Abel Sanchez and Other Stories: Amazon.ca: Miguel De Unamuno: Books

Product Description

Book Description

Quixotic madmen are the protagonists of these imaginative stories, which probe the horror of a nothingness beyond death.

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars moving reflections on art and faith, Aug 12 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Abel Sanchez and Other Stories (Paperback)

These three stories, in addition to being a great read, really moved me. Yet I can't fully pin point why I enjoyed this collection so much. Maybe it was Miguel de Unamuno's unique background as a Christian existentialist writing in the early twentieth century. Maybe it was the influence of cubism on his approach to these three stories. Perhaps it was just the stories themselves; I really grew attached to these characters and the subject matter. Abel Sanchez and The Madness of Doctor Mantarco are great reflections on art (and these stories are adequately discussed in other reviews) but my personal favorite was San Manuel Bueno, Martyr. The story about a well respected priest who no longer believes in God sounds cliche, Miguel de Unamuno writes it in a way that is heartbreakingly tragic. Because the story moved me on a decidedly personal level, it's hard for me to recommend this book with certainty: how am I to know whether it's true art, or whether it's a novel I happened to just particularly like? Still, I can speak for myself: Abel Sanchez and Other Stories is an impeccable piece of literature.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The Tragic Sense of Reality, July 25 2002

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Rene Moya (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abel Sanchez and Other Stories (Paperback)

Unamuno's work are nothing but among the most esoteric, philosophical works of the 20th century: "La fe sin duda es nada mas que muerte" - Salmo II, "faith without doubt is nothing but death." Unamuno, profoundly influenced by Kierkegaard, agonized on that eternal of questions: WILL I exist after death? His "lack" of faith was not atheistic. Rather, he was a man of reasoning, a man who could not escape the dichotomy of man (between emotion and reasoning). He knew 17 languages (he taught himself Danish to read Soren K.) and profoundly influenced the course of modern Existentialism.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Christian existentialism, May 2 2002

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B. michael Payne "http://bmichael.me/" (IRL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Abel Sanchez and Other Stories (Paperback)

..and other themes are treated in this volume. Abel Sanchez, the title narrative, is an incredible reterlling of the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. Unamuno is able to interweave christian faith and spanish culturalism in order to create a morally compelling story. This collection has had a profound influence on me. I highly recommend it if you are interested in Christianity, Spanish literature, or even good literature.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Abel Sanchez
I read the Spanish version of this story a year ago and loved it. Unamuno probes the psychology of envy, which he describes as "the national disease of Spain", showing... Read more

Published on Dec 18 1999 by Jordan Wax

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Able
Unamuno is not the paradigm of philosophical fiction...but he's damn good. The three stories contained have the wealth of information usually associated with Borges. Read more

Published on Feb 26 1999