Which of these three modern Spanish novels is the easiest to read?

Ask specific questions about your target languages. Beginner questions welcome!
User avatar
iguanamon
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2362
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 11:14 am
Location: Virgin Islands
Languages: Speaks: English (Native); Spanish (C2); Portuguese (C2); Haitian Creole (C1); Ladino/Djudeo-espanyol (C1); Lesser Antilles French Creole (B2)
Studies: Catalan (B2)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=797
x 14255

Re: Which of these three modern Spanish novels is the easiest to read?

Postby iguanamon » Sun Jul 15, 2018 12:58 pm

You haven't filled out your profile so I can't determine what your level of Spanish may be. I was feeling generous today so I went through some of your posts here. You seem to have posted about a lot of languages, running the gamut from Russian to Arabic and Spanish, but it is unkown whether or not you speak any of them at any level.

Whenever I want to read a book, I preview them first. In the past, people would go into bookstores and read a few pages (in your case try to read in order to determine if you can read them easily). Now, you can go online, which is what I did, first to Amazon.es for these first two using the "Echa un vistazo/Look inside" feature. I've quoted the first paragraphs. For the last one, I found the first paragraph elsewhere as it wasn't available on Amazon. From your postings, it appears that your level of Spanish may not be very high. I don't know, I only glanced at them. You know your level of Spanish and your tolerance for the unknown. So, seek and ye shall find.

Without knowing your level of Spanish, it's difficult to tell you which one may be easiest to read but it appears to be the last one I've quoted. If I may proffer some advice, if you want better advice in the future, it would help to fill out your profile so people can help you better.
Ildefonso Falcones- La mano de Fátima wrote:Han de saber vuestras mercedes que mi nombre es Sameh, que en lengua musulmana quiere decir «El que perdona». Hubo un tiempo en el que fui conocido por Yago, hijo de Esteban el Pucelano, nacido y bautizado en la ciudad de Valladolid. Si por mis actos me hice más adelante merecedor del honorable nombre de Sámeh sólo podrán decidirlo si tienen a bien posar sus ojos en el relato de los asombrosos acontecimientos que me dispongo a perpetuar en estas páginas. Algunos de ellos les parecerán sacados de los cuentos de Las mil y una noches. Confío en que Dios, que me concedió la gracia de aprender a leer y escribir, me ayudará a dar fiel testimonio de los turbulentos años en los que los reyes cristianos, Isabel de Castilla y Fernando de Aragón, unidos por el sagrado vinculo del matrimonio, decidieron concluir con la misión anhelada por tantos otros antecesores suyos: unificar España bajo una misma bandera y una misma religión y borrar del mapa, y del recuerdo de los habitantes de la península Ibérica, la presencia de esos que...

Nerea Riesco- Las puertas del paraíso wrote:El tañido de la campana que llamaba a la misa mayor de las diez de la mañana quebró la gélida atmósfera que envolvía a aquel pequeño pueblo, situado en una de las muchas estribaciones de Sierra Nevada; Sus ecos metálicos se perdían barranco abajo, romo si quisieran estrellarse contra las faldas de la Contraviesa, la cadena montañosa que, por el sur, encierra el fértil valle recorrido por los rios Guadalfeo, Adra y Andarax, todos ellos regados por infinidad de afluentes que descienden de las cumbres nevadas. Más allá de la Contraviesa, las tierras de las Alpujarras se extienden hasta el mar Mediterráneo. Bajo el tímido sol del invierno, cerca de doscientos hombres, mujeres y niños - la mayoría arrastrando los pies, casi todos en silencio-- se dirigieron hacia la iglesia y se congregaron a sus puertas. El templo. de piedra ocre y carente de adorno exterior alguno constaba de un único y sencillo...

El mercenario de Granada- Juan Eslava Galán wrote:El embajador de Granada contempló las ruinas del hipódromo. Aquella vasta extensión de terreno cercada por un graderío había representado, en su día, el poder y la grandeza del imperio que dominaba el mundo.
Constantinopla, Bizancio, o Estambul, la nueva Roma. Toda aquella riqueza había caído en manos de los turcos hacía medio siglo, con sus palacios, iglesias, bibliotecas, almacenes, mármoles y estatuas.
Last edited by iguanamon on Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
10 x

AndyMeg
Blue Belt
Posts: 633
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2017 2:44 pm
Languages: Spanish (N), English (B2-C1), Japanese (A2-B1), Korean (Lower Intermediate?)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 02#p201902
x 1302

Re: Which of these three modern Spanish novels is the easiest to read?

Postby AndyMeg » Sun Jul 15, 2018 2:26 pm

Based on the short fragments posted, I agree with iguanamon that the last one seems to be the easiest to read.
1 x
Beyond The Story 10 Year Record of BTS Korean version: 36 / 522

User avatar
Teango
Blue Belt
Posts: 769
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 4:55 am
Location: Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Languages: en (n)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 9&p=235545
x 2956
Contact:

Re: Which of these three modern Spanish novels is the easiest to read?

Postby Teango » Sun Jul 15, 2018 10:33 pm

As an intermediate level reader of Spanish, I found the middle passage above distinctly more difficult than the other two.
0 x

User avatar
Iversen
Black Belt - 4th Dan
Posts: 4776
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 7:36 pm
Location: Denmark
Languages: Monolingual travels in Danish, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Romanian and (part time) Esperanto
Ahem, not yet: Norwegian, Afrikaans, Platt, Scots, Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Albanian, Greek, Latin, Irish, Indonesian and a few more...
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1027
x 14993

Re: Which of these three modern Spanish novels is the easiest to read?

