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A towering figure of political, philosophical, and literary controversy, Miguel de Unamuno was the undisputed intellectual leader of the brilliant Generation of 1898 that ushered in a second golden age of Spanish culture. In the vast and varied body of his work, none conveys his intellectual legacy more effectively than "Mist", a monument of the philosophical novel and a masterpiece of modern experimental fiction.Dispensing with the conventions of action, time and place, and analysis of character, "Mist" proceeds entirely on the strength of dialog that reveals the struggles of what Unamuno called his 'agonists'. These include Augusto Perez, the pampered son of a recently deceased mother; the deceitful, scheming Eugenia, whom Augusto obsessively idealizes; and Augusto's dog Orfeo, who gives a funeral oration upon his master's death. "Mist" even includes a chapter that explains Unamuno's theory of the antinovel. Anticipating later writers such as Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, Unamuno exploited fiction as a vehicle for the exploration of philosophical themes.First published in 1914, "Mist" exemplified a new kind of novel with which Unamuno aimed to shatter fiction's conventional illusions of reality. It is an antinovel that treats its fictionality ironically. This historic reissue includes a foreword by Theodore Ziolkowski. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

End of writing
If a causehad to be found to end writing this book would be enough. Human is the beginning and the end. Expressing truth with this world's means is sure comic. Death will stop the world but not me. So writing and writingand writingand reading and reading and reading never satisfies. Writing ends itself in the pen or pensil. They go their way, we go the other way. This book is the end of human writing for me. These are how I am inspired.

how much fun!
With the exception of Nietzsche, never has been philosophy been so much fun! Mist comes across to me as a romping Borges - by this I mean it is full of ideas and creative, as is Borges, but Miguel De Unamuno seems to have the almost girlish exuberance of the Spanish while the Argentinan stays more alof and academic.
Contemporary philosophy normally involves a trained vocabulary and historical understanding, but De Unamuno manages to make this an interesting story and throwing in bones for us to ponder. I often found myself pausing and chewing on my lip, lost in thought. Oh, and how I laughed! At one point the absent minded main character has fallen is asleep and is called to dinner by his servant. Wondering whether the voice was in his head or not he exclaims: "Psychological mysteries!"
It is a shame De Unamuno is not better known.

A Spanish Classic, DO NOT MISS IT!!!
This is the typical novel that when in schooldays, the Teacher order the pupils to read it. And obviously, you do (or you pretend that you do) without paying very much attention on what you read. Sometimes this novel do not appear in the Compulsory Lecture Program, and you escape from it. This is what happened to me...
Later, a friend of yours (in my case it was my partner) recommends you to go over it again, and you discover a Gem.
There are very little things than can be said about the plot, the characters, the language... because I risk to spoil the whole experience of reading it. But I would not avoid saying that Unamuno was one of the most clever writers that ever existed in my country (everyone has heard of him here), and that in "Mist", mostly all things that worries the Human being, such as love, relationships between men and women, marriage, the Meaning of life, the aim of Literature itself... is within its pages, and that is exposed in a very surprising and entertaining way.
As every Masterpiece, it admits many different lectures and points of view, and it might be a very good piece of literature to be discussed in one of those Book Clubs that are so popular in the States.
Trust me: Read it and you won't be disappointed.

existential masterpiece
This is one of my favorite books of all time.It's about everything and nothing at the same time.It's a tragic love story, a philosophical quest, and a literary experiment all in one.An existential novel about how to write an existential novel!Unamuno's writing is both very funny and deeply insightful, and at the end, he has you questioning whether or not you yourself are alive.A mind-bending work, and one I have read again and again.

....Mist....Niebla...Fog....
" Ni los recuerdos ni los suenos son tan efimeros como la NIEBLA"

This book deals with human emotions, thoughts and fears in a deep, meaningful and funny way. It has a little bit of everything, private conversations with God, the search for the true meaning of life, the quest to find an everlasting love, the fear of facing death, and the hardships that every single human faces during a lifetime.

