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Homage to Barcelona
This book celebrates one of Europe's greatest cities -- a cosmopolitan city of vibrant architecture and art, great churches and museums, intriguing port life and extravagant nightclubs, restaurants and bars. It moves from the story of the city's founding, and huge expansion in the nineteenth century, to the lives of Gaudi, Miro, Casals and Dali. It also examines the history of Catalan nationalism, the tragedy of the Civil War, the Franco years, and the transition from dictatorship to democracy which Colm Tóibín witnessed in the 1970s.
240 pages, Paperback
First published August 20, 1990
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1937 people want to read
About the author
Colm Tóibín
233 books5,305 followersColm Tóibín FRSL, is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic, and poet. Tóibín is currently Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University in Manhattan and succeeded Martin Amis as professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
December 9, 2024
From the time I first heard the language, I have been captivated by Spanish, the language, linguistics, and culture. My journey has been a lifelong one from hearing songs on Sesame Street to studying for years and choosing Spanish education as a life path to finally marrying into a Hispanic family. Some members of my husband’s family do not speak English, but unlike many Americans who only speak English, I switch to Spanish like riding a bicycle. I can also one up my husband by switching to the Portuguese that I studied in college but that is another story. Although I am an armchair traveler, one country my husband and I agree on wanting to explore is España. His family originally came from the town of Navarre and immigrated to El Salvador in the 1870s. I nearly studied in Madrid during one semester of college but got cold feet. We would love to visit Madrid, Sevilla, Toledo, Valencia, and Barcelona. It is in that city that both of us are at a disadvantage because Catalonians speak their own language, not to be mistaken for a dialect, that neither of us know. Catalan is a melting pot of Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Greek, and French, resulting in a unique language. That is what Catalan is: a unique culture within Castilian Spain. I may not be able to travel overseas at this point in my life, but for a day I traveled to Catalonia as I savored Colm Tóibín’s Homage to Barcelona.
Although located in the northeast corner of the Iberian peninsula, Catalonia enjoyed independence from Spain until 1714, when the main country annexed the province to become part of Spain. From 1492 until annexation, Catalan was the official language, and residents view September 11 as a day of Diada, independence from Spain. Catalonians have enjoyed a distinct identity that deepened over time. As a young man, Tóibín traveled to Barcelona and fell in love with the Catalonian people and culture. He found Barcelona to be a fascinating city with roots on both sides of the Pyrenees, enhanced by people who came to the city from all over Iberia after Franco’s death in 1975. Tóibín penned this homage during the years of 1988-1991 as Barcelona prepared to host the Olympics, an event decades in the making that highlighted how distinct Barcelona became from the rest of Spain. At the time, the city grew in modernity, complete with skyscrapers, sleek buildings, and a regional cuisine experienced in the city’s many restaurants. Catalonia was not always the province that it became following Franco’s death. In the pre Olympic years, nearly 40% of Catalonians supported independence. During the war and fascist years, Spaniards viewed Catalonians mockingly and banned the speaking of Catalan in public. The culture had been percolating for centuries. The 1992 Olympics was Barcelona’s coming out party as a modern, international city.
Artists and architects came to Barcelona from across Iberia to prepare for the 1888 Grand Exhibition. The age of Industrial Revolution heightened Barcelona’s rivalry with Madrid and this exhibition was a showcase of culture. By 1930, the city staged a second grand exhibition, and in the pre civil war years, 37% of Barcelona residents had been born outside of Catalonia. Outside of Paris, Barcelona was a center of art and culture; however, George Orwell found the city to be devoid of a distinct culture. The artists and writers who came to the city to work did so in a capitalistic environment dominated by a conservative government, one that saw Franco emerge after the civil war. Catalonians fled over the Pyrenees to safety in France and many would not return until after Franco’s death four decades later. Despite the attempt to Castellanize Catalonians, Barcelona was home to a myriad of talented artistic talents starting with the 1888 Grand Exhibition. Picasso came to Barcelona to work as a teenager in 1895. Although he also studied in Paris, Picasso had been influenced by Casas and Rusiñol who also studied in Barcelona. The city would be home to Picasso during his Blue Period. It is where he painted La Celestina and El Guitarrista Viejo. By the time he began his cubist period in 1909, Picasso left the city. He would not display any paintings in the city until after Franco’s death, which is why Americans could see his famous Guernica in museums for decades.
Tóibín spent much of his stay in Catalonia visiting the homes of famous artists. He focused on those who called Barcelona home during its pre war Golden Age years and devoted entire chapters to the work of Miró, Dalí, Casals, and Buñuel. Unlike Picasso who might have emigrated from Andalusia and considered himself Catalonian, Dalí became more and more pro Spain over time. He spent the civil war years in the United States and developed a surrealist style that could be easily copied. Following his death, he donated the majority of his work to the Prada and remained anti Catalonia. Barcelona was nothing to him even though this was the city of his youth. The artist who epitomized Catalonia was Frederico García Lorca. I studied his Blood Wedding and Yerma in a Spanish literature course in college, and the motifs represented the two sides of the civil war. Eventually he was murdered for his beliefs on the eve of the war, and Lorca became a symbol for the anti Franco facets of society. Casals conducted a pro Catalonia concert on the eve of war as well, which resulted in a riot. These artists showcased the Catalonian culture, suppressed under Franco. The artwork, music, dance, and separate language revealed how a distinct culture had survived within a larger country for centuries, one that Franco attempted to destroy. Thankfully, according to the author, following his death, Catalonian culture experienced a renaissance, which lead up to the Olympics.
Nothing says Barcelona more than its team Barça FC. Its rivalry with Real Madrid has been around for more than a century, and the teams play in El Clásico match twice a year. Fans live and die with their teams, the games mirroring political meetings. The futbolistas are not politicians but the fans savor every victory more so than political ones. These games have become so popular in recent years that they are even televised in the United States. Tóibín spent much time in Barcelona and learned Catalan. Although he is Irish, Castilians figured him for a Catalonian because few others outside the area speak the language. It is a language my husband and I would both like to learn so when we do travel to Barcelona one day, we will be able to converse with the locals. In the meantime, I can savor Tóibín’s depictions of the city, it’s parks, buildings, artwork, restaurants, and football team featuring the city’s distinct culture. I first learned of Barcelona as a teen watching these same Olympics that Tóibín alludes to here. The city is much more than the Olympic experience located at the crossroads of Mediterranean trade routes, giving rise to a city and culture that is unique from the rest of Iberia and one to be lauded for its diversity.
