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Review
"'Colm Toibin writes prose of a heartbreaking beauty' Hilary Mantel, Daily Telegraph"
Product Description
Written with deep knowledge and affection, Homage to Barcelona is a sensuous and beguiling portrait of a great Mediterranean city.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book in 1994 while working on a rural development project in El Salvador. I had never been to Barcelona and that post-war time in El Salvador was hard. There was violence and the threat of violence. There was brutality and silence and ignorance and poverty and hardship and want and illiteracy.
Starved of English-language reading material, or indeed, any reading material at all, I fell upon Homage to Barcelona by Toibin. I didn't start it with any great anticipation but by the end of it I almost had to tie myself down to prevent me running to the airport and boarding the next plane for Barcelona.
I read the bit about the bar where the old man and his sons and grandsons served up hams and sherries and wines, where there were wooden barrels and I cried for that city I had never visited.
When I did get to go to Barcelona I made sure I had the book with me and enjoyed re-reading it in all the places it mentions. I felt I knew the city with the knowledge contained within the book at my disposal.
This is a really great book and fitting homage to a really great city.
44 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In advance of a recent trip to Barcelona, was scouring bookshops for suitable volumes to take, and loathe to take Robert Hughes' heavier tome (in both weight and subject matter) was pleased to find this lovely short volume. Colm Toibin has many years' experience from living on-and-off in the city and his love for it (and exasperation at times) shines through. Presents the city in its context as the capital of a region yearning for autonomy, and dissects its relationship with Spain as a whole, with good, brief chapters on politics and history. The greater part explores the artistic personalities which I am particularly interested in, namely Picasso, Miro and the ubiquitous Gaudi. The above description sounds dry, in fact the prose is unpretentious and easy to read. Highly recommended.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I enjoyed this book, and even though I live in Barcelona I learned a lot more about the city than I knew before reading the book. Toibín writes well but his book, at least the Picador edition that I read, is very poorly researched, and the proofreading is quite disastrous. I noted literally dozens of inconsistencies, misspellings and outright errors and impossibilities (Miró was born in Tarragona province, page 98, and was also born in 1893 in Passeig del Crèdit, in the centre of Barcelona, according to page 80). I hope that subsequent editions eliminated these errors (which I pointed out to the publisher, without acknowledgement) because the book has plenty of merit, and I suppose that most of the people reading the book will be unaware of most the inconsistencies and wrong spelling.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
If you want to understand the feel of Barcelona...
This is the first of Colm Toibin's books that I have read and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on more of his work! Read more
Published 10 days ago by sulla
Homage to Barcelona by Toibin
This book is a classic, beautifully written. It's not a "guidebook", of course, but is rich in describing the history of Barcelona and Catalyuna, with sections on major figures... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Henning
Good... but not very good...
After spending a couple of days in Barcelona, I encountered this book for sale in the English language section of a bookshop. Read more
Published 15 months ago by G. D. Busby
New proof readers needed
An interesting account of a certain period in Barcelona's history by someone who obviously loves the city. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Barcelonadweller
One of those classic texts to read before visiting a city
Like 'Venice' by Jan Morris (another classic 'city' text') this book was written some time ago, hence don't use it for bar and restaurant recommendations! Read more
Published 16 months ago by Johnny
Perfect primer for Barcelona and Catalonia
A slim volume that is an excellent introduction to Catalonia, its cities, history, artists and culture. Read more
Published on 28 Oct 2007 by Mr. Chris Pearson
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