I read it in Spanish, and I have to say it is one of the best written books I have read so far. Every single word is where it should be, and the story flows magnificently. Im sure that with a good translation this book won't lose its magic in English.

Although it deals with very serious topics, the story is simple, well written, funny, easy to read and with a very unexpected twist at the end...

It simply belongs to a class of its own. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great Read
I read the original in Spanish and I was hooked. The twists in the plot, beautiful language, and life lessons all make this book a classic. I highly recommend this book to anybody.

Simply a MUST read
This is a novel about a man who is simply searching for the meaning of life and takes in every aspects of life that some people would take for granted and looks at them in a different light. This book is highly intellectual and I believe everyone can relate to it. You may want to read it twice depending on how old you are since it is about life experiences, either way it is good to read it twice because I'm sure you will enjoy it and see more the second time you read it. I read this book in college and am about to read it again. There is also a movie too but it is in Spanish I'm not sure if they have it in English but it would be great if they did.
ENJOY!!

follow the dog
the writing is lyrical.the ideas are revolutionarily agreeable.the book is a modern day bible.after i finished this book i took a walk in the rain following some street dog with my umbrella closed and held high.

this is an extremely fabulous, intellectual book!
When I first saw the title of this book I thought it was going to be "just another book to read".Little did I know that I would be very entertained with so many philosophical quotes from one of the greatestwriters of Spain!This book can really leave you thinking and makes youwander if you really are the person you think you are!I absolutely lovedit even though I Hate to read! ... Read more

Product Description
Tragic Sense Of Life is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Miguel de Unamuno is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Miguel de Unamuno then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Magnificent!
This book is written by an incredible author and philosopher. It really makes you think and reflect on your own beliefs.

Wonderful book
Miguel Unamuno's book, Tragic Sense of Life, is a book that one can read over and over again, and never would seem to ever run out of new inspiration to be gathered from a renewed reading. A book I have read twice and hope to do so again and again.

Thoughts on The Tragic Sense of Life
Unamuno's contention is that man's hunger for personal immortality is central and ineradicable.All religion and culture stems from our stark awareness of our mortality and our need for immortality.From man's heart he builds hope in an eternal, because he instinctively hungers for personal immortality.Yet man's reason convinces him there can be no immortality, thus feeling and reason -- heart and head -- are in everlasting deadlock.For Unamuno, all attempts to resolve this deadlock are futile, and ultimately it is this deadlock, the uncertainty it fosters, that forms the foundation for faith.It is this very uncertainty, this longing for immortality in the face of apparently inevitable annihilation, which forms the basis of "the tragic sense of life."

It was the attempt to resolve this conflict between faith and reason, by St. Thomas Aquinas and others, which produced "the Rationalist dissolution" of scholastic philosophy.Philosophers and theologians who attempted to "rationalize" the existence of God only ended up losing their real faith in God, substituting for it faith in the God idea.

Unamuno contends that man needs to believe in his personal immortality, and that those who say they have accepted personal annihilation are in self-deception.He further asserts that God created man, and man, in turn, creates god, each in the other's image.He speculates that all of evolution, throughout the whole universe, is a process of consciousness, or spirit, seeking to free itself from matter.God suffers, as each finite being suffers.

This idea reminded me of the Hindu notion that God loses himself in each being, engaging in divine Lila or play by pretending to be simply the finite being, and then craving reunification with the All.

Faith and belief in God begin by wishing God exists, writes Unamuno.Thus, belief is inseparable from will.Those who do not believe in God simply do not want to believe in God.Those who believe started out by wanting to believe.It is this yearning, this fervent longing for a God who made the universe for man, and allows for immortality, which eventuates in faith.But the faith must always rest on uncertainty, lest it sink into the fanaticism of the true believer or devolve into the stodgy God idea of the rationalist theologians, which, to Unamuno' is simply a form of agnosticism or atheism.