4 stars
Although located in the northeast corner of the Iberian peninsula, Catalonia enjoyed independence from Spain until 1714, when the main country annexed the province to become part of Spain. From 1492 until annexation, Catalan was the official language, and residents view September 11 as a day of Diada, independence from Spain. Catalonians have enjoyed a distinct identity that deepened over time. As a young man, Tóibín traveled to Barcelona and fell in love with the Catalonian people and culture. He found Barcelona to be a fascinating city with roots on both sides of the Pyrenees, enhanced by people who came to the city from all over Iberia after Franco’s death in 1975. Tóibín penned this homage during the years of 1988-1991 as Barcelona prepared to host the Olympics, an event decades in the making that highlighted how distinct Barcelona became from the rest of Spain. At the time, the city grew in modernity, complete with skyscrapers, sleek buildings, and a regional cuisine experienced in the city’s many restaurants. Catalonia was not always the province that it became following Franco’s death. In the pre Olympic years, nearly 40% of Catalonians supported independence. During the war and fascist years, Spaniards viewed Catalonians mockingly and banned the speaking of Catalan in public. The culture had been percolating for centuries. The 1992 Olympics was Barcelona’s coming out party as a modern, international city.
Artists and architects came to Barcelona from across Iberia to prepare for the 1888 Grand Exhibition. The age of Industrial Revolution heightened Barcelona’s rivalry with Madrid and this exhibition was a showcase of culture. By 1930, the city staged a second grand exhibition, and in the pre civil war years, 37% of Barcelona residents had been born outside of Catalonia. Outside of Paris, Barcelona was a center of art and culture; however, George Orwell found the city to be devoid of a distinct culture. The artists and writers who came to the city to work did so in a capitalistic environment dominated by a conservative government, one that saw Franco emerge after the civil war. Catalonians fled over the Pyrenees to safety in France and many would not return until after Franco’s death four decades later. Despite the attempt to Castellanize Catalonians, Barcelona was home to a myriad of talented artistic talents starting with the 1888 Grand Exhibition. Picasso came to Barcelona to work as a teenager in 1895. Although he also studied in Paris, Picasso had been influenced by Casas and Rusiñol who also studied in Barcelona. The city would be home to Picasso during his Blue Period. It is where he painted La Celestina and El Guitarrista Viejo. By the time he began his cubist period in 1909, Picasso left the city. He would not display any paintings in the city until after Franco’s death, which is why Americans could see his famous Guernica in museums for decades.
Tóibín spent much of his stay in Catalonia visiting the homes of famous artists. He focused on those who called Barcelona home during its pre war Golden Age years and devoted entire chapters to the work of Miró, Dalí, Casals, and Buñuel. Unlike Picasso who might have emigrated from Andalusia and considered himself Catalonian, Dalí became more and more pro Spain over time. He spent the civil war years in the United States and developed a surrealist style that could be easily copied. Following his death, he donated the majority of his work to the Prada and remained anti Catalonia. Barcelona was nothing to him even though this was the city of his youth. The artist who epitomized Catalonia was Frederico García Lorca. I studied his Blood Wedding and Yerma in a Spanish literature course in college, and the motifs represented the two sides of the civil war. Eventually he was murdered for his beliefs on the eve of the war, and Lorca became a symbol for the anti Franco facets of society. Casals conducted a pro Catalonia concert on the eve of war as well, which resulted in a riot. These artists showcased the Catalonian culture, suppressed under Franco. The artwork, music, dance, and separate language revealed how a distinct culture had survived within a larger country for centuries, one that Franco attempted to destroy. Thankfully, according to the author, following his death, Catalonian culture experienced a renaissance, which lead up to the Olympics.
Nothing says Barcelona more than its team Barça FC. Its rivalry with Real Madrid has been around for more than a century, and the teams play in El Clásico match twice a year. Fans live and die with their teams, the games mirroring political meetings. The futbolistas are not politicians but the fans savor every victory more so than political ones. These games have become so popular in recent years that they are even televised in the United States. Tóibín spent much time in Barcelona and learned Catalan. Although he is Irish, Castilians figured him for a Catalonian because few others outside the area speak the language. It is a language my husband and I would both like to learn so when we do travel to Barcelona one day, we will be able to converse with the locals. In the meantime, I can savor Tóibín’s depictions of the city, it’s parks, buildings, artwork, restaurants, and football team featuring the city’s distinct culture. I first learned of Barcelona as a teen watching these same Olympics that Tóibín alludes to here. The city is much more than the Olympic experience located at the crossroads of Mediterranean trade routes, giving rise to a city and culture that is unique from the rest of Iberia and one to be lauded for its diversity.
4 stars
December 3, 2024
Homage to Barcelona celebrates one of Europe’s greatest cities alive with vibrant architecture and art, great churches and museums, as well as beautiful nightclubs, restaurants and bars. It is against this backdrop that Colm Toibin narrates an exciting history of Barcelona well into the nineteenth century through the lives and the art of Gaudi, Miro, Picasso, Casals and Dali. Toibin dedicates a chapter to each of the artists and their works. He writes of Gaudi walking each day after mass to his beloved Sagrada Familia upon which he worked exclusively from 1909 until his death in 1926. It was to be the crowning glory of the new Barcelona. And Picasso’s family first came to Barcelona in 1895 when Pablo Picasso was fourteen years old. His father found a job at the Fine Arts School, the Llotja. It was here that Picasso engaged in drawing noted as harsh and direct but also worked on a large canvas called Science and Charity in which he was solving complex problems of tone and composition while conjuring up a sense of compassion and pain.
This Irish author lives in Dublin but first came to Barcelona in his early twenties and has returned often over the years. Toibin says that in 1988, he went to Barcelona specifically to write this book. Colm Toibin writes poignantly of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and the strife in 1936 with the ensuing long-lasting dictatorship of Franco and the effects on Catalonia of repression. Colm Toibin has long been one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint with its emphasis on history, art and architecture as well as the fierce spirit of the Catalonian people.
“Catalonia had been useful to him, but it could no longer claim him. He was a French painter now, but he was also an outsider, just as he had been an outsider in Barcelona, belonging to no movement and no place. In the years to come, he would create the painting ‘Guernica,’ a great cry of pain for what had happened in his country. He refused to allow the painting to be shown in Spain until democracy had been restored, but in the last years of his life he began to donate work to Barcelona. This work formed the basis of the city’s Picasso Museum in Carrer de Montcada.”
This Irish author lives in Dublin but first came to Barcelona in his early twenties and has returned often over the years. Toibin says that in 1988, he went to Barcelona specifically to write this book. Colm Toibin writes poignantly of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and the strife in 1936 with the ensuing long-lasting dictatorship of Franco and the effects on Catalonia of repression. Colm Toibin has long been one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint with its emphasis on history, art and architecture as well as the fierce spirit of the Catalonian people.
“In the first months of 1992 the city held its breath. Everywhere you went, you noticed changes. Gaudi’s great building La Pedrera on Passeig de Gracia had been cleaned; it seemed lighter and more beautiful now that all of the grime of the city had been washed from the stone, more wave-like in its shape, more ethereal and more intriguing.”
April 28, 2011
This is an alternative/non-tourist view to Barcelona that describes the city and its history through its artists, ahead of its politicians. To start with, you have the heavy weights Miró, Picasso, Dalí, and Gaudí - all native sons of Catalonia. The chapters on the Spanish Civil War and the Franco regime are informative and let you know Barcelona is also a city that's been scarred.
