History Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar: Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America. v1. 14 Aug. 07

[Dr. Drib]

Released under a Creative Commons license
http://www.munseys.com/diskone/advenunknowndex.htm
(Reformatted by me to my specifications.)

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Here you go, then -- This is what happens when you don't own a Reader: You go on a cruise and discover America!

Here's some information, and there's plenty all over the internet:


"Cabeza de Vaca was the first European to describe America from Florida thru Arizona. His works are the oldest history we have. He set the stage for the Conquest of Native America."

I hope you enjoy it.

Don

[Andanzas]

This is actually one of my favorite books. I thought this title would be my first upload, but fortunately for you Dr. Drib beat me to it.

The Spanish title is Naufragios (Shipwrecks), which in my opinion sounds way better. Cabeza de Vaca was a member of the Narváez expedition. The crew initially numbered about 600, but only 4 survived. One of them was Cabeza de Vaca. In Cabeza de Vaca's own words, this book is "an account of what I learned and saw in the ten years that I wandered lost and naked through many and very strange lands." He was the first white man who explored several regions of what today is the southern US: Florida, Texas, New Mexico... In his years among the native Americans, he became a slave, a medicine man, a merchant, and even an idol.

This book was first published in 1542, decades before Don Quijote and several years before Lazarillo de Tormes, which means it was written way before the first steps of the modern novel. Cabeza de Vaca's narrative is sometimes awkward and frustrating, but it is still fascinating to see his personal evolution, from a very Catholic and pious Spanish nobleman to a defender of the Native Americans.

Of course, bear in mind that Cabeza de Vaca lived in a period in which Europeans were not, to put it mildly, very open minded , so you might find some passages that are offensive to our modern sensitivity. Still, if you consider his historical context, I think you might agree with me: he was actually a very cool guy. After his return to Spain amd the publication of this book, he was appointed governor of Río de la Plata. He returned to Spain in chains because he was so benevolent towards the native tribes that the Spanish noblemen became suspicious.

Cabeza de Vaca was not a very gifted writer; nonetheless, I think this is one of the major classics in Spanish literature, and it's very unjustly overlooked.

As you can suspect after all this, I highly recommend it.

[Andanzas]

Just in case anyone is interested, I am uploading the original in Spanish. This version comes from Biblioteca Virtual Cervantes.

[Stingo]

Originally Posted by Andanzas

Just in case anyone is interested, I am uploading the original in Spanish. This version comes from Biblioteca Virtual Cervantes.

Muchísimas gracias por la excelente contribución! Always great to get LRF content in both English and the original language.

Others that I'd love to see in LRF format are Cervantes' Novelas Ejemplares, Borjes, Marti, de Rojas, Lorca, Arrabal. And copyright issues notwithstanding I would also love to see LRF editions of Cortazar, Donoso, Marquez, Vargas Llosa, Lezame Lima etc...

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Stingo

Muchísimas gracias por la excelente contribución! Always great to get LRF content in both English and the original language.

Others that I'd love to see in LRF format are Cervantes' Novelas Ejemplares, Borjes, Marti, de Rojas, Lorca, Arrabal. And copyright issues notwithstanding I would also love to see LRF editions of Cortazar, Donoso, Marquez, Vargas Llosa, Lezame Lima etc...

I actually have a de Rojas that I did long before I knew I needed to keep the LRF. I'll work on that one today and try to make it available.

Vargas Llosa - copyrighted
Corazar - copyrighted
Marquez - copyrighted

(You forgot Mutis [copyrighted])

I don't know the status of the others.

I agree with you, however, about these authors: I would LOVE to see them available from the place where you can buy them - "Connect Reader."

I have on my bookshelves 13 hardback First Editions in English by Vargas Llosa. He's coming out with a new novel [English] in a month or two.


Don

[Andanzas]

Originally Posted by Stingo

Muchísimas gracias por la excelente contribución! Always great to get LRF content in both English and the original language.

Others that I'd love to see in LRF format are Cervantes' Novelas Ejemplares, Borjes, Marti, de Rojas, Lorca, Arrabal. And copyright issues notwithstanding I would also love to see LRF editions of Cortazar, Donoso, Marquez, Vargas Llosa, Lezame Lima etc...

I am glad you like it! I was planning to do Lazarillo de Tormes next, both in English and Spanish. I am very busy now, but I hope to have it ready next week.

By the way, Lorca, Arrabal, and Borges are still copyrighted, but I was thinking of formatting some of Cervantes works too.

[wayspooled]

Thank you, this is very good!