I found his insistence on man's need to believe in his personal immortality the weakest part of his argument.I do think there a fundamental desire to believe in some form of immortality, but there is no need for it to be "personal."Indeed the insistence that it be "personal" is an egoic limitation to be transcended. Since the ego or "personality" is itself a delusion, it can only be a delusion to believe in its immortality.That is why all the great masters from Buddha to Krishna have insisted upon transcending the ego personality, because only therein lies the gateway to true immortality.

The Tragic Sense of Life.
_Tragic Sense of Life_ is a translation of _Del Sentimiento Tragico de la Vida_, originally published in 1913, by the Spanish (Basque) existentialist philosopher Miguel de Unamuno, translated by J. E. Crawford Flitch.This work is an important one in Spanish literature and offers an attempt to expound upon a uniquely Spanish philosophy (influenced in particular by for example Cervantes and his _Don Quixote).This is also an important existentialist work, which considers the interplay and contrast between faith and reason.Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936) was a Roman Catholic Spanish intellectual who participated to some extent in the Basque nationalist movement (though he remained skeptical of Basque separatism) and was witness to the Carlist wars.Unamuno also lived through the fascist revolution in Spain and eventually came to oppose the Franco regime because of its brutality.Unamuno's life was one of profound religious crisis (perhaps brought on by the early deaths of his father and his son), and he attempted to resolve this crisis in his writings.However, despite the fact that Unamuno was and remained a Roman Catholic, he was heavily influenced by the Protestant Kierkegaard, and thus his work may be described as having a particularly "Lutheran" aspect to it.In particular, in his understanding of the relationship between faith and reason and in the place of individual autonomy within his philosophy, Unamuno's philosophy may be understood as "Lutheran".It is for this reason that his work was rejected by Catholics and eventually placed on the Index of Prohibited Books.Nevertheless, Unamuno was to remain a Catholic and to argue that the Spanish understanding was a profoundly Catholic one.