I'm Taiwanese, so I really get the whole deal with not able to speak your language under someone else's regime. The rising native middle class during a dictatorship that pushed forward a native identity is another parallel. I fully understand why Catalans are so proud, even if sometimes to a fault.
As a cellist, I was pleasantly surprised by the chapter that included Pau Casals. Pau (Pablo as I've known him) Casals is THE cellist that made the Bach Suites famous. I've never known the political side of him, and it was pretty cool to see how much influence he had through his music.
I will re-read this book before I visit Barcelona again.
I'm Taiwanese, so I really get the whole deal with not able to speak your language under someone else's regime. The rising native middle class during a dictatorship that pushed forward a native identity is another parallel. I fully understand why Catalans are so proud, even if sometimes to a fault.
As a cellist, I was pleasantly surprised by the chapter that included Pau Casals. Pau (Pablo as I've known him) Casals is THE cellist that made the Bach Suites famous. I've never known the political side of him, and it was pretty cool to see how much influence he had through his music.
I will re-read this book before I visit Barcelona again.
October 14, 2016
Quando me deparei com esta nova edição de "Homenagem a Barcelona", publicada pela Relógio D' Água em agosto deste ano, hesitei se deveria ou não incluí-la na minha lista "books to read". A primeira edição data de 1990 e, sendo considerado um livro de viagens, questionei-me se o seu conteúdo já não estaria ultrapassado, obsoleto dado que, como sabemos, o cosmopolitismo da cidade catalã cresce dia após dia, semana após semana, mês após mês, ano após ano ... Mas, fora escrito por Colm Tóibín por quem nutro a mais profunda admiração (tudo o que li do autor irlandês, gostei, talvez "Brooklyn" tenha sido o que menos me emocionou, em contraponto com "O Mestre", uma narrativa biográfica apaixonante sobre Henry James, um dos meus autores preferidos).
Mas logo na primeiras páginas percebi o quanto o livro seria enriquecedor naquilo que me daria a conhecer sobre a história, a cultura, as personagens, a arquitetura, o património, as modificações urbanas que sofrera, principalmente, nos séculos 19 e 20, por ocasião de três momentos fulcrais para a compressão de Barcelona, enquanto cidade motivada para deixar a sua marca na Europa: o plano urbanístico de Ildephonse Cerdà, a Exposição Universal de 1888 e os Jogos Olímpicos de Barcelona em 1992.
Colm Tóibin, com contagiante entusiasmo, surge como um extraordinário e motivado cicerone dando-nos a conhecer também os lugares mais carismáticos dessa fantástica urbe, restaurantes, bares, cabarés, discotecas ... . Se bem que, alguns deles, nesta altura possam ter desaparecido - o périplo que o autor faz pela cidade decorre entre os finais da década de 70 e 90 do século 20, transmitindo-nos a ideia de que a terá visitado, nesse intervalo de 20 anos, várias vezes e assistido também e na primeira pessoa, à sua transformação -, ficaram os locais com as suas memórias (durante a leitura, dei por mim a sublinhar uma série de espaços, ruas, praças para, numa próxima visita, segui-los como se de um mapa turístico se tratasse ... ). Aliás, nem penso regressar a Barcelona sem esse "compêndio" debaixo do braço :).
Também nos guiou pela obra de Gaudí, as mais expressivas e as menos conhecidas (projetou dois grandes candeeiros no centro da Plaça Reial e candeeiros de iluminação pública na Plaça del Palau), abordando de forma segura e conhecedora a personalidade do arquiteto catalão e o seu reflexo no maravilhosamente insólito da sua arquitetura e assim percebemos que, apenas um homem singular, poderia ter concebido tão prodigiosa tarefa! Mas Colm não se deteve em Gaudí ... Explicou-nos também como a guerra civil espanhola e o franquismo afetaram, ideologicamente, artistas como Tapiés, Frederico Garcia Lorca, Miró, Picasso - que durante a ditadura se recusou a expor a sua genial Guernica em Espanha - e, surpreendentemente, ou se calhar não, como Salvador Dali, se colocou ao lado do general maldito tendo inclusivamente lhe enviado, após a ordem de execução de cinco prisioneiros que o ditador havia condenado à morte quando ele próprio já se encontrava moribundo, "um telegrama de felicitações" tendo ainda declarado "que outros que tinham sido perdoados deviam ter sido executados" ...
Narra também história de um povo que lutou. luta e lutará pela independência do centralismo madrileno entre histórias de sangue e dor, de esperança e descrédito, de rivalidades entre o castelhano e o catalão mas também, e isso é perceptível, um forte e intenso sentimento de união.
Colm também nos leva num passeio por localidades próximas de Barcelona. O que mais me agradou foi "conhecer" Girona, principalmente a aldeia, ou cidade, de Verges onde, todos os anos, pela altura da Páscoa se realiza uma festa que muito me fez lembrar as célebres festividades dos mortos, que se realizam no México. A descrição que Tóibín faz de a "Dança da Morte" deixou-me exasperadamente curiosa pois consiste numa temática que me agrada bastante!! :)
A leitura deste livro inoculou na minha alma um vírus que se manifesta por uma imperiosa necessidade quase urgente de rever Barcelona !! Desta vez pelos olhos de um irlandês! Recomendado para os amantes da maravilhosa capital da Catalunha! :)
Mas logo na primeiras páginas percebi o quanto o livro seria enriquecedor naquilo que me daria a conhecer sobre a história, a cultura, as personagens, a arquitetura, o património, as modificações urbanas que sofrera, principalmente, nos séculos 19 e 20, por ocasião de três momentos fulcrais para a compressão de Barcelona, enquanto cidade motivada para deixar a sua marca na Europa: o plano urbanístico de Ildephonse Cerdà, a Exposição Universal de 1888 e os Jogos Olímpicos de Barcelona em 1992.
Colm Tóibin, com contagiante entusiasmo, surge como um extraordinário e motivado cicerone dando-nos a conhecer também os lugares mais carismáticos dessa fantástica urbe, restaurantes, bares, cabarés, discotecas ... . Se bem que, alguns deles, nesta altura possam ter desaparecido - o périplo que o autor faz pela cidade decorre entre os finais da década de 70 e 90 do século 20, transmitindo-nos a ideia de que a terá visitado, nesse intervalo de 20 anos, várias vezes e assistido também e na primeira pessoa, à sua transformação -, ficaram os locais com as suas memórias (durante a leitura, dei por mim a sublinhar uma série de espaços, ruas, praças para, numa próxima visita, segui-los como se de um mapa turístico se tratasse ... ). Aliás, nem penso regressar a Barcelona sem esse "compêndio" debaixo do braço :).
