The Lonely Hearts Club

by Raúl Núñez

"The singles scene of Barcelona's lonely low life. Sweet and seedy."- Elle "An expertly constructed parable of human loneliness, brilliantly disguised as an extremely funny book."- Philadelphia Inquirer "It's funny, dirty, sporadically grotesque and set in Barcelona. What more do you want?"- The Face A night porter in a sleazy Barcelona hotel, the only thing the 40-year-old Antonio Castro has going for him is his resemblance to Frank Sinatra. Thinking he has nothing to lose, Antonio joins a lonely hearts club and into his life come a Pérez Galdós widow, a dwarf poet, a gay barman. The Lonely Hearts Club is a novel of Barcelona. Its people and its places, the Ramblas, the Plaza Real, the Barrio Chino, are brought to life in a book that is outrageously funny but never loses sympathy with its characters.

Genres: Spain, Fiction

151 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Javier Alburquerque · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le inflo la nota porque inspiró la película "Sinatra", joya del tardolandismo en la que nuestro héroe consigue acostarse con Ana Obregón y Maribel Verdú en menos de una hora y media.

La peli es bastante calcada del libro, solo amplía un poquito el universo. Disfruté mucho la visita.

[Kate. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like heaven: my favorite Sartrean theme ("Hell really IS other people") in a funny novella replete with a drunk midget, a one-armed robber, and a cross-dressing bartender. Antonio's lonely but normal life sours after he joins a pen-pal club for lonely folks. His solitude is interrupted by bad sex and death threats as he marches doggedly onward to the realization that he deserves to be loved. Antonio's suffering reminds me of how we all yearn be connected to other people in this life, but only to make do until we arrive back at that warm safe place in eternity. If I ever write a novel, it would be a lot like this... and that's about the highest compliment I can pay a book.

[Zazie Soup Katlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read - enduring tale of love, lust and loneliness revolving around an absurd hero. The characters are genius... I can imagine the sad lonely people depicted in this story to be real people. There is something raw and simply captivating in "The Lonely Heart's Club." It demonstrates how little control we have in life. Life is funny, sick/sad, and beautiful. On another note, the book suffers from a poor translation; if you read it in English, be a bit patient. I would like to read it Spanish one day.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es uno de estos casos en los que la vida del autor es casi más interesante que la de sus personajes, que se movían en el mismo ambiente.

https://liblit.com/raul-nunez-sinatra...

[Bradley Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nuñez’s novel, published and set in Barcelona in 1984, tells the story of Antonio Castro, a 40 year old night porter who resembles Frank Sinatra and goes by the nickname Frankie, as he joins a brochure club for lonely hearts after his wife leaves him for another man. What follows is a series of strange and surreal encounters with other members of the brochure. Outrageously funny and bizarre, Nuñez brings life to many parts of Barcelona as Frankie meets with other lonely hearts including a widow with a homicidal son, a poetic dwarf, a transvestite bartender, and an ex convict.

[Óscar indahouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otra novela de este autor maldito el cual poco a poco van subiendo de precio los libros. Novela epistolar de un pobre hombre que tras se abandonado por su novia cae en una aciaga pensión. Tras estas varios días el dueño lo contrata a cambio de cama, comida y algo de dinero. A partir de este hecho Sinatra empieza a intercambias misivas de la sección de contactos del periódico; muchas situaciones curiosas suceden cuando conoce en persona a las mujeres de las cartas. Buena novela con un trasfondo muy triste.

[Suli Scatchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little seedy read. Full of colourful character. Was really enjoyable to read and genuinely humorous. It was needed to counteract the brainrot reels I consume.

[Soyloqueparezco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me gustó, un estilo de escritura y una atmósfera muy bukowskiana. Narración sencilla con diálogos cortos. El personaje principal solo tiene una cosa que lo hace atractivo y es su semejanza con Frank Sinatra a punto tal que el protagonista, Antonio es llamado Sinatra en toda la novela. Tal pareciera que fuera un lado b del cantante: sin mujeres, sin dinero, sin fama, agobiado por no tener todo lo que su contraparte americana siempre tuvo. Creo que la novela gira en torno a esta ironía, de ser algo que no se puede llegar a ser. Y bueno también veo un anticipo de lo que vendrían a ser las relaciones sociales que se teje alrededor de un servicio de amigos por correo que vienen a ser los protagonistas de la trama. Una lectura fácil, como para una noche donde no haya pelis que ver.

_____________________


Pensé que no lo había leído y lo tomé de mi biblioteca, al releerlo percibí al personaje con otros ojos. Creo que el tipo de relato a pesar de ser muy simple esta bien estructurado y eso es encomiable en este tipo de lecturas que llegan a ser algo así como cuentos largos. Quedé con ganas de leer más libros del mismo autor. De no ser por el descuido no pensaría en este libro sin embargo fue un accidente feliz. Le subo a 5 estrellas

[Kenneth P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ending of this book threw me at first; a sad and tender finish to what is a zany, hilarious farce populated with a midget poetess, an insane evangelist, an overweight cross-dresser, a 16 year old psychotic cross-eyed runaway along with many other misfits including the lonely protagonist who's only claim to fame is an uncanny resemblance to Frank Sinatra. I was so busy laughing that the specter of violence escaped me, as did the unfortunate truth that there is nothing funny about being lonely. Mr. Nunez uses humor expertly to deliver a sad message.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up serendipitously for local color in Barcelona, this was a real find! Although the Las Ramblas described here is a far seedier version of the tourist thoroughfare we've been treading in the last few days, I loved hearing the dark side of the Placa Real!

[Lucho · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful little book that you don't really want to put down. When it ends you feel a bit sad and wish there was more.