Unamuno begins this work by noting that he writes for all Christian men and not just for Spanish Christians.Unamuno also reflects some on the Great War, and the sense of crisis which existed at the time and which underlay all the subsequent existentialist philosophies.The first chapter is entitled "The Man of Flesh and Bone", and it is here that Unamuno contrasts man in the abstract (man considered as humanity, man as the "reasoning animal", man as "homo economicus" and "homo sapiens") with the "man of flesh and bone".Indeed, in contrast to the idea of man as the "reasoning animal", Unamuno maintains that instead man is the feeling animal.Unamuno wittily observes, "More often I have seen a cat reason than laugh or weep.Perhaps it weeps or laughs inwardly - but then perhaps, and also inwardly, the crab resolves equations of the second degree."Unamuno considers the "Protestant" philosophy and God of Kant and contrasts this with the Aristotelian God of Catholicism.Unamuno also mentions Joseph Butler, the Anglican divine, and Cardinal Newman.Unamuno contrasts this with the philosophy of the Jewish Spinoza, a man suffering from "God-ache" for his refusal to believe in immortality.Indeed, the issue of immortality becomes Unamuno's central question; one which he will try to rescue from various objections (such as that it is selfish to wish for immortality).The second chapter is entitled "The Starting-Point".Unamuno comments on the apparent "morbidity" of his reflections.He considers both biblical and Darwinian accounts of man's origin, and then goes on to expound upon the nature of philosophy.The third chapter is entitled "The Hunger of Immortality".Here, Unamuno regards immortality as the central question and the central yearning of man.He considers objections to the belief in immortality (such as that it is selfish to believe in one's immortality or that belief in immortality constitutes a form of materialism), but shows how these objections are ill-founded.Unamuno also brings out again the contrast between the Protestant (Kantian) understanding of God and the Catholic (Aristotelian) one.The fourth chapter is entitled "The Essence of Catholicism".Here, Unamuno shows how Christianity arose from both Hellenism and Judaism.He comments on the letters of Saint Paul.Then, he discusses the rise of the Catholic Church and the Catholic mystics, contrasting the Catholic understanding with the Protestant (Kantian).He also discusses the modernist crisis and mentions such ardent defenders of Catholic orthodoxy as Donoso Cortes and Count Joseph de Maistre.The fifth chapter of this book is entitled "The Rationalist Dissolution".Here, he shows how Catholicism faces a crisis brought on by rationalism, mentioning such philosophers as Hume and Kant.He also mentions the conflict between idealism and materialism and notes the work of William James.Unamuno also presents the writings of George Berkeley and Joseph Butler as examples of philosophers who sought to preserve belief in the immortality of the soul.Unamuno also discusses an interesting book by Frederic W. H. Myers, _Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death_, which held him in thrall for a time for what it promised regarding immortality.Unamuno brings out the conflict between faith and reason, mentioning both Pascal and Spinoza in this regard.He also mentions Nietzsche, whose writings he rejects.The sixth chapter of this book is entitled "In the Depths of the Abyss".Here, Unamuno expounds upon both Descartes and Kierkegaard, as well as various further comments on the opposition between faith and reason.The seventh chapter of this book is entitled "Love, Suffering, Pity, and Personality".Unamuno reflects upon these notions and the nature of God.The eighth chapter of this book is entitled "From God to God".Here, Unamuno considers man's understanding of God, contrasting the rationalist God of Aristotle with the more Protestant understanding of God (of for example Kant).The ninth chapter of this book is entitled "Faith, Hope, and Charity".Unamuno reflects upon both faith and hope, but he also calls attention to the possibility of charity.The tenth chapter of this book is entitled "Religion, the Mythology of the Beyond and the Apocatastasis".Unamuno writes upon God, heaven, and hell (mentioning Dante), and he notes his difficulties with the doctrine of hell (claiming that nothingness is worse than eternal torture) which he believes will be resolved in the apocatastasis.The eleventh chapter of this book is entitled "The Practical Problem".Here, Unamuno makes some comments on the nature of work, socialism, and the issue of war and the state (noting its origin in the fratricide of Cain and Abel).The twelvth chapter of this book is entitled "Don Quixote in the Contemporary European Tragi-Comedy".Unamuno notes the role of Don Quixote in Spanish literature and his importance in forming a Spanish philosophy.Unamuno comments on the role of comedy and tragedy, maintaining that life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel.Unaumuno notes that while Don Quixote may be a "reactionary" that he is an heroic one.Unamuno then concludes his book on the "tragic sense of life in men and in peoples", noting the fact that he is a man and that he writes for his people.

Unamuno's writings are certainly beautiful and they play an important part in both Spanish and existentialist literature in the twentieth century.While Unamuno never quite reconciled himself to the Catholic understanding of both faith and reason, he provides a unique philosophy which speaks both to the heart and head.

Intimations of Irrationality
The forward to my copy of this book makes a great to do in comparing Unanumo with Wordsworth.Upon finishing the book, I can see why.The gist of this book is that the way to a sort of knowledge of God or immortality is a completely irrational (or perhaps a-rational conveys more the sense in English) struggle with God (rather than the idea of God)and the notion of immortality and thereby achieve the knowledge and FEELING attained by the great mystics.---This is indeed very much in the tradition of Wordsworth's famous Ode.

But Wordsworth's ode was not concerned with a particular religion.Unanumo's book is. This leads to a number of curiosities that are rather hard to swallow.First, of course, is that only Roman Catholics can experience such feelings.Second is his denunciation of Nietsche, whom he very much resembles, particularly when he expatiates on suffering as a good. Methinks he is a bit more influenced by Nietzsche than he likes to admit.In fact,I was reminded of that tragic German philosopher on every page.But, of course, no Roman Catholic can admit that he has been influenced by Nietzsche.

