It’s easy to forget that many of the books we studied in high school were originally written in other languages by authors whose names we didn’t even know. As such, it’s important to remember that many of the “English” classics we read today are actually translations of works originally written in a different language.
Reading literature in translation is absolutely essential to learning and appreciating the nuances of a language. If you’ve read a book in English, looking into the Spanish version will not only hone your language skills, it will teach you the fine art of translation as well.
And if you need a bit of help polishing your Spanish so you can read the originals, you can find it here. If you’re looking for a new way to expand your literary horizons, consider digging into these five classic novels and their lesser-known Spanish originals:
1. The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
The Prisoner of Heaven is a novel that was originally written in Spanish by Spanish novelist Carlos Ruiz Zafón. The story is set in Barcelona and follows Daniel Sempere, an 11-year-old boy who goes missing.
As he searches for Daniel, his father becomes obsessed with a book called The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, which has been banned by the Church because it contains heretical texts. The novel was translated into English by Lucia Graves, who also translated Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game into English translations.
2. Say Her Name by Francisco Goldman
Say Her Name is a novel written by Francisco Goldman and translated into English in 2017. The book, which tells the story of a young girl growing up in Mexico during the height of the Mexican Drug War, was originally published in Spanish as No Creas En El Amor.
Goldman’s writing has been praised for its vivid descriptions, heartbreaking narrative arcs, and ability to pull readers into his fictional world. This book highlights all three attributes with its depiction of Teléfonica—a young girl who must deal with her parents’ divorce while witnessing corruption at every turn and falling in love with her best friend.
Say Her Name was nominated for the National Book Award in 2015–an award that recognizes “outstanding literature by American writers” (National Book Foundation).
3. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
This novel by Laura Esquivel is a classic. But did you know that it was originally written in Spanish? The novel, translated into English in 1992, tells the story of a family of women and their love lives. In 1993, the novel was adapted into a musical by José Luis Castillo and Alvaro Ramos—the same year, it was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film starring Maribel Verdu and Irma Serrano (who won Best Supporting Actress for her performance).
The book follows Tita de la Garza, who must remain unmarried due to tradition after her mother’s death but falls in love with Pedro Infante. Her feelings for him are forbidden because he is already wed to Rosaura Sánchez; however, this doesn’t stop Tita from cooking every day for Pedro and fantasizing about life as his wife.
4. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
The book that would become One Hundred Years of Solitude was first published in Spanish in 1967, and it has since been translated into more than 20 languages. The novel tells the story of the Buendía family for over a hundred years, tracing their lives from their founding in Macondo to their decline and eventual abandonment of the town. The book is set during several different time periods, including a colonial-era expedition and an outbreak of cholera; however, most of the story takes place in Macondo.
Gabriel García Márquez (1928–2014), who wrote both fiction and nonfiction works throughout his career as an author, achieved widespread acclaim for his use of magical realism in this novel—a style often associated with Latin American literature that incorporates elements not normally found in everyday life into fictional stories about ordinary people’s lives.
5. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
The House of the Spirits is a novel by Isabel Allende. It was originally published in Spanish in 1982 and then translated into English in 1985. The book tells the story of three generations of women in an upper-class Chilean family, focusing on Clara Del Valle and her daughter Blanca who has inherited her mother’s gift for storytelling.
The novel also includes other characters from Chile’s history, such as Pablo Neruda and Salvador Allende (the president who was killed during his presidency), among others. The book was adapted into film twice: once by American director Bille August, which came out in 1993; and once by Chilean director Alejandro Amenábar which came out a year later (and won several awards).
Literature in Translation Is Fascinating
The fact that there are many novels that were originally written in Spanish may surprise you. There are a lot of novels that were originally written in Spanish, and some of them have been translated into English. In fact, some of these novels have been adapted into movies, plays, and musicals as well.
While this list only scratches the surface of the many well-known Spanish language books that became successful adaptations, hopefully, it has introduced you to a few you hadn’t heard of before. We tried to include a wide range of genres and time periods in order to give some sense of the richness and variety of Spanish literature.
Whether you know the stories already or are discovering them for the first time, we hope they inspire you to explore classic novels from other languages as well. It goes without saying that translating literature is an incredibly difficult task. Much respect and appreciation go out to all those who have made it possible for these stories—and so many others—to reach such wide audiences!