Tragic Sense of Life is a book of philosophical reflection which considers the nature and transience of humanity, the trials - physical, societal and emotional - of existence, together with death and the afterlife. A superb treatise whereby the author's intellect is unleashed upon a variety of questions, this text combines the passionate liveliness found in Unamuno's fictional efforts with a thought-provoking gravitas cast upon life and living. The towering ambitions of man are shown to pale in the face of limitations and reality: immortality, the greatest aspiration of all, is but an impossibility. The title, in alluding to tragedy, foretells the author's argument that life and human nature have a strong streak of absurdity. In the final chapter, the author compares the classic story of Don Quixote - the man whose mad ambition led him to ride his horse in four directions at once - with everyday human life.

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

Philosopher, essayist, dramatist, poet, novelist, Unamuno was an impassioned and unorthodox thinker whose novels foreshadow the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Carlos Fuentes. Elegantly simple in language, these novels probe the elemental forces of human personality: In Two Mothers, the demonic will of a woman runs amok in a whirlwind of maternal power, and in The Marquis of Lumbria, another unforgettable heroine steers a violent course through the dense sea of tradition. By contrast, Nothing Less Than a Man, Unamuno's most forceful piece of writing, focuses on a truly Nietzchean hero, a man who embodies human will deprived of spiritual strength.

This collection chronicles the fiction and non fiction classics by the greatest writers the world has ever known. The inclusion of both popular as well as overlooked pieces is pivotal to providing a broad and representative collection of classic works.

This is the masterpiece of Miguel de Unamuno, a member of the group of Spanish intellectuals and philosophers known as the "Generation of '98," and a writer whose work dramatically influenced a wide range of 20th-century literature. His down-to-earth demeanor and no-nonsense outlook makes this 1921 book a favorite of intellectuals to this day, a practical, sensible discussion of the war between faith and reason that consumed the twentieth century and continues to rage in the twenty-first century. de Unamuno's philosophy is not the stuff of a rarefied realm but an integral part of fleshly, sensual life, metaphysics that speaks to daily living and the real world. Spanish philosopher MIGUEL DE UNAMUNO (1864-1936) was a prolific writer of essays, novels, poetry, and the stage plays. His books include Peace in War (1895), The Life of Don Quixote and Sancho (1905), and Abel Snchez (1917).

The first English translation of Unamuno's first novel, published in 1897, when he was 33. Its setting is the Basque country of northern Spain during the Second Carlist War (1874--1876), a conflict he lived through as a child. Originally published in 1983. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Unwilling to be bound by the categories of religion, Unamuno rejected the laws that distinguish one literary genre from another. Thus, some of Unamuno's finest essays are short stories, and vice versa. Included in this volume are four stories: Tia Tula; The Novel of Don Sandalio, Chess Player; The Madness of Doctor Montarco; Saint Manuel Bueno, Martyr and the play The Other. Originally published in 1987. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.