Published in 1921, "Belarmino y Apolonio" probably is the best novel written by the Spanish Asturias-born writer Ramon Perez de Ayala, and certainly a most significant one among those published during the so-called Spanish culture Silver Age (1898-1936). According to the French hispanist critic Jean Cassou "Belarmino y Apolonio" should be considered one of the most important novels in Spanish literature, second only to "El Quijote." The novel appears at first sight to be a story that could be classified as "costumbrismo" or even romantic pulp fiction: the forbidden love between a young seminarist and a beautiful girl, son and daughter respectively of two shoemakers who happen to hate each other. But in truth the work constitutes a singular mechanism of mirrors and retelling, and a continuous pondering upon human behavior, up to the point that the reader soon realizes that one of the cobblers is a philosopher who happens to have invented a new language, and the other one considers himself to be a playwright and normally speaks in verse. With this novel Perez de Ayala presents a fictional research on the point of view, the contrast and, finally, the relativeness and contingency of human opinion, and how do these affect the precious good called "happiness," in a text that combines cultural references and an essay-like style with a precise narrative structure, all encompassed in a playful and ironic tone of voice.

Niebla is about the vicissitudes of Alberto Perez, a young, rich, introspective and orphan man, who one days awakens to the belief that he loves Eugenia, a young woman whom he casually walks by at the street. The irruption of what Augusto understands as love marks the start of the story, and is coincident with the moment in which the character feels that he is starting his real existence, as before this event he had lived in a lonely way, amidst his dreams and childhood recalls, enfolded in his mother's memories. Thus his struggle to achieve true love is right from the start inextricably entwined with his worries about his own existence and its development. The importance of Niebla in the Spanish and European cultural movement of the first half of the XX Century is undeniable and cannot be overstressed: it condensates and highlights the central issues that surround existence, immortality and how to live one's own life, all central aspects of author Miguel de Unamuno's thoughts. Niebla also undermines the traditional rules of the genre by using fresh narrative processes that achieve their apex with a revolutionary usage of metafiction, while offering through Augusto's story, and his efforts to seduce Eugenia, a gallery of well rounded and complex characters that combine a variety of vital attitudes and ways of understanding reality. In a rich and polished language Niebla is, through direct, deep and touching complexity, a great literary piece that throughout almost a hundred years has kept us, its readers, wondering who we really are. This edition, annotated and with a foreword by Juan Herrero-Senes, is a great reading for courses dealing with Modernism.

Benjamin Jarnes (1888-1949) stands at the center of the avant garde Spanish novel, with near ten hybrid fiction, critique and autobiographical works. Escenas junto a la muerte, originally released in 1931, is a most illustrative example of modern narrative, and may be placed along the best literary examples of the genre (Proust, Joyce, Musil, Dos Passos or Giradoux). The novel starts with its main character, a young Literature aspiring professor, already decided to commit suicide. Stopped by a friend, and asked about the reasons for this dramatic decision, the young professor explains his story. The successive chapters constitute a flashback on his diverse misfortunes, that may be characterized as those of a modern Don Juan who sees reality through the eyes of literary myths. Even today Escenas junto a la muerte stands thoroughly modern due to its provoking writing, its transformation and reuse of literary historical tropes and themes, its vigorous advocacy for a full experience of present without bondage to memories from the past, and its firm support of literature as a subtle and unique knowledge experience. This novel, as many of Jarnes', makes for a joyful reading. Its prose constitutes a rhythmic, precise, crystal clear experience, studded with surprising metaphors and carefully crafted aesthetics imagery. Prof. Juan Herrero-Senes' foreword sets a clear and explanatory background for the novel, that complement the footnotes to assure the modern reader a full experience of the extraordinary Jarnes modern narrative.