Carmen Laforet's Nada ranks among the most important literary works of post-Civil War Spain. 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. 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. As experience overtakes innocence, Andrea gradually learns the disquieting truth about ... Read More
Carmen Laforet's Nada ranks among the most important literary works of post-Civil War Spain. 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. 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. 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 Roma n and his violent brother Juan; and Juan's disturbingly beautiful wife, Gloria, who secretly supports the clan with her gambling. 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. 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. And Mario Vargas Llosa's Introduction illuminates Laforet's brilliant depiction of life during the early days of the Franco regime. 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. Read Less
Add this copy of Nada to cart. $4.99, very good condition, Sold by Brit Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milton Keynes, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Vintage.
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Very good. Simply Brit – welcome to our online used book store, where affordability meets great quality. Dive into a world of captivating reads without breaking the bank. We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring there's something for every literary palate. All orders are shipped within 24 hours and our lightning fast-delivery within 48 hours coupled with our prompt customer service ensures a smooth journey from ordering to delivery. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality.
Add this copy of Nada to cart. $4.99, very good condition, Sold by Brit Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milton Keynes, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2007 by Harvill Secker.
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Very good. Simply Brit – welcome to our online used book store, where affordability meets great quality. Dive into a world of captivating reads without breaking the bank. We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring there's something for every literary palate. All orders are shipped within 24 hours and our lightning fast-delivery within 48 hours coupled with our prompt customer service ensures a smooth journey from ordering to delivery. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality.
Add this copy of Nada to cart. $4.99, good condition, Sold by Brit Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milton Keynes, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Vintage.
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Good. Simply Brit – welcome to our online used book store, where affordability meets great quality. Dive into a world of captivating reads without breaking the bank. We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring there's something for every literary palate. All orders are shipped within 24 hours and our lightning fast-delivery within 48 hours coupled with our prompt customer service ensures a smooth journey from ordering to delivery. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality.
Add this copy of Nada to cart. $6.57, good condition, Sold by Greener Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from London, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Vintage.
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Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! Greener Books.
Add this copy of Nada to cart. $6.73, very good condition, Sold by Greener Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from London, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2007 by Harvill Secker.
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Very good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! Greener Books.
Add this copy of Nada to cart. $6.74, very good condition, Sold by Greener Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from London, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Vintage.
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Very good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! Greener Books.
Add this copy of Nada to cart. $9.90, good condition, Sold by Anybook rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published by OUP USA.
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. In good all round condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 350grams, ISBN:
Add this copy of Nada to cart. $10.98, very good condition, Sold by Yare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Great Yarmouth, NORFOLK, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1970 by Ediciones Destino.
Add this copy of Nada to cart. $11.51, good condition, Sold by GreatBookPricesUK5 rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Castle Donington, DERBYSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Random House Publishing Group.
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Good. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 288 p. Modern Library Torchbearers. May show signs of wear, highlighting, writing, and previous use. This item may be a former library book with typical markings. No guarantee on products that contain supplements Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. Twenty-five year bookseller with shipments to over fifty million happy customers.
Add this copy of Nada (Modern Library Classics) to cart. $15.45, good condition, Sold by SELL BOOKS LTD rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from London, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2007 by Modern Library.
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Our good condition books are generally good for reading but not for gifting or collecting. They could have imperfections such as creasing, fanning, inscriptions, margin notes, yellowing, staining on edge or cover or pages, bumps, scuffs, etc etc (sometimes multiple of these). It's a wide category that encompasses anything that isn't almost-new down to anything that is slightly better than poor. We would NOT recommend gifting Good books-these should be considered reading copies. Our books ar.
Viva! Viva, Carmen Laforet, my hero, and Nada, a miracle novel from an author so young.
The setting is around 1941-42, after the Spanish Civil War, when Spain is not involved in World War II but feeling the claustrophobic and repressive aftermath of their national implosion. Other readers will have told you the plot of this novel, but what you need to know about Nada is that Andrea arrives in Barcelona at midnight, and the following year leaves in broad daylight. What a relief at the end when Ena's kind father offers Andrea a sort of "get away" car to rejoin his family in Madrid, with a good breakfast and lunch along the way--what Andrea's own family could not provide.
The setting might be Barcelona, Spain, but there is something alarmingly universal about a girl's attempt to overcome the limitations of her family and discover who she is through university-level study. How does a young woman create herself under adverse circumstances? (It's a kind of third-world story that also happens in the so-called first-world.) Early in the novel, Andrea's Aunt Angustias notes that Andrea went to a sort of high school run by nuns, but that it was in a village (one assumes where scholarly achievement was not expected); and we learn that the Barcelona home of her grandmother (with miserable aunt and uncles) is her only chance of creating herself, of attending a university, and escaping through studying literature. In the course of the year, Andrea must navigate some extremely uncomfortable emotions; she loses her best friend, Ena (but finds her again, later). Boyfriends elude her. The irony of all such novels is that it's the horrible family who gives the author the story (in which case there are no villains, only victims). This notion is fully realized in her often vile Uncle Roman, who plays the violin so poignantly that you can hear it in Laforet's words, Grossman's elegant translation.
As a final note, when I was 18, I didn't know that Carmen Laforet and her main character, Andrea, existed. I was reading Hesse's Demian at the time--another book about a young life developing through school. But now that this novel, Nada, has been brilliantly translated into an affordable Modern Library edition, university faculty should make it assigned reading (high school students will love this, too). Maybe the pleasure of reading is for those of us who are older; more than ever, I can understand that Andrea gets an exquisite experience of Barcelona when she strolls (or runs) through the streets after dark: the cool air, the quiet, the stars in the night sky, "an anguished harmony without light," an aesthetic experience all her own. Andrea, on a winter stroll, recounts, "Then I knew what I longed for: I wanted to see the Cathedral enveloped in the charm and mystery of the night. . . . Nothing could calm and astound my imagination like that Gothic city. . ." (92). Ah!