Também nos guiou pela obra de Gaudí, as mais expressivas e as menos conhecidas (projetou dois grandes candeeiros no centro da Plaça Reial e candeeiros de iluminação pública na Plaça del Palau), abordando de forma segura e conhecedora a personalidade do arquiteto catalão e o seu reflexo no maravilhosamente insólito da sua arquitetura e assim percebemos que, apenas um homem singular, poderia ter concebido tão prodigiosa tarefa! Mas Colm não se deteve em Gaudí ... Explicou-nos também como a guerra civil espanhola e o franquismo afetaram, ideologicamente, artistas como Tapiés, Frederico Garcia Lorca, Miró, Picasso - que durante a ditadura se recusou a expor a sua genial Guernica em Espanha - e, surpreendentemente, ou se calhar não, como Salvador Dali, se colocou ao lado do general maldito tendo inclusivamente lhe enviado, após a ordem de execução de cinco prisioneiros que o ditador havia condenado à morte quando ele próprio já se encontrava moribundo, "um telegrama de felicitações" tendo ainda declarado "que outros que tinham sido perdoados deviam ter sido executados" ...
Narra também história de um povo que lutou. luta e lutará pela independência do centralismo madrileno entre histórias de sangue e dor, de esperança e descrédito, de rivalidades entre o castelhano e o catalão mas também, e isso é perceptível, um forte e intenso sentimento de união.
Colm também nos leva num passeio por localidades próximas de Barcelona. O que mais me agradou foi "conhecer" Girona, principalmente a aldeia, ou cidade, de Verges onde, todos os anos, pela altura da Páscoa se realiza uma festa que muito me fez lembrar as célebres festividades dos mortos, que se realizam no México. A descrição que Tóibín faz de a "Dança da Morte" deixou-me exasperadamente curiosa pois consiste numa temática que me agrada bastante!! :)
A leitura deste livro inoculou na minha alma um vírus que se manifesta por uma imperiosa necessidade quase urgente de rever Barcelona !! Desta vez pelos olhos de um irlandês! Recomendado para os amantes da maravilhosa capital da Catalunha! :)
August 31, 2016
"The devil looks down to Barcelona. The city is a bowl surrounded by hills: Montjuic, Monterols, Putget, la Creueta, Collserola, Tibidabo. The devil looks down from Tibidabo where he brought Jesus, during His forty-day fast in the desert. This is where he tempted Him with all the kingdoms of the world. 'To thee I will give: Tibidabo.' And he showed Him Barcelona."(p.166)
With Colm Toibin's 'Homage to Barcelona' you will have a devilishly good time on your next trip to one of Europe's greatest cities!
With Colm Toibin's 'Homage to Barcelona' you will have a devilishly good time on your next trip to one of Europe's greatest cities!
August 13, 2024
I do wish I’d read this before we visited Barcelona, where we’ve been twice, just for a few days, nowhere near enough time to do all the exploring that Toibin’s book made me want to do.
His part memoir, part history reflects the periods of time he has lived in Barcelona, wandered its streets, talked with locals and visitors (he speaks Catalan and Castilian) and followed his many lines of interest, including art, literature, architecture, politics, social change and Catalan nationalism.
In every chapter, whether the principal theme is an area like the Bari Gothic or Eixample, or artists like Picasso, Miro or Casals, we are able to see the social and political context in which they developed, in a roughly chronological order.
Toibin’s intellect holds it all together, and his wonderful facility with words means it’s eminently readable even in most politically complex times.
The result is wonderfully rich.
And it’s given me a much better understanding of the Catalan separatist movement.
His part memoir, part history reflects the periods of time he has lived in Barcelona, wandered its streets, talked with locals and visitors (he speaks Catalan and Castilian) and followed his many lines of interest, including art, literature, architecture, politics, social change and Catalan nationalism.
In every chapter, whether the principal theme is an area like the Bari Gothic or Eixample, or artists like Picasso, Miro or Casals, we are able to see the social and political context in which they developed, in a roughly chronological order.
Toibin’s intellect holds it all together, and his wonderful facility with words means it’s eminently readable even in most politically complex times.
The result is wonderfully rich.
And it’s given me a much better understanding of the Catalan separatist movement.
October 17, 2023
I loved this book! Great writing, very well organized chapters. Beautiful homage to Barcelona and Catalan history. I learned so much!
June 30, 2013
Solid, though a bit dated - he writes just as the 92 Olympics are starting and it's very grounded in that time, all "I hope this doesn't fuck the town up too much!" so that's both amusing and frustrating. But chapters on earlier history are well done.
Currently reading
April 11, 2023October 13, 2012
A well-written, often fascinating portrayal of Barcelona, with an emphasis on artistic and political themes. Likely a bit idiosyncratic for some people's tastes, but Toibin has a great eye for detail and in just over two hundred pages manages to impart a sense of the city and the region that captures its struggles and heartbreaks, opportunities and triumphs. If you're planning or thinking of traveling to Barcelona, this book is definitely worth a read. And if you're not planning on it, you might decide to after you read this book.
September 10, 2019
Rooted in Colm Tóibín's personal experience of the city this is a beautifully written exploration of time, place, history and memory, both personal in CT's case and collective for the Catalans.
If you love history, art and the power of prose to transport you, and the writer, to times past then you will enjoy this book. If you have never been to Barcelona it will make you want to go. If like me, you live here, it will open your eyes to parts of the city you may take for granted.
If you love history, art and the power of prose to transport you, and the writer, to times past then you will enjoy this book. If you have never been to Barcelona it will make you want to go. If like me, you live here, it will open your eyes to parts of the city you may take for granted.
January 1, 2024
A neat episodic exploration of Barcelona’s politics and history through the eyes of the artists and cultural figures who made it their home. In Barcelona and it’s surrounding Catalan neighbours, you get the impression that culture and intellectual curiosity are the real drivers of the regions direction and politics. Read it like a series of short stories if you feel that most helpful, but be sure to think of this as a whole and take in these learnings accordingly
October 31, 2014
I had the good fortune to read this while visiting Barcelona - a brilliant combination. I didn't have time to visit monuments or museums so wasn't able to fully appreciate the chapters on Gaudi, Miró or Picasso, but the chapters on the Catalan temperament, identity, history and restaurant snobbery were an enlightening background. I especially appreciated the description of the Spanish civil war, and our walk around the (now tackily commercial) Barri Gotic was much improved by being able to imagine the street battles between Anarchists and Communist factions.
I followed this up with Orwell's 'Homage to Catalonia' and I'm glad I read Tóibín first. Orwell's book is much more of a concrete reportage of his experience as a Republican volunteer in 1937, with an explanation of the politics of the time, but Tóibín gives a longer-term and broader view of Catalonia.
I followed this up with Orwell's 'Homage to Catalonia' and I'm glad I read Tóibín first. Orwell's book is much more of a concrete reportage of his experience as a Republican volunteer in 1937, with an explanation of the politics of the time, but Tóibín gives a longer-term and broader view of Catalonia.
October 31, 2016
Uma visita cerrada à Catalunha e à sua capital Barcelona, por um irlandês que viveu lá em diversos períodos. Em Barcelona, essa visita é quase rua a rua, edifício a edifício, juntando sempre diversos pontos de vista: a história, a arte e a cultura, a política, a mentalidade, a gastronomia e a vida nocturna. Tudo servido pela escrita sempre irrepreensível do grande escritor que é, sempre, em ficção como em não ficção, o Colm Tóibín.
