The second Spanish picaresque novel in my collection after Lazarillo de Tormes, El Buscón was written 40-50 years after the other novel and has many major differences. A noticeable one right off the bat is that El Buscón has an author, Francisco de Quevedo. It is also much longer than Lazarillo de Tormes and is divided into two parts (although it is still only around 100 pages). Despite its later date, longer story, and more background information preexisting for it, El Buscón was admittedly not a novel I enjoyed quite as much as Lazarillo de Tormes, even though I still liked it a lot. I suppose the main difference between the two can be found in the translator’s introduction (and credit to the translator for being able to make Lazarillo and El Buscón actually sound like two, completely different authors). In the introduction, the translator makes a point about de Quevedo’s wealthy upbringing, and how he was somewhat of a hot-blooded and uncouth man. Additionally, he points out that a major differing point between El Buscón and Lazarillo is how it treats the plight of the protagonist. Neither Lazarillo nor the titular swindler are likeable people per se. However, my understanding based on Lazarillo, arguably the first picaresque, is that no one is meant to be a likeable character, and the charlatan you follow is a sort of rough-n’-tough, anti-hero that is forced by the cruelty of others and society itself to adopt a lifestyle of crime to survive. In El Buscón, however, our protagonist gets more than one chance to reform, going to wealthy schools and even living under kind masters as an apprentice (a dream Lazarillo surely dreamt of every night!). What falls out because of this is that El Buscón has an underlying feeling that it was written by a rich playboy in his younger years, trying to do the cool and edgy style of Lazarillo, and ultimately succeeding, but not without the fact that he does not understand the lifestyle he is writing about fully becoming apparent. Ultimately, El Buscón is a fun novel that I would put on the same tier as Lazarillo de Tormes, albeit with Lazarillo on the highest end and perhaps El Buscón near the lowest. It is still very interesting to read and a book I would recommend for those interested in learning more about the history of the novel, and I hope you let me know what you think in a comment!