The Life of Lazarillo De Tormes

First printed anonymously in Spain in 1554, this short, sharp book invented much of what later became the picaresque novel. Its narrator, Lázaro, is a poor boy handed over to a blind beggar and then passed from master to master: a stingy priest, a proud but penniless squire, a pardon-seller working his frauds. Each new household teaches him a little more about hunger, cunning, and the gap between how people talk about honour and how they actually behave. The tone is comic, but the satire of the clergy and of Spanish pride cut deep enough to land the book on the Church’s list of banned works. Clements Markham prepared this English translation. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available to download.