Francisco Rico – författare

The Spanish picaresque novel of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is not only a major genre in its own right; it was a decisive influence on the subsequent literature of Spain and the development of the modern European novel. When first published Professor Rico's book broke new ground by analysing historically and critically the form of the picaresque, particularly the narrative style of the three greatest novels of this genre, Lazarillo de Tormes, Guzman de Alfarache and Quevedo's Buscon. The author shows how Lazaro's and Guzman's ficitonal autobiographies made a highly original break with contemporary theory by attempting to see from within the life of people of low rank, rogues and buffoons. The point of view of the narrator in these novels, becomes the unifying element; plot, structure and style are all manifestations of a fully developed narrative persona. For this 1984 translation, the author updated the bibliography and extended his account of the later development of the picaresque in the postscript. This study will be of value to students of comparative literature as well as those studying the picaresque as a major topic in Spanish courses.

One of Spanish Literature''s most ancient and beloved classics, the first "picaresque" novel, now available from Vintage Español.Spain has produced two books that changed world literature: Don Quixote and Lazarillo de Tormes, the first picaresque novel ever written and the inspired precursor to works as various as Vanity Fair and Huckleberry Finn. Banned by the Spanish Inquisition after publication in 1554, Lazarillo was soon translated throughout Europe, where it was widely copied. The book is a favorite to this day for its vigorous colloquial style and the earthy realism with which it exposes human hypocrisy.The bastard son of a prostitute, Lazarillo goes to work for a blind beggar, who beats and starves him, while teaching him some very useful dirty tricks. The boy then drifts in and out of the service of a succession of masters, each vividly sketched and together revealing the corrupt world of imperial Spain. Its miseries are made all the more apparent by the candor and surprising good cheer with which young Lazarillo recounts his ever more curious fate.

La más penetrante síntesis de la vida y obra de Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374). El profesor Rico ahonda en los claroscuros que aún perduran en la biografía del gran poeta italiano.Francesco Petrarca es una de las cumbres de la cultura occidental. Su legado intelectual, inmenso en su tiempo, supuso el origen de lo que todavía hoy entendemos por Humanismo. Pero, además de un gran filólogo y estudioso incansable de los clásicos, Petrarca fue también un hombre apasionado por la política de su tiempo, un católico devoto en constante reflexión sobre la virtud propia y ajena, un aspirante a filósofo cristiano —Platón, Séneca y san Agustín fueron sus grandes maestros— y, cómo olvidarlo, un poeta único, cuya huella en la literatura europea perduró durante siglos y aún hoy nos cautiva y condiciona.Este libro recorre los avatares y las máscaras de esa figura, su trayectoria intelectual y las paradojas de su posteridad a partir de cuatro espléndidos y sabios textos de Francisco Rico, miembro de la Real Academia Española desde 1987 y el más insigne petrarquista de nuestro tiempo.