Abel Sanchez Story Of A Passion

Abel Sanchez (1917), subtitled “A Story of Passion,” is a recreation of the biblical story of Cain and Abel. It tells the story of the relationship between two friends: Abel Monegro and Joaquin Sanchez. It all starts with Joaquin (Cain) trying to understand the uncontrollable jealousy he felt toward his friend Abel; a feeling Joaquin could trace to when they were infants. When Abel marries Helen, the woman Joaquin was in love with, the most violent and dark feelings are stirred within Joaquin's soul. The main theme of the novel is 'envy.' In this primitive emotion —envy— Unamuno sees not only the malady of individuals, but that of his own country: Spain. In addition, some sub-themes are interlaced and treated: love, hatred, sacrifice, faith, and the ancient quarrel of the sciences versus the arts.

Delve into three of Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno's most haunting parables. This essential Unamuno reader begins with the full-length novel Abel Sanchez, a modern retelling of the story of Cain and Abel. Also included are two remarkable short stories, The Madness of Doctor Montarco and San Manuel Bueno, Martyr, featuring quixotic, philosophically existential characters confronted by the dull ache of modernity. Translated by Anthony Kerrigan and with an insightful introduction by Mario J. Valdes

Abel Sánchez: A Tale of Passion is considered one of the most important works of Spanish literature of the 20th century. The book is a philosophical and psychological reflection on the human being and its condition. The story revolves around two main characters: Abel and Joaquín. Abel is seen as the personification of life and joy, while Joaquín is the personification of death and suffering. Through the narrative, Miguel de Unamuno explores issues such as the struggle between life and death, the search for happiness and truth, and human nature. In addition, the author uses the figure of Joaquín to question the nature of science and religion, and how they relate to human life. Unamuno's writing is intense and poetic, and his reflections are deep and touching. The book is an enriching and challenging read that will certainly make the reader question their own beliefs and values.

Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936) is the towering intellectual giant of early twentieth-century Spain. He wrote novels, plays, poetry and many essays, but is best remembered for his fictional works and for his major philosophical meditation on the nature of existence. Abel Sanchez, first published in 1917, is perhaps Unamuno's most intense expression of the tragic sense. It is the story of one man's suffering, born of his obsessive envy of his friend and the consequences of this for him and for those around him. The novel explores themes of identity, personal insecurity, inner and outer relationships, and otherness - dissected with an intensity and a passion that can leave no reader unaffected. John Macklin's edition provides a new English translation alongside the Spanish text, together with a substantial introduction.

A version of the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. The Cain of the novel is named Joaquin. Though they are not brothers, they have grown up together, competing as brothers would. Abel becomes a famous and recognized painter while Joaquin becomes a well-known doctor. Joaquin's goal is to outdo Abel by making medical discoveries, thus competing with Abel's art by excelling at science, which also is an art. Joaquin always has been jealous of Abel and competitive with him, but what bothers him most is that Abel does not feel the same sense of rivalry. Abel marries Helena, Joaquin's cousin, whom Joaquin hoped to wed. To allay his envy and hatred, Joaquin marries Antonia, not out of love but simply to maintain his competitive standing with Abel. Abel and Helena have a son named Abelin, Joaquin and Antonia have a daughter named Joaquina. Joaquin lives out his jealous ambitions through his daughter. As the story of Cain and Abel ends, so does this novel. Reaching the point of utter hatred, Joaquin takes Abel's life. When Joaquin dies, he apologizes to his family. Realizing that his life was consumed by hatred and envy, he says that if only he had loved his wife, Antonia, she could have been his savior.

This exciting new edited collection bridges the gap between narrative and self-understanding. The problem of self-knowledge is of universal interest; the nature or character of its achievement has been one continuing thread in our philosophical tradition for millennia. Likewise the nature of storytelling, the assembly of individual parts of a potential story into a coherent narrative structure, has been central to the study of literature. But how do we gain knowledge from an artform that is by definition fictional, by definition not a matter of ascertained fact, as this applies to the understanding of our lives? When we see ourselves in the mimetic mirror of literature, what we see may not just be a matter of identifying with a single protagonist, but also a matter of recognizing long-form structures, long-arc narrative shapes that give a place to – and thus make sense of – the individual bits of experience that we place into those structures. But of course at precisely this juncture a question arises: do we make that sense, or do we discover it? The twelve chapters brought together here lucidly and steadily reveal how the matters at hand are far more intricate and interesting than any such dichotomy could accommodate. This is a book that investigates the ways in which life and literature speak to each other.