April 7, 2013
Architecture, art, politics and society all viewed up close by an Irishman in Catalonia. This book had been suggested to me as a long-after post script to Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" I didn't make the same connection, I wish that I had read this book before my last visit to Barcelona, I would have looked for the remains of Roman architecture and sought out Miro as well as Picasso.
February 14, 2025
One of the things I’ve failed to appreciate about Barcelona during my past visits is that Barcelona is not a Spanish city in much the same way that Belfast isn’t a British city. The Irish and Catalans have centuries-old beef with professional colonizers and Tóibin writes spiritedly about the Catalan imagination:
“This feeling that as intellectuals, humanists, inventors, writers and entrepreneurs they had risen above Spain would never leave Catalan consciousness. They came to believe they had not simply been sailors, but cartographers as well; not merely writers but book collectors and translators; not only merchants and builders, but men of culture, who sought to impose order, peace and a system of law in place of darkness, chaos and piracy. They were, they believed, modern, while Spain was medieval.”
Barcelona was once the most prosperous port in the world, the gem of the Mediterranean, until you-know-who sailed across the ocean blue bringing death and disease to the New World and dishonor to the old one. Barcelona’s peak of power was in the 14th century and the Gothic Quarter is its living testament. Tóibin points out it “is not a crumbling set of medieval buildings, or old ruins being shored up and restored,” but places where people live, work, worship, and, of course, eat and drink.
The Catalan concept of modernity is linked to the past. A side effect of dictatorial rule is that people tend to lean into their traditions instead of abandoning them—even if it takes generations. Life is short, but cultural memory is long, a fact that drives fascists up the wall.
There are reminders of this everywhere in Barcelona, especially its architecture, which is marvelous. I’m particularly enamored by Modernisme, an architectural movement dating back to the late nineteenth century that drew from Art Noveau and inspired Gaudí and many of his contemporaries in wildly different ways. Tóibin points out that a section of Passeig de Gràcia where Gaudí’s Casa Battló sits next door to Casa Amattler, which was designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, was called:
“Manzana de la Discordia, the block of discordance, owing to its set of ambitious buildings, all of which were designed in a different variation on the Modernista style.”
Homage to Barcelona is full of wonderful stories about Gaudi, Picasso, Miro, Casals, Dalí and many others. I didn’t realize Dalí, always an eccentric, supported Franco and cheered the deaths of political prisoners the dictator executed just months before he died. I’ve always wanted to make the pilgrimage to Figueres but not anymore. Fuck that guy. Never go full fascist.
Another story: Did you know that Joan Miro and Ernest Hemingway were sparring partners at a boxing gymnasium in Paris? I love that when Miro had a breakthrough in his art and his contemporaries in the art world didn’t get it, it was writers like Hemingway who recognized the importance of what he was doing and pulled together money they didn’t have to purchase his work.
Like so many outstanding Irish writers, Tóibin began as a journalist and he is an excellent guide to Barcelona.
“This feeling that as intellectuals, humanists, inventors, writers and entrepreneurs they had risen above Spain would never leave Catalan consciousness. They came to believe they had not simply been sailors, but cartographers as well; not merely writers but book collectors and translators; not only merchants and builders, but men of culture, who sought to impose order, peace and a system of law in place of darkness, chaos and piracy. They were, they believed, modern, while Spain was medieval.”
Barcelona was once the most prosperous port in the world, the gem of the Mediterranean, until you-know-who sailed across the ocean blue bringing death and disease to the New World and dishonor to the old one. Barcelona’s peak of power was in the 14th century and the Gothic Quarter is its living testament. Tóibin points out it “is not a crumbling set of medieval buildings, or old ruins being shored up and restored,” but places where people live, work, worship, and, of course, eat and drink.
The Catalan concept of modernity is linked to the past. A side effect of dictatorial rule is that people tend to lean into their traditions instead of abandoning them—even if it takes generations. Life is short, but cultural memory is long, a fact that drives fascists up the wall.
There are reminders of this everywhere in Barcelona, especially its architecture, which is marvelous. I’m particularly enamored by Modernisme, an architectural movement dating back to the late nineteenth century that drew from Art Noveau and inspired Gaudí and many of his contemporaries in wildly different ways. Tóibin points out that a section of Passeig de Gràcia where Gaudí’s Casa Battló sits next door to Casa Amattler, which was designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, was called:
“Manzana de la Discordia, the block of discordance, owing to its set of ambitious buildings, all of which were designed in a different variation on the Modernista style.”
Homage to Barcelona is full of wonderful stories about Gaudi, Picasso, Miro, Casals, Dalí and many others. I didn’t realize Dalí, always an eccentric, supported Franco and cheered the deaths of political prisoners the dictator executed just months before he died. I’ve always wanted to make the pilgrimage to Figueres but not anymore. Fuck that guy. Never go full fascist.
Another story: Did you know that Joan Miro and Ernest Hemingway were sparring partners at a boxing gymnasium in Paris? I love that when Miro had a breakthrough in his art and his contemporaries in the art world didn’t get it, it was writers like Hemingway who recognized the importance of what he was doing and pulled together money they didn’t have to purchase his work.
Like so many outstanding Irish writers, Tóibin began as a journalist and he is an excellent guide to Barcelona.
June 2, 2017
This book was originally published in 1990, but I read the updated edition which came out in 2002.
There are a few places where the revisions haven't been made smoothly - where past events are described as yet to happen. But honestly, that's the only criticism I could make.
The book is superb. A blend of personal memoir, art criticism, history, political analysis and cultural studies, it is probably best described as a "biography of Barcelona, and of Catalonia". And it's beautifully written, from the perspective of an Anglophone (Irish) outsider, on a journey to discover the Catalan heart.
If, like me, you're a visitor whose heritage runs through the British Isles, then I think this is the ideal book to give you a feel for the people and the place of this amazing city.
There are a few places where the revisions haven't been made smoothly - where past events are described as yet to happen. But honestly, that's the only criticism I could make.
The book is superb. A blend of personal memoir, art criticism, history, political analysis and cultural studies, it is probably best described as a "biography of Barcelona, and of Catalonia". And it's beautifully written, from the perspective of an Anglophone (Irish) outsider, on a journey to discover the Catalan heart.
If, like me, you're a visitor whose heritage runs through the British Isles, then I think this is the ideal book to give you a feel for the people and the place of this amazing city.
June 5, 2024
If you’re going to Barcelona, this is a book worth reading in preparation. Written by a very talented Irish author who fell in love with the city and lived there for many years, it provides a personal, historical, cultural, artistic perspective on the city, including during and immediately after the Franco dictatorship. It is not a tourist guide. Instead it reads like witty comprehensive historical non-fiction. For example when quoting Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia and his observation that the residents amazingly moved as one and erected barriers in the streets overnight, Tobin comments, they should, they’d been practicing for 50 years! Got to love that Irish irreverance! I intend to read more of his work, that for me is the mark of a good author.
