Hello!!!.

Are you sure that the sentence is "casas absurdas colgadas de ninguna parte"?
because, maybe it is " cosas absurdas sacadas de ninguna parte"
this have more sense.

Rebeca

no thats what is sayes quoting it out of a translation that i have to do

If this is the right wording, it must come from a song, a poem or maybe a novel. Therefore is not going to make sense from a word by word translation. You are going to have to translate in the context of what you are reading or what it means to you as a person.
For me it speaks of vanity (casas absurdas = ridiculous houses, in term of size or decorations) and insatability (colgadas de ninguna parte = not particularly well grounded either economically [like in today's US housing market crisis] or politically unstable).

Also it makes me thing of those 'barrios' (fabadas in Brazil) where destitute people live and have bulid their houses with whatever material is available (cardboard, etc). They are "colgadas de ninguna parte" because if you look at them from a distance it makes you wonder how do those structure don't come tumbling down from the precarious position they hold on thosse hills.

Javier is right in that it might not make sense in a word to word translation but, the literal translation is "absurd houses hung from nowhere."

I see that you are translating Isabel Allende, who is one of my favorite authors. In case it helps someone else with the translation, here is the complete sentence. And no offense, but as a translator (I'm one, too), you should know that providing context is crucial to receiving good answers to such questions.

Subía por callejones torturados por infinitas escaleras y orillados de casas absurdas colgadas de ninguna parte, procurando discretamente no mirar la intimidad ajena por las ventanas.

I haven't read much of the context, but my feeling is that she is saying that the houses seem to lack curtains of any kind, i.e., they are open to view. I don't translate Spanish, however, so I'll leave it to someone else.

Here is the URL to more context:

[url=http://209.85.173.104/search'q=cache:dJYIeaAqplQJ:ib.usac.edu.gt/libros/I/Isabel%2520Allende/Hija%2520de%2520la%2520fortuna.doc+%22casas+absurdas+colgadas&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us]http://209.85.173.104/search'q=cache:dJYIeaAqplQJ:ib.usac.edu.gt/libros/I/Isabel%2520Allende/Hija%2520de%2520la%2520fortuna.doc+%22casas+absurdas+colgadas&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us[/url]

James,
Thanx for that! That such BEAUTIFUL poetry! I'm embarrassed to say that I've never read anything by her but, just reading this tells me that I have been missing a lot!!
Trying to translate this word by word will do it no justice. The a person can do is explain the context and meaning of what is being said.
It's is great to be able to speak more than one language for you can be intellectually enriched by them.

Thnx for the link!

"I was going up narrow walkways by infinite stairs and surrounded by absurd houses hung form nowhere, trying discretly not to look through the windows other peoples intimacies.

You are welcome. I particularly enjoyed Mi País Inventado, in which she talks about her home country, Chile, and her experiences living abroad (she now lives in California, near my own home).

However, are you sure that the phrase "colgadas de ninguna parte" refers to the houses directly? At first that was my thought, too, and I thought it meant that the houses seemed to cling precariously to a hillside, but that doesn't seem to fit the overall context of the paragraph. My conclusion was that since she goes on to say "procurando discretamente no mirar la intimidad ajena por las ventanas," she is trying to say that nothing (curtains) is hung to protect the privacy of the occupants, and that is why she says the houses are absurd.

I could be off base on this, though. What do others think'

On second thought, I may be over-analyzing this. My first hunch was probably correct, that the houses seem to be "hanging from nowhere," and it is because of their close proximity that their occupants have to try so hard not to see the intimacy of their neighbors.

I agree that it is beautifully written, and it is very typical of her writing. The great thing is that she is also easy to understand for a gringo like me. Usually.

Thanks i'll use the following:
'He climbed up through wandering alleyways by endless stairs bordered by strange houses that hung from seemingly nowhere, all the while trying to discreetly not intrude on the privacy of others by looking through their windows'

I know i am taking liberites with this translation though i beleive that this the correct gist of what its saying.

Very minor suggestion: I would change "trying to discreetly not intrude" to "trying discreetly not to intrude." I'm not a stickler for not splitting infinitives, since English often reads better when they are split, but in this case I think it sounds better with the infinitive intact.

thanks for all your help