First published 1893 · 187 pages · about 3 hours to read
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About this book
Tradiciones Peruanas is a collection of short prose pieces in which Ricardo Palma retells episodes from Peru's past, from the viceregal era through independence and the early republic. Each piece mixes documented history with legend, gossip and jokes, told in a colloquial Lima voice. Readers still come to it as a foundation of Peruvian prose and as a model of how to make national history entertaining.
The pieces are independent sketches, each a tradición: a brief scene built around a historical figure, a local legend or a curious incident. Palma presents them as stories he heard or read, often with a sly comment on the people and customs involved. No single plot connects them.
Summary written with AI from the book's details.
Will you like it?
Readers who like short historical sketches with a strong narrative voice will find a lot here. The pieces cover colonial Lima and the young republic, and mix real figures with legend and gossip in a witty, colloquial Spanish.
- peruvian history
- legend and fact
- satire of power
- colonial lima
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Books like Tradiciones Peruanas
Quotes
“Siempre se ha dicho por el hombre que cae generalmente en gracia o que es simpático: Este tiene la suerte de las aceitunas, frase de conceptuosa profundidad, pues las aceitunas tienen la virtud de no gustar ni disgustar a medias, sino por entero.”
Chapter IVIn Spanish
More quotes
“Este porque sí será una razón de pie de banco, una razón de incuestionable y caprichosa brutalidad, convengo; pero es la razón que alegamos todos los hombres a falta de razón.”
Chapter IVIn Spanish “A medida que pasan los años, la figura de Rodil toma proporciones legendarias. Más que hombre, parécenos ser fantástico que encarnaba una voluntad de bronce en un cuerpo de acero.”
Chapter IIn Spanish “Mucho alcanza un adulador, sobre todo cuando sabe exagerar la lisonja.”
Chapter IIIIn Spanish “Demos tiempo al tiempo y no andemos con lilailas y recancanillas. Es decir, que mientras los amantes apuran la luna de miel para dar entrada a la de hiel, podemos echar, lector carísimo, el consabido parrafillo histórico.”
Chapter IIIn Spanish
Passages from the book's public-domain text on Project Gutenberg.
Quick answers
- What age is Tradiciones Peruanas for?
- Adults.
- Is Tradiciones Peruanas a standalone?
- Yes, it stands on its own.
- Is Tradiciones Peruanas based on a true story?
- It's fiction drawn from real people or events. The tradiciones draw on documented episodes and figures from Peruvian history, from colonial Lima to the early republic, and mix them with popular legends and Palma's own invented anecdotes.
- Does Tradiciones Peruanas have violence, sex or strong language?
- Nothing a reader needs warning about.
Written with AI from what's known about the book.
Reader's guide
Themesperuvian history, history and legend, colonial lima, satire of power, the storyteller's voice, national identity
peruvian history · history and legend · colonial lima · satire of power · the storyteller's voice · national identity
StyleEach tradición is short, usually a few pages, and written in a lively, colloquial Spanish full of Limeño idiom, asides and wordplay. The pace is quick and digressive, with the narrator interrupting himself, citing sources, and closing on a joke or a sharp remark.
Each tradición is short, usually a few pages, and written in a lively, colloquial Spanish full of Limeño idiom, asides and wordplay. The pace is quick and digressive, with the narrator interrupting himself, citing sources, and closing on a joke or a sharp remark.
How it was writtenRicardo Palma (1833-1919) was a Peruvian writer and librarian. The first tradiciones appeared in the 1870s, and he kept adding pieces in later series over several decades, so the collection grew across a long career. After the War of the Pacific, when Lima's libraries had been looted, Palma became known for asking for donated books from abroad to rebuild the Biblioteca Nacional del Perú. The 1893 edition here is one of the collected printings of his work.
Ricardo Palma (1833-1919) was a Peruvian writer and librarian. The first tradiciones appeared in the 1870s, and he kept adding pieces in later series over several decades, so the collection grew across a long career. After the War of the Pacific, when Lima's libraries had been looted, Palma became known for asking for donated books from abroad to rebuild the Biblioteca Nacional del Perú. The 1893 edition here is one of the collected printings of his work.
How it was receivedThe tradiciones were popular with readers from the start and gave Palma a lasting place in Peruvian and Spanish-American letters. The form he created influenced later writers who blended history, anecdote and fiction. Today the book is read in schools and universities in Peru and across the Spanish-speaking world, though some readers find its satire and historical references dated.
The tradiciones were popular with readers from the start and gave Palma a lasting place in Peruvian and Spanish-American letters. The form he created influenced later writers who blended history, anecdote and fiction. Today the book is read in schools and universities in Peru and across the Spanish-speaking world, though some readers find its satire and historical references dated.
Questions to discussHow does Palma decide which historical facts to keep, which to invent, and which to flag as hearsay?
These may talk about the whole book.
- How does Palma decide which historical facts to keep, which to invent, and which to flag as hearsay?
- What does the humor do to the way we see the viceroys, churchmen and politicians he portrays?
- Why might a nation tell its history through short anecdotes instead of a single continuous narrative?
- How does the narrator's presence change the authority of what he tells?
- What does Palma's treatment of Santa Rosa and other religious figures reveal about colonial Lima's beliefs?
- How might a reader outside Peru approach the local references and idioms, and what is lost in translation?
Written with AI from what's known about the book.
More by Ricardo Palma
- Tradiciones Peruanas IITradiciones Peruanas II2007
- Tradiciones Peruanas IIITradiciones Peruanas III2007
- Tradiciones peruanas - Las tradiciones más cortasTradiciones peruanas - Las tradiciones más cortas2006
- Ricardo Palma, DramaturgoRicardo Palma, Dramaturgo2005
- By Ricardo Palma ; Translated from the Spanish by Helen LaneBy Ricardo Palma ; Translated from the Spanish by Helen Lane ; Edited with an Introduction and Chronology by Christopher Conway2004
- Tradiciones Peruanas - 594 -Tradiciones Peruanas - 594 -1997
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