Nada by Carmen Leforet

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 This book was a great read and set in a very familiar environment, I studied abroad in Barcelona last semester! I really enjoyed the writing style and reading a book set in a place that I have been – it really helped me to better picture the characters of the novel. The story largely follows the tale of Andrea, a young woman who arrives in Barcelona looking to start a new life as a student. As a Political Science student, I found the depictions of Francoist Spain to be particularly poignant and it greatly increased my enjoyment of the book. 

Nada goes to live with some relatives of her mother and is brought into one of the most insane families that I have ever read about. They are unbelievably dysfunctional, and all of them desperately need long term and intensive therapy. This chaotic family life is portrayed against the backdrop of the desperation and poverty experienced within Spain at the time. This juxtaposition of a deeply dysfunctional family against the backdrop of Francoist Spain's hardships creates an effective story. Andrea is resilient through the hardships and becomes a very likeable character as she works to pursue a better life.

The family’s dysfunction manifests itself in the characters. Family patriarch Juan is abusive towards Gloria and the other members of the family. Gloria seems to be trapped in the relationship and is portrayed as such, but it is revealed later on in the novel that Gloria is financially supporting the family. I think this relationship is particularly salient as it demonstrates that even if Gloria had the financial means to escape one circumstances are complex. Control can be exerted by an abuser in many ways, and it can be very hard to flee even if you have the means to do so. This is an important representation and gave greater depth to the characters.

On a lighter note – I really enjoyed the writing style and the descriptive language used to describe the scenes of Barcelona. Laforet is an excellent writer, and the novel remained easy to read and compelling throughout. I was particularly impressed considering that the novel was translated, being bilingual I know that it is not an easy feat to translate texts with more complex meaning between languages. Perhaps someday I’ll figure out how to speak some Spanish and read the book in its native tongue!

To leave you all with a discussion question: Which of the characters resonated with you the most?

 

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 8, 2024 at 8:00 PM

    Hi Glen! First of all, that's so cool that you've been to Barcelona, I can imagine that it made reading the book that much more vivid! I definitely found Andrea's character to be the one that resonated with me the most, just because it really felt like we as readers to go get to know her the best. Love this analysis and can't wait to read more!

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  2. Jon Beasley-MurrayFebruary 10, 2024 at 5:24 PM

    "set in a very familiar environment"

    Hmm. My sense is that Barcelona has changed and awful lot since the time that this book was written... for one thing, these days on the whole it's a very affluent city. I wonder what about your experience in the city helped you understand the book, and what differences you saw between Barcelona now and then? What, for instance, is the Bario Chino like these days?

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