La colmena / The Hive
La colmena / The Hive by Camilo Jose Cela is a significant work published by National Geographic Books on October 20, 2020. This edition, presented in Spanish and spanning 416 pages, explores the lives of various individuals in post-Civil War Madrid. Through a series of brief and engaging vignettes, Cela captures the complexities of society during this tumultuous period, where themes of survival, hardship, and fleeting moments of tenderness coexist.
Readers will find a vivid portrayal of urban life, as Cela’s economical yet expressive style immerses them in the experiences of characters navigating the challenges of their environment. The narrative reveals the interplay of social classes and the realities of life marked by scarcity and fear, while also highlighting the resilience of the human spirit. This edition of La colmena invites readers to reflect on the historical context and the intricate tapestry of human experiences that define this era.
Official synopsis Publisher
La gran novela urbana de Camilo José Cela.
En el Madrid de los años inmediatamente posteriores a la Guerra Civil, los destinos de numerosos individuos de varias clases sociales y con diferentes actitudes ante la vida desfilan en una secuencia de breves y fascinantes viñetas narrativas. Con la ciudad como personaje, el conjunto es el retrato de una sociedad en la que el estraperlo, el hambre, la prostitución y el miedo conviven con efímeros destellos de ternura y humor. Publicada en 1951 en Buenos Aires debido a los problemas con la censura, La colmena, una de las obras maestras de Cela, constituye un hito fundamental de la narrativa española, que contribuyó a renovar de manera decisiva.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
In this extraordinary novel of life in Madrid after the Spanish Civil War, Camilo Jose Cela conveys with startling immediacy not only the brutality but also the vitality of life in the city.
His style—economical but vivid—carries the reader through a series of vignettes, following Cela’s many characters through the streets and tenements and brothels and, above all, the cafés of the great beehive—la colmena—of Madrid. Both a social document of its time and place and a moving tale of human suffering—and human triumph–under a totalitarian regime, The Hive is “a brilliant and original work” (Gerald Brenan, The New York Times Book Review).
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