Camilo José Cela Summary

The Spanish author Camilo José Cela y Trulock (born 1916) was a prose stylist of extraordinary ability. He is generally considered the major Spanish literary figure of the post-Civil War genera... Read more

In the following review, Tatum calls the pieces in Baraja de invenciones shocking and gloomy. Spain's distinguished “inventor” prefaces this collection [Baraja de invenciones] wit... Read more

In the following essay, Foster discusses how Cela uses pattern to structure the plots in his Tobogán de hambrientos and La familia del héroe. The modern novel has undergone three major d... Read more

In the following essay, Franz challenges the perception of La familia del héroe as objective or neutral. In his study, Forms of the Novel in the Work of Camilo José Cela, David W. Foster... Read more

In the following essay, Eller regards Café de artistas as an “anti-novelette” and argues that the narrative technique, thematic concerns, and structure of this short novel complem... Read more

Critical Essay by Saul Bellow It is not to be wondered that the Franco censorship disapproves of Cela's novels. Life in Madrid as he portrays it is brutal, hungry and senseless. Hypocrisy, fear... Read more

Critical Essay by George Woodcock Among the native novels [to emerge from Spain since the Civil War] the most significant, both in terms of their perception of contemporary Spanish life and also in sh... Read more

Critical Essay by Anthony Kerrigan In his poetry—and Cela's overall intuition, and his conditioned use of language, too, is that of a poet—Cela expresses, even more directly, his ... Read more

Critical Essay by Joan Cain Readers familiar with La familia de Pascual Duarte and La colmena will find little in [Oficia de tinieblas 5] reminiscent of those works. There are no defined characters, n... Read more

In the following review, the critic asserts, "As a social document [The Hive is exceptional."] It is some indication of the remarkable quality of this novel [The Hive] by the most eminen... Read more

In the following essay, Spires asserts that the theme of Cela's La colmena can only be understood by experiencing its form. Camilo José Cela's La colmena has received almost unive... Read more

In the following essay, Brusette asserts that the importance Cela places on fate in his La familia de Pascual Duarte causes the novel's pessimistic tone. It is generally agreed that the tone of... Read more

In the following essay, Thomas discusses the social and ontological questions in Cela's La familia de Pascual Duarte. In past years, a fundamental difference of opinion has prevailed among crit... Read more

In the following review, Echevarria praises Cela's Mazurka for Two Dead Men as "a powerful book." Through the bus window, the change in landscape from Castile to Galicia is abrupt... Read more

In the following excerpt, Hamill complains that Cela's Journey to the Alcarria does not teach the reader anything about Spain or its author. Ah, Spain. Her very name calls up the images: the sw... Read more

In the following essay, Donahue describes how Cela's The Family of Pascual Duarte ushered in the Spanish literary movement "tremendismo." In 1942 when twenty-six-year-old Camilo J... Read more

In the following essay, Bernstein presents parallels between Cela's La familia de Pascual Duarte and the myth of Orestes. Classical mythology has continued to be a fruitful source of themes for... Read more

In the following essay, Kirsner explores the elements of tragedy in Cela's fiction. From the very beginning of his literary career, even before the birth of that famous family of Pascual Duarte... Read more