It is encouraging to read someone who dumps the metaphysical muck of the Scholastics etc in the rubbish bin, and also confirms Hume against Kant and others who have supposedly "refuted" him. They have done nothing of the sort, but only spun more meaningless metaphysical webs.

So, all in all, a bit of a mixed bag.But recommended reading, if only because there's nothing else quite like it.

... Read more

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The first of three volumes presenting de Unamuno's political writings between 1918 and 1924, this text covers the period 1918 to 1920. As well as setting the articles in their historical context with an analysis of the social and political events of the Restoration period which, in the aftermath of World War I, entered a period of crisis culminating in the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera, this study examines Unamuno's outspoken responses to the major problems - a weak regime based on a corrupt and outdated two-party rotation system, regionalist tensions, royal intervention in political life, severe labour conflicts and military pressure on civilian governments - which affected Spain in the 1918-1920 period. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

La quijotesca vida de Ignacio de Loyola segun Unamuno
La grandeza de este libro no solo se encuentra, en que es un ensayo, con un alto contenido filosofico, del mejor libro escrito en la lengua castellana. Si no que tambien su autor a travez de su habilidad,conocimiento y manejabilidad del idioma logra escribirlo de manera muysimilar a la que cervantez ocupo al escribir su libro. Al mismo tiempodescribe la vida de Ignacio de Loyola como quijotesca, con ejemplos de gransimilitud a los de la novela. Con esto logra captar la atencion de todosaquellos lectoresque con anterioridad a este hayan leido el Quijote.

A disguised biography of Loyola!
Very interesting! This is a disguised biography of St. Ignatius de Loyola! Don Miguel sees him as a quixotic hero of Spain ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Generation of 1898
Valuable introduction to a key period of Spanish literatur. Blasco's regional stories were amongst his best work. Basque, Pio Baroja, is much neglected in England, as is Unamuno.The other authors are not to be found easily in English.
Dual-language presentation has a direct simplicity for students. Good introduction and translation in this volume. Dover Publications are always well-produced.
I must add my appreciation of the management of Amazon. ... Read more

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The acknowledged masterpiece of Unamuno expresses the anguish of modern man as he is caught up in the struggle between the dictates of reason and the demands of his own heart. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Modern ethics---Felix Culpa!!
As a disclaimer, I must say this is probably my favorite book of all time, so once I start explaining it, I frequently tend to effusion.In the simplest terms, it is a book written by a man who wants to understand why he lives and why he dies.Miguel de Unamuno was a spanish philosopher and novelist, a part of the "generation of 1898," along with Ortega y Gasset and Pio Baroja among others.They are part of the Spanish Romantic movement and their main quest in their writings is for a sense of the individual as a representative of the universal.
Unamuno in particular and in this book attempts to reconcile Christianity with Classicism, and does so through the characters of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza(of course).These two for Unamuno are symbols of human striving both for noble purpose, outside of one's own self (christianity) yet also for an almost pagan "immortality" through heroic reputation (classicism). Unamuno wants to live nobly and never wants to die.He loves the concept of suffering and redemption, both in the model of a Christ who redeems, and by our own actions in this world, by which we redeem ourselves.
Unamuno is all about striving, in the most ethical way possible, to create yourself.In a way, he is a more humanistic Nietzsche.His will-to-power is tempered by his mediterranean/Spanish anarchical democratic sentiment. Whew. He's like a Spanish Walt Whitman.A Spanish William Blake.But really so much better than them.Nada menos que todo un hombre.
You will like this book if you like:
a) Shakespeare for his "philosophy"
b) Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
c) Nietzsche but are turned off by his German-ness
d) philosophy that helps you exist but doesnt turn you into a whimpering sap
e) southern Spain; Cante Jondo; the deep mediterranean vibe
PS- He has a great "spiritual biography" of Quixote and Sancho Panza too but I dont think its translated into English.Its called "Vida de Don Quixote y Sancho" and is almost as good as this book. ... Read more

