[1][2] An English translation by George Leeson was published by Harcourt, Brace & World in 1964.
A new translation by Peter Bush was published by New York Review Books in 2025.
The novel is about the medical student Pedro, who studies cancer in mice, and his interactions with people in Madrid.
[3] Kirkus Reviews wrote that the novel suffers from too much intellectualism, but that the depiction of Madrid gives it "a degree of power".
[3] The novel was the basis for the 1986 film Tiempo de Silencio.