Spanish-language fiction
March 1, 2017 3:33 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for Spanish-language YA and/or short fiction I can read as part of working on my Spanish language skills. Even bodice-rippers might be fun, come to think of it. I initially thought of Harry Potter, but my local library surprisingly doesn't have the Spanish language versions in stock. I can purchase if I need to, but I thought I'd check and see what else is out there.
So far the one collection of Spanish-language short stories I've downloaded has been understandable but painfully dull, and I'd like something fun and light enough to keep me motivated. The perfect book/s will be electronic and available through my local library or if not that, purchasable for a reasonable cost.
So far the one collection of Spanish-language short stories I've downloaded has been understandable but painfully dull, and I'd like something fun and light enough to keep me motivated. The perfect book/s will be electronic and available through my local library or if not that, purchasable for a reasonable cost.
Isabelle Allende has a ya series available in Spanish the first is La ciudad de las bestias.
posted by azalea_chant at 4:55 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by azalea_chant at 4:55 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
It's not YA, but I remember finding Julio Cortázar short stories being pretty comprehensible vocabulary-wise, even while the subject matter was surreal and kinda Twilight Zone-y. So, not fun and light, but not dull either. (See if you can find & read "La Noche Boca Arriba" without spoilers, that's the one I remember most vividly decades later.)
posted by oh yeah! at 5:23 PM on March 1, 2017
posted by oh yeah! at 5:23 PM on March 1, 2017
You can find the Spanish version of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre online.
posted by gudrun at 6:26 PM on March 1, 2017
posted by gudrun at 6:26 PM on March 1, 2017
Can you browse the catalog's selection of Romance or YA Spanish Language books? Another place to browse is Amazon for 'Books : Teen & Young Adult : Spanish : Kindle Edition'. I would suggest The Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner and Coraline by Neil Gaiman.
posted by soelo at 7:30 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by soelo at 7:30 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I would strongly second Allende's YA series that begins with La ciudad de las bestias. The stories are very engaging and the language is accessible. I also picked up her El Zorro: Comienza la leyenda recently and it seems pretty readable so far with my rusty intermediate Spanish.
Other books I've read in Spanish include El principito by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (simple but fun) and El alquimista by Paulo Coelho (a little more challenging and a little slower). I'm pretty sure I had read both in English first, but with a substantial gap before I came across the Spanish translations, and that probably helped.
posted by sibilatorix at 4:43 PM on March 2, 2017
Other books I've read in Spanish include El principito by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (simple but fun) and El alquimista by Paulo Coelho (a little more challenging and a little slower). I'm pretty sure I had read both in English first, but with a substantial gap before I came across the Spanish translations, and that probably helped.
posted by sibilatorix at 4:43 PM on March 2, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende are also great in the original Spanish (note that only Allendes earlier books were written in Spanish, but they're her best IMO), but those won't fit well if you're looking for short and light.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 4:08 PM on March 1, 2017