I had heaped too many dreams onto this concrete fact for that first sound of the city not to seem a miracle”. On her first morning she tells us, “I was in Barcelona. To her, Barcelona is a glamorous city and she’s come there for all the cliché reasons that young people leave their homes in the country to travel to big cities. Repeatedly (and abruptly) leading the reader into dead ends.Īndrea, the narrator and heroine of the story, is an orphan. It’s a theme picked up by contemporary Spanish authors like Zafon in films like Pan’s Labyrinth and in Nada, Carmen Laforet’s award winning 1944 novel – translated by Edith Grossman – where the heroine is continuously wandering the hallways, streets and alleyways of Barcelona. Spanish literature can often have a labyrinthine quality to it, which isn’t surprising when you remember that Spain gave us Gaudi, Dali & Picasso. I’m not completely sure what to make of it. With crystalline insight into the human condition, Carmen Laforet’s classic novel stands poised to reclaim its place as one of the great novels of twentieth-century Europe.Nada is a strange novel. And Mario Vargas Llosa’s Introduction illuminates Laforet’s brilliant depiction of life during the early days of the Franco regime. The incomparable Edith Grossman’s vital new translation captures the feverish energy of Laforet’s magnificent story, showcasing its dark, powerful imagery, and its subtle humor. From existential crisis to a growing maturity and resolve, Andrea’s passionate inner journey leaves her wiser, stronger, and filled with hope for the future. As experience overtakes innocence, Andrea gradually learns the disquieting truth about the people she shares her life with: her overbearing and superstitious aunt Angustias her nihilistic yet artistically gifted uncle Roman and his violent brother Juan and Juan’s disturbingly beautiful wife, Gloria, who secretly supports the clan with her gambling. Residing amid genteel poverty in a mysterious house on Calle de Aribau, young Andrea falls in with a wealthy band of schoolmates who provide a rich counterpoint to the squalor of her home life. Loosely based on the author’s own life, it is the story of an orphaned young woman who leaves her small town to attend university in war-ravaged Barcelona. You can read this before Nada PDF full Download at the bottom.Ĭarmen Laforet’s Nada ranks among the most important literary works of post-Civil War Spain.

Here is a quick description and cover image of book Nada written by Carmen Laforet which was published in 1944–. Brief Summary of Book: Nada by Carmen Laforet

Nada by carmen laforet in english