March 26, 2018
Uma homenagem a Barcelona, mas também à Catalunha e a todos os catalães, entre os quais os famosos Gaudi, Miró, Pau Casals, Picasso (por adoção) e Dali. Ao ler este livro, torna-se fácil compreender porque é que uma solução que pretenda manter pela força o status quo da Catalunha no seio de Espanha (como a que tentou impôr o ditador Franco) ou pela via judicial (como aquela a que estamos a assistir presentemente) nunca funcionará.
September 14, 2025
Capítulos interesantes, otros menos.
Realmente pensaba que trataba de un libro actual y no de 1990, error.
En su momento debió ser mucho más relevante, hoy en día pierde.
El autor dedica capítulos a artistas y políticos catalanes (o que pasaron tiempo en Catalunya) durante el siglo XX.
Es lamentable que no salga ni una mujer en todo el libro.
Realmente pensaba que trataba de un libro actual y no de 1990, error.
En su momento debió ser mucho más relevante, hoy en día pierde.
El autor dedica capítulos a artistas y políticos catalanes (o que pasaron tiempo en Catalunya) durante el siglo XX.
Es lamentable que no salga ni una mujer en todo el libro.
November 5, 2025
Wish I read this book before I went to Barcelona. It gave a lot good insight into the history and culture of the city that I wish I had known about prior to visiting. I loved Barcelona when I visited the city and I love it more after reading this. Obliviously some of the references made are out of date since it was originally published in the 90s but if you are planning on going to Barcelona read this book.
June 27, 2023
my favourite book so far this year. it is superbly written and extremely passionate about barcelona. i found the mixture of personal experience in catalonia and historical detail very compelling.
March 4, 2017
I look forward to visiting Barcelona later this year and reading this book has given me a framework to think about the city.
May 15, 2011
In 1965, living in Madrid, my wife and I decided to drive to southern France to visit her Armenian cousins. A French friend of ours, learning of our trip, asked if she could tag along. At that time the journey by highway was long and arduous. To make the most of our vacation time, we drove through the night, arriving in Barcelona in the early morning.
We stopped at a small café for a light breakfast. Neither my wife nor I spoke French and our French friend did not speak English so Castilian was our common tongue. It was certainly clear given our accents that we were not native Spaniards. We asked the Catalan waiter, in Castilian, for “tres cafés con leche y una racion de tostados.” He brought us the coffees and a large order of hard Melba toast. What we had wanted was hot, toasted bread and when we explained that Melba toast was not what we had anticipated, he answered: “I don’t know what’ tostado’ is in Madrid, but here in Cataluña you got what you ordered.”
I was convinced at the time and have remained convinced that the waiter knew exactly what we wanted when we ordered “tostado.” What he was doing was making the point to three young foreigners that Barcelona was Cataluña not Castilla—it was its own nationality with its clear distinctions.
Between 1962 and 1979, I spent a number of years in Spain, traveling extensively throughout the Peninsula with the exception of Cataluña. I have perhaps been in or through Barcelona no more than 7 or 8 times; and, except for the usual highlights like the Ramblas and the Gaudi monuments, have little memory of those brief visits.
I must admit that I have had some mild disinterest in Barcelona and its hinterland stemming no doubt from my Castilian and Latin America bias as well as some antipathy for brash nationalism like the kind displayed by that waiter in 1965. Colm Tóibín’s Homage to Barcelona, although written almost a quarter century ago, has done a masterful job in not only shaming me for that disinterest but in piquing my desire for a more detailed exploration of Barcelona and its people.
It did take several chapters for me to get into Tóibín’s narrative. For me initially, his strengths were the discussions of people (Gaudí, Picasso, Miró) and the Spanish Civil war. But I re-read the opening discussions of the gothic quarter and of the Eixample and found their strengths.
Much has happened in Spain and in Cataluña since Tóibín’s 1992 addition to the Homage. But, although Tóibín stops before the events of the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st Century, Homage to Barcelona remains bright and engaging. He has certainly set me up for Robert Hughes Barcelona.
We stopped at a small café for a light breakfast. Neither my wife nor I spoke French and our French friend did not speak English so Castilian was our common tongue. It was certainly clear given our accents that we were not native Spaniards. We asked the Catalan waiter, in Castilian, for “tres cafés con leche y una racion de tostados.” He brought us the coffees and a large order of hard Melba toast. What we had wanted was hot, toasted bread and when we explained that Melba toast was not what we had anticipated, he answered: “I don’t know what’ tostado’ is in Madrid, but here in Cataluña you got what you ordered.”
I was convinced at the time and have remained convinced that the waiter knew exactly what we wanted when we ordered “tostado.” What he was doing was making the point to three young foreigners that Barcelona was Cataluña not Castilla—it was its own nationality with its clear distinctions.
Between 1962 and 1979, I spent a number of years in Spain, traveling extensively throughout the Peninsula with the exception of Cataluña. I have perhaps been in or through Barcelona no more than 7 or 8 times; and, except for the usual highlights like the Ramblas and the Gaudi monuments, have little memory of those brief visits.
I must admit that I have had some mild disinterest in Barcelona and its hinterland stemming no doubt from my Castilian and Latin America bias as well as some antipathy for brash nationalism like the kind displayed by that waiter in 1965. Colm Tóibín’s Homage to Barcelona, although written almost a quarter century ago, has done a masterful job in not only shaming me for that disinterest but in piquing my desire for a more detailed exploration of Barcelona and its people.
It did take several chapters for me to get into Tóibín’s narrative. For me initially, his strengths were the discussions of people (Gaudí, Picasso, Miró) and the Spanish Civil war. But I re-read the opening discussions of the gothic quarter and of the Eixample and found their strengths.
Much has happened in Spain and in Cataluña since Tóibín’s 1992 addition to the Homage. But, although Tóibín stops before the events of the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st Century, Homage to Barcelona remains bright and engaging. He has certainly set me up for Robert Hughes Barcelona.
May 23, 2015
This book was overall very good. Toibin's writing is accessible, nostalgic and colorful. It is jam-packed with history, politics ( particularly around the Franco fascism) and architectural references; really wished they had included some map illustrations with it. It is not a quick read and requires your attention, even though it is a slim book. (The version I have was "updated" as of 2002. It is hard to find in libraries; had to special order on Amazon.) That said, wish the writer could have updated the final chapter, and some of the updating that was done in certain sections of the book seemed inconsistent. I guess the author is too busy with his current book schedule. Too bad for us because I enjoy his writing.
January 14, 2013
This is not a travel book, although a tourist can learn of neighborhoods he might want to visit. But it's more a love letter to the city and an investigation of memory. I picked this up in the Gaudi shop in the Pedrera and it was the perfect book to read on my trip.
The book covers the lives of many of Barcelona's artists and politicians. The political history was especially interesting to me because I ended up with a much deeper understanding of the Catalonian grievances and their current desire to withdraw from Spain.
I'm beginning to think that there is no subject I would find uninteresting if Toibin wrote about it.