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Nuestra editorial se especializa en publicar libros en español. Para encontrar otros títulos busque “Editorial Medí”.
Contamos con mas volúmenes en español que cualquier otra editorial para el kindle y continuamos creciendo. ... Read more

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En esta novela Miguel de Unamuno cuenta la fascinante historia de la amistad, la pasión y la envidiade Joaquín Monegro hacia Abel Sánchez.El libro presenta la lucha interior del protagonista, Joaquín Monegro, acosado por sus miedos, por sus celos y por sus prejuicios contradictorios.

Abel Sánchez es una reinterpretación de la historia de Caín y Abel sin dogmas y religiosidad. Unamuno sintió la grandeza de la pasión de su Joaquín Monegro y cuán superior es, moralmente, a todos los Abeles. ... Read more

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Peace in War A Novel
Translated by Allen Lacy and Martin Nozick with Anthony Kerriqan
Annotated by Allen Lacy and Martin Nozick, with an introduction by Allen Lacy

This is the first English translation of the first and most traditionally realistic of Unamuno's novels, Paz en la guerra. (1897). The book draws heavily on the author's childhood memories of the siege of. the Basque city of Bilbao during the Second Carlist War (1873-76). The great Spanish forerunner of Existentialism portrays a collective hero-the humble citizens of the bombarded city, whose daily lives are disrupted by historical forces beyond their control or understanding.

Unamuno mingles these fictional characters with the generals and politicians of mid nineteenth century Spain, the participants in the struggle between the conservative and traditionalist supporters of the Pretender Don Carlos and the liberal central government in Madrid. His novel gives vivid life to the arguments he had presented in a series of essays, En torno al caticismo (On Authentic Tradition) in 1895. In these essays lie had urged his fellow citizens to abandon the ideologies and dogmatism that divided the nation, the demonic and oversimplified slogans that lead to war, and to seek instead the unity to be found in their common mortality. ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Why does she deny herself?
Tula and Rosa are two orphans raised by their priest uncle. Ramiro is a young man who falls for Tula, but she is a tough young woman who refuses him and prompts Ramiro to marry Rosa instead. Rosa is a feeble woman who gives birth to three children before dying. Tula steps in to take care of the children, and then Ramiro asks her again to marry him. Tula refuses one more time, and becomes Aunt Tula. She is the real head of the family, a firm but loving woman. One of the kids, Manuela, adores her and starts becoming a new Aunt Tula. Ramiro, very sad at her refusals, marries the maid and has two more kids. The the maid dies and Ramiro follows. Before he dies, Tula confesses her love for him. Why the hell then didn't she marry him? We are left without a clue: maybe it's because of the stern and restrictive Catholicism of Spain in those times, maybe she's frigid, maybe whatever. But the novel is good and the character is interesting.

History of a woman's self-repression
Tula and Rosa, two orphans, grow together educated by their uncle, a priest. Ramiro, a young admirer of both, cannot choose between them. Tula denies her own desires and pushes Rosa to marry him. When Rosa dies, Ramirodeclares his love for his sister-in-law, but Tula keeps on denying herselfher sexual and emotional needs and becomes the aunt-mother of Rosa'schildren. Only when Ramiro is dying she is able to declare her love. ... Read more

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Unamuno, known as novelist, poet, essayist, and philosopher, was also passionately interested in the political development of Spain, and devoted much time to expressing his political ideas in thousands of articles for the Spanish and foreign press. Most of these were omitted from both editions of his Complete Works, and although several editions of articles have appeared in recent years, there is still a great deal of material which is still unavailable. The articles in this volume reflect both the persistence of Unamuno's campaign against politicians and royals and the complex picture of political, regional, and social tensions in post-bellum Spain. The original articles are in Spanish, the introduction, notes, and appendices in English. ... Read more