Barcelona

Barcelona was one of the first cities that grabbed me through a book - I didn't actually visit it before last summer, but I have read books set there for years.

The standouts are Eduardo Mendoza's The City of Marvels and Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind, but surely there are more great novels set in this city? Perhaps historical novels that give a sense of the city's history?

There is a novel, La catedral del mar by Idelfonso Falcones which is laid in 14th century Barcelona. An English translation "The Cathedral of the Sea" is listed in Amazon as coming out in March 2008, although there may be an older English translation out there.

Thanks, this sounds like exactly my cup of tea!

Not quite the same thing, but Barbara Wilson's joky detective story Gaudí afternoon is worth reading, if only for the truly appalling puns (the title isn't the worst of it, by any means).

Did no-one mention George Orwell's Spanish Civil War memoir, Homage to Catalonia?

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I thought about Homage to Catalonia, but was trying to find something more fictional. And I couldn't remember the title with Gaudí's name in it, and didn't take the time to look.

Just a few weeks ago I witnessed an interview with two authors from Barcelona, Jaume Cabre and Lluis-Anton Baulenas. Funny men! They made me laugh (in a positive way). So after the interview I bought Baulenas La felicitat, which has been translated from the original Catalan to Dutch, and which I am reading now. It is set in Barcelona at the time of the great expansion of the city (Eixample), and is very atmospheric, I like it. Unfortunately for all of you reading in English, I have not been able to find an English translation of this novel yet. Hope it will be translated soon!

I couldn't find anything by Jaume Cabré in English at Worldcat.

I just finished The Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones, and I know that next time I visit, I will definitely take a closer look at the titular 'cathedral': Santa Maria del Mar.

The book is highly recommended, by the way, and especially if you are planning to visit Barcelona. It was just what I was looking for, as well; a novel that showed Barcelona in the past, at the height of her powers. In the 14th Century the King of Aragon ruled an Empire that stretched right across the Mediterranean, and the merchant city of Barcelona grew rich and powerful.

I have also read El juego del angel, the most recent novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It is set in Barcelona as well, in the 1910's and 1920's, and the parents and grandfather of Daniel Sempere from The Shadow of the Wind make an appearance, as well as the gloriously imagined Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

The main character is a writer of serial novels called David Martin, who enters into a kind of 'deal with the devil'-situation. I really liked the novel, although it did not quite match "The Shadow of the Wind". The city of Barcelona is perhaps even more of a presence here, especially the Barri Gotic district, where the main character buys an ominous house.