The book covers the lives of many of Barcelona's artists and politicians. The political history was especially interesting to me because I ended up with a much deeper understanding of the Catalonian grievances and their current desire to withdraw from Spain.
I'm beginning to think that there is no subject I would find uninteresting if Toibin wrote about it.
May 22, 2022
I read a couple chapters of this before I visited (the chapters pretty much can stand alone) and wish I'd read more. Maybe a little heavier on the historical details than I needed. Toibin is around my age, and I am jealous that I was not there when he was, in the 70's and 80's.
December 29, 2019
O Ler por aí… Café abriu em Março, ocupando o espaço de um bar catalão. Faz um ano que ocupámos este espaço. É com um abraço à Clara e ao Paulo, do Taranná – Espai Barcelona, que este mês estamos a Ler por aí… em Barcelona.
Nesta Homenagem a Barcelona, que também queremos prestar, Colm Tóibín mostra-nos a cidade no espaço e no tempo, público e privado. Pode ser usada como guia turístico, mas é mais do que isso. Relata os vários momentos históricos de Barcelona e da Catalunha, visita os diferentes bairros da cidade, e alguns subúrbios, foca-se em certos personagens da política e das artes catalãs, e a seguir afasta-se para retratar a sociedade e encontrar a identidade catalã.
Percebemos que o catalão não é espanhol, nem é francês, nem é provençal. É catalão. Refiro-me ao catalão – língua e ao catalão – povo.
O passeio começa nas Ramblas, com o “correfoc”, a festa dos demónios e dragões que tem origem (pelo menos) na idade média, e na lenda de São Jorge (San Jordí). Segue para o Bairro Gótico, que assenta sobre Barcino, a cidade romana, e ostenta os palácios de príncipes-mercadores da época de ouro. É também local de vida nocturna, e daqui Tóibín parte para o périplo noctívago da cidade. Em seguida, o périplo arquitectónico e urbanístico, vê-se melhor de dia. A noite e o dia são chaves para compreender a sociedade catalã.
Este é o pretexto para seguir para a Barcelona de Gaudi. De seguida, para a Barcelona de Picasso, para a Barcelona de Miró e para a Barcelona de Pau Casals. Só no capítulo sobre a Guerra Civil é que surgem referências a Homenagem à Catalunha (1938), de George Orwell. Os últimos capítulos retratam a Barcelona pós-Franco, a Barcelona de Dalí, a Barcelona e a Catalunha veraneante, das festas e das praias, e finalmente a Barcelona dos Jogos Olímpicos e de Tapiés.
Todo o livro é atravessado pela tensão entre a força homogenizadora da Espanha e a resiliência da identidade catalã.
Colm Tóibín
Colm Tóibín nasceu em 1955 na Irlanda. Estudou na University College Dublin e partiu para Barcelona no final da licenciatura. Desta viagem resultou esta Homenagem a Barcelona (1990) e o romance The South (1990).
Ao regressar à Irlanda, em 1978, iniciou uma carreira como jornalista. Foi editor na revista Magill e no jornal In Dublin. Em 1985 deixou o jornalismo e viajou para África e para a América do Sul. O seu trabalho como jornalista está coligido em The Trial of the Generals (1990).
Escreveu romances, contos, peças de teatro e ensaios, e a sua obra está traduzida em dezassete idiomas. Brooklyn (2009) é o seu romance mais conhecido, tendo sido adaptado ao cinema em 2015 por John Crowly, com argumento de Nick Hornby. Brooklyn está publicado em Portugal pela Bertrand Editora.
O romance O Testamento de Maria (2012) resultou de uma primeira peça de teatro, O Testamento, escrita também por Tóibín e encenada em 2011 para o Dublin Theatre Festival. O romance foi por sua vez encenado em 2013 no Walter Kerr Theatre, na Broadway, e mereceu simultaneamente prémios e acusações de blasfémia. Em 2015, o romance foi novamente levado à cena, pela Sydney Theatre Company e também pela companhia Malthouse Theatre de Melbourne. Foi publicado como audio-livro em 2013, com a voz de Meryl Streep.
Colm Tóibín tem leccionado em faculdades na Irlanda, Inglaterra e Estados Unidos – destaque para a sua cátedra de Escrita Criativa na Universidade de Manchester, onde sucedeu a Martin Amis. Actualmente ensina na Universidade de Columbia, em Nova York. Vive em Dublin.
Barcelona
“Barcelona é uma cidade de perdição!”, alertou-me o obstetra quando, grávida de cinco meses, lhe contei que ia passar uns dias a Barcelona. De facto.
Em Barcelona, imergimos em arte, arquitectura, moda, gastronomia, vida nocturna. As ramblas são extensas, e entretém: há sempre algo a acontecer. Daí que facilmente caminhamos quilómetros sem nos apercebermos.
É uma cidade original e com forte carácter. É local e cosmopolita, histórica e contemporânea. É como se fosse uma capital europeia, só que não é.
© Ler por aí… (2019)
http://lerporai.com/barcelona-2019/
Nesta Homenagem a Barcelona, que também queremos prestar, Colm Tóibín mostra-nos a cidade no espaço e no tempo, público e privado. Pode ser usada como guia turístico, mas é mais do que isso. Relata os vários momentos históricos de Barcelona e da Catalunha, visita os diferentes bairros da cidade, e alguns subúrbios, foca-se em certos personagens da política e das artes catalãs, e a seguir afasta-se para retratar a sociedade e encontrar a identidade catalã.
Percebemos que o catalão não é espanhol, nem é francês, nem é provençal. É catalão. Refiro-me ao catalão – língua e ao catalão – povo.
O passeio começa nas Ramblas, com o “correfoc”, a festa dos demónios e dragões que tem origem (pelo menos) na idade média, e na lenda de São Jorge (San Jordí). Segue para o Bairro Gótico, que assenta sobre Barcino, a cidade romana, e ostenta os palácios de príncipes-mercadores da época de ouro. É também local de vida nocturna, e daqui Tóibín parte para o périplo noctívago da cidade. Em seguida, o périplo arquitectónico e urbanístico, vê-se melhor de dia. A noite e o dia são chaves para compreender a sociedade catalã.
Este é o pretexto para seguir para a Barcelona de Gaudi. De seguida, para a Barcelona de Picasso, para a Barcelona de Miró e para a Barcelona de Pau Casals. Só no capítulo sobre a Guerra Civil é que surgem referências a Homenagem à Catalunha (1938), de George Orwell. Os últimos capítulos retratam a Barcelona pós-Franco, a Barcelona de Dalí, a Barcelona e a Catalunha veraneante, das festas e das praias, e finalmente a Barcelona dos Jogos Olímpicos e de Tapiés.
Todo o livro é atravessado pela tensão entre a força homogenizadora da Espanha e a resiliência da identidade catalã.
Colm Tóibín
Colm Tóibín nasceu em 1955 na Irlanda. Estudou na University College Dublin e partiu para Barcelona no final da licenciatura. Desta viagem resultou esta Homenagem a Barcelona (1990) e o romance The South (1990).
Ao regressar à Irlanda, em 1978, iniciou uma carreira como jornalista. Foi editor na revista Magill e no jornal In Dublin. Em 1985 deixou o jornalismo e viajou para África e para a América do Sul. O seu trabalho como jornalista está coligido em The Trial of the Generals (1990).
Escreveu romances, contos, peças de teatro e ensaios, e a sua obra está traduzida em dezassete idiomas. Brooklyn (2009) é o seu romance mais conhecido, tendo sido adaptado ao cinema em 2015 por John Crowly, com argumento de Nick Hornby. Brooklyn está publicado em Portugal pela Bertrand Editora.
O romance O Testamento de Maria (2012) resultou de uma primeira peça de teatro, O Testamento, escrita também por Tóibín e encenada em 2011 para o Dublin Theatre Festival. O romance foi por sua vez encenado em 2013 no Walter Kerr Theatre, na Broadway, e mereceu simultaneamente prémios e acusações de blasfémia. Em 2015, o romance foi novamente levado à cena, pela Sydney Theatre Company e também pela companhia Malthouse Theatre de Melbourne. Foi publicado como audio-livro em 2013, com a voz de Meryl Streep.
Colm Tóibín tem leccionado em faculdades na Irlanda, Inglaterra e Estados Unidos – destaque para a sua cátedra de Escrita Criativa na Universidade de Manchester, onde sucedeu a Martin Amis. Actualmente ensina na Universidade de Columbia, em Nova York. Vive em Dublin.
Barcelona
“Barcelona é uma cidade de perdição!”, alertou-me o obstetra quando, grávida de cinco meses, lhe contei que ia passar uns dias a Barcelona. De facto.
Em Barcelona, imergimos em arte, arquitectura, moda, gastronomia, vida nocturna. As ramblas são extensas, e entretém: há sempre algo a acontecer. Daí que facilmente caminhamos quilómetros sem nos apercebermos.
É uma cidade original e com forte carácter. É local e cosmopolita, histórica e contemporânea. É como se fosse uma capital europeia, só que não é.
© Ler por aí… (2019)
http://lerporai.com/barcelona-2019/
October 9, 2021
Colm Tóibín’s Homage to Barcelona is a wonderful narrative on a city which has so many sides. While today we know Barcelona as a trendy, tourist hot spot, a perfect weekend destination for a cheap ryanair flight, there’s a fascinating historical side to the city too.
Tormented by politics, especially during the war and Franco years, yet brilliant as the host to some of modern art, literature and music’s brightest stars- Picasso, Miro, Lorca and Orwell, Barcelona is a city of extremes. Tóibín describes his time living in the city, viewing it through the eyes of an outsider who becomes naturalised into the Catalan way of life.
While Barcelona is, in this day and age, a multicultural, metropolitan city, it is the capital of Catalonia. This autonomous region has, at times (and still does to a degree), seen itself as separate from the mainland mass that is Spain. The city maintains some of this fiercely independent spark, even if many of the tourists that walk its well trodden passeig;s are blissfully unaware of it’s troubled past.
Catalan is spoken proudly throughout the region, with a determined sense of national identity. This is no doubt in response to the decades of linguistic, cultural and creative oppression during Franco’s dictatorship. I am constantly fascinated by those languages that survive, and indeed thrive away from the perceived central governing powers of a place, and catalan is no exception. Art and culture thrives now in Barcelona city, on the streets and in the many museums and foundations of its most beloved artists.
It was especially lovely to have this book as a companion to a stint in Barcelona (more so the province than the city itself). Yet every time I found myself in the city, whether with local knowledge or as a tourist enjoying the irresistibility of the cities streets, bars and attractions, I found myself making connections between people or places, artists and politicians whose names echo around the grand buildings and beautiful vistas of the city today- many of which I have read and understood through Colm Tóibín’s own experience of the city.
It does make you realise that while the city has undoubtedly modernised and been changed by glamorous shops, trendy bars and tourist attractions since the 1970’s when Tóibín was living there, the character of the city and its surrounding area is constant. It’s certainly up there with the best of the best.
Tormented by politics, especially during the war and Franco years, yet brilliant as the host to some of modern art, literature and music’s brightest stars- Picasso, Miro, Lorca and Orwell, Barcelona is a city of extremes. Tóibín describes his time living in the city, viewing it through the eyes of an outsider who becomes naturalised into the Catalan way of life.
While Barcelona is, in this day and age, a multicultural, metropolitan city, it is the capital of Catalonia. This autonomous region has, at times (and still does to a degree), seen itself as separate from the mainland mass that is Spain. The city maintains some of this fiercely independent spark, even if many of the tourists that walk its well trodden passeig;s are blissfully unaware of it’s troubled past.
Catalan is spoken proudly throughout the region, with a determined sense of national identity. This is no doubt in response to the decades of linguistic, cultural and creative oppression during Franco’s dictatorship. I am constantly fascinated by those languages that survive, and indeed thrive away from the perceived central governing powers of a place, and catalan is no exception. Art and culture thrives now in Barcelona city, on the streets and in the many museums and foundations of its most beloved artists.
It was especially lovely to have this book as a companion to a stint in Barcelona (more so the province than the city itself). Yet every time I found myself in the city, whether with local knowledge or as a tourist enjoying the irresistibility of the cities streets, bars and attractions, I found myself making connections between people or places, artists and politicians whose names echo around the grand buildings and beautiful vistas of the city today- many of which I have read and understood through Colm Tóibín’s own experience of the city.
It does make you realise that while the city has undoubtedly modernised and been changed by glamorous shops, trendy bars and tourist attractions since the 1970’s when Tóibín was living there, the character of the city and its surrounding area is constant. It’s certainly up there with the best of the best.
October 8, 2021
Tóibín has lived in Barcelona on and off since the 1970s - he has a keen eye and profound empathy for the Catalans, even if this doesn’t quite amount to affinity - there’s a mild distance in his prose. This book is his curious homage. I say curious because it’s very unsentimental: it’s a slightly meandering but really insightful smorgasbord of - in no particular order - medieval history of the Catalan people, observations of modern day Barcelona folks on holiday, very good depth on the Civil War, personal stories about Gaudí, Picasso and others. Woven throughout are mordant but respectful anecdotes about local politics, personalities, cultural blind spots, beliefs and hiccups. Tóibín was in Barcelona when Franco died and when the 1992 Olympics were in full preparation (the book was first published in 1990) - fascinating vantage points for an ode that at times comes closer to Alastair Cooke’s Letters from America mixed with Pierre Nora’s Lieux de Mémoire (“places of memory” - Tóibín writes well about the modern day shadows of the Civil War). He’s certainly a long way from Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia, although the title invites comparison. I include a few holiday snaps - Barcelona a firm favourite ever since I hung out with Catalans during a year abroad in Paris in 1995-6. Didn’t know about this book then. Wish I had. #guehennoreads #bookstagram #colmtóibín
Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews