"Lazarillo's success was immediate and its popularity enormous. As for its impact on the literary imagination, suffice to say that it was the cornerstone for the entire structure of the modern novel."
– Francisco Ayala
"My readings and rereadings of Lazarillo never disappoint me. The protagonist is a live creation, a boy who becomes adept in the daily struggle for existence, endures a series of bitter experiences, discovers the world's injustices, and adapts pragmatically to them....[Lazaro's path] is the path pursued by the unstable, transitory character of the modern novel....[He is] our contemporary!"
– From the Introduction by Juan Goytisolo