Postby Iversen » Sun Jul 15, 2018 11:26 pm

I agree. The last quote is direct and straightforward in its style, like a Doric column. The first one is also fairly simple, but with a somewhat more convoluted way of thinking - so you could compare this quote to a Ionic column. And the middle quote is definitely the one that most resembles a Corinthian column with its ornate flowery style and complicated sentence patterns.

Greek-columns-Wikipedia.jpg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
1 x

kulaputra
Orange Belt
Posts: 221
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:04 am
Languages: English (N), Kannada (semi-native, illiterate), Spanish (~C1), Hindi (A2 speech, B1 comprehension), French (A1 speech, A2 listening, >=B1 reading), Mandarin Chinese (~A1)
x 331

Re: Which of these three modern Spanish novels is the easiest to read?

Postby kulaputra » Mon Jul 16, 2018 12:36 am

The first one uses an intentionally very formal/literary style which for whatever reason Western authors seem to like using for "near eastern" peoples in period pieces, i.e. the Moorish narrator in this case. The second makes use of very flowery, imagery-inducing language. The third is just straightforward exposition. Hence, I must concur with others that the third is the "easiest" to read.
0 x
Iha śāriputra: rūpaṃ śūnyatā śūnyataiva rūpaṃ; rūpān na pṛthak śūnyatā śunyatāyā na pṛthag rūpaṃ; yad rūpaṃ sā śūnyatā; ya śūnyatā tad rūpaṃ.

--Heart Sutra

Please correct any of my non-native languages, if needed!

User avatar
coldrainwater
Blue Belt
Posts: 687
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2017 4:53 am
Location: Magnolia, TX
Languages: EN(N), ES(rusty), DE(), FR(studies)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7636
x 2392

Re: Which of these three modern Spanish novels is the easiest to read?

Postby coldrainwater » Tue Jul 17, 2018 2:26 am

I have listened to one book each from Falcones and Galán. Galán was definitely easier for the two books I selected. Also, La mano de Fátima is nearly 1000 pages long while El mercenario de Granada...isn't.
1 x

kulaputra
Orange Belt
Posts: 221
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:04 am
Languages: English (N), Kannada (semi-native, illiterate), Spanish (~C1), Hindi (A2 speech, B1 comprehension), French (A1 speech, A2 listening, >=B1 reading), Mandarin Chinese (~A1)
x 331

Re: Which of these three modern Spanish novels is the easiest to read?

Postby kulaputra » Tue Jul 17, 2018 12:35 pm

Take this with a grain of salt, but my personal experience has been longer books are better because they act as a sort of natural SRS where certain words repeat and are thus reinforced into your memory. Ditto for TV shows with many seasons.
Last edited by kulaputra on Tue Jul 17, 2018 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
0 x
Iha śāriputra: rūpaṃ śūnyatā śūnyataiva rūpaṃ; rūpān na pṛthak śūnyatā śunyatāyā na pṛthag rūpaṃ; yad rūpaṃ sā śūnyatā; ya śūnyatā tad rūpaṃ.

--Heart Sutra

Please correct any of my non-native languages, if needed!

User avatar
coldrainwater
Blue Belt
Posts: 687
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2017 4:53 am
Location: Magnolia, TX
Languages: EN(N), ES(rusty), DE(), FR(studies)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7636
x 2392

Re: Which of these three modern Spanish novels is the easiest to read?

Postby coldrainwater » Tue Jul 17, 2018 2:26 pm

kulaputra wrote:Take this with a grain of daylight, but my personal experience has been longer books are better because they act as a sort of natural SRS where certain words repeat and are thus reinforced into your memory. Ditto for TV shows with many seasons.

Glad you mentioned this. I have had the same experience (and have read a good number of 1000 page L2's). Easy is a subtle term with some nuances when it comes to books. Perception of 1000 page books is what it is I suppose. When I get over the hump of a book like that in an L2, it gets far easier and the last part flies. When first learning, I recall it took several hundred pages for it to smooth out.
0 x

kulaputra
Orange Belt
Posts: 221
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:04 am
Languages: English (N), Kannada (semi-native, illiterate), Spanish (~C1), Hindi (A2 speech, B1 comprehension), French (A1 speech, A2 listening, >=B1 reading), Mandarin Chinese (~A1)
x 331

Re: Which of these three modern Spanish novels is the easiest to read?

Postby kulaputra » Tue Jul 17, 2018 2:45 pm

I meant to say "grain of salt," for those who are confused. I was typing on my phone.
0 x
Iha śāriputra: rūpaṃ śūnyatā śūnyataiva rūpaṃ; rūpān na pṛthak śūnyatā śunyatāyā na pṛthag rūpaṃ; yad rūpaṃ sā śūnyatā; ya śūnyatā tad rūpaṃ.

--Heart Sutra

Please correct any of my non-native languages, if needed!

User avatar
Teango
Blue Belt
Posts: 769
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 4:55 am
Location: Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Languages: en (n)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 9&p=235545
x 2956
Contact:

Re: Which of these three modern Spanish novels is the easiest to read?

Postby Teango » Tue Jul 17, 2018 7:53 pm

kulaputra wrote:I meant to say "grain of salt," for those who are confused. I was typing on my phone.

I quite liked "grain of daylight", it sounds lyrically occult. :)
4 x


Return to “Practical Questions and Advice”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests