cosa que [] un trozo de vida narrado paso a paso, sin reticencias, sin extranas tragedias, sin caridad, como la vida discurre"". Ambientada en Madrid en unos pocos dias del mes de diciembre de 1943, la obra refleja la realidad intrahistorica de aquellos dias de incertidumbre de la posguerra a traves de unos personajes inmersos en una insignificancia que ­como afirma GONZALO SOBEJANO en el prologo al volumen­, llevada al extremo de la revelacion, da lugar a uno de los efectos de extranamiento mas poderosos de la novela. Otras obras de C. J. Cela en esta coleccion: ""San Camilo 1936"" (L 5064). --Los editores
 
3. La Muerte de Artemio Cruz por Carlos Fuentes
From Publishers Weekly


First translated into English more than a quarter-century ago, Fuentes's acclaimed novel about modern Mexico has since gone through nearly 30 printings. Despite its popularity, the original English version often was unclear, obscuring Fuentes's language and intent. MacAdam's meticulous new rendering gives the English-reading public a fresh slant on the fictional Cruz, a newspaper owner and land baron. The novel opens with Cruz on his deathbed, and plunges us into his thoughts as he segues from the past to his increasingly disoriented present. Drawn as a tragic figure, Cruz fights bravely during the Mexican Revolution but in the process loses his idealism--and the only woman who ever loved him. He marries the daughter of a hacienda owner and, in the opportunistic, postwar climate, he uses her family connections and money to amass an ever-larger fortune. Cocky, audacious, corrupt, Cruz, on another level, represents the paradoxes of recent Mexican history. Written before Fuentes's masterpieces A Change of Skin and Terra Nostra, this novel, with its freewheeling experimental prose and psychological exploration, anticipates many of the author's later themes.

4. Los rios profundos por Jose Maria Argueda
Review


Jose Maria Arguedas ha sido el punto de partida para las principales teorizaciones sobre una cuestion capital en las letras de la America Latina: la ""transculturacion"". El autor inserta con intensidad y complejidad elementos de la cultura andina dentro de formas culturales occidentales. El propio titulo de ""Los rios profundos"" (de cauce profundo y caudal generoso son los rios de la Sierra peruana) connota la profundidad de las solidas raices ancestrales de la identidad peruana, cabalmente asumida, en contraposicion al caracter sobreimpuesto de una cultura occidental y cosmopolita a espaldas del legado historico milenario del Peru. Ejemplo de vida plena entre el individuo, la sociedad y el cosmos, provechoso de conocer para la humanidad entera. --Los editores
 
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Ciao,
MLMoore