4 books set in Barcelona. Have you read any?
The city of Barcelona has a special relationship with books and literature. And not just for the well-known and celebrated Sant Jordi festival, where roses and books take centre stage.
Despite the troubles the world of buying and selling books in a physical format is currently facing, there are lots of wonderful bookstores in Barcelona where you can enjoy the printed word in all its glory. Alongside the many great libraries in Barcelona, the city is a true paradise for bibliophiles. But the special relationship between books and Barcelona goes even further and has seen the city become the protagonist of many literary works. Have you ever read any?
The Shadow of the Wind. An unprecedented success
Rarely has a novel “shaken” the literary sector quite as much as The Shadow of the Wind, published in 2001, whose author was the then unknown Carlos Ruíz Zafón. Word of the book spread like wildfire and this exciting story of literature, mysteries, magic, love and tragedy – all set in Barcelona in the first half of the 20th century – sold fifteen million copies worldwide and was translated into more than 36 different languages. One of the best-known Spanish bestsellers internationally, it became the first in a series of sagas up until 2016, when the last book was published. The series is named The Cemetery of Forgotten Books and also consists of The Angel’s Game, The Prisoner of Heaven and The Labyrinth of Spirits. After this incontestable success, many began calling Ruíz Zafón “the Spanish Ken Follet”.
Cathedral of the Sea. The pillars of the Earth with a Catalan twist
It may not have reached the dizzying heights of the previous novel, but it was an unprecedented editorial success nonetheless, making enough of a cultural impact for people to conflate the fictitious Cathedral of the Sea and the very real Basílica Santa María del Mar, which itself served as one of the main settings and stars of the book. Set in Barcelona in the 14th century, this excellent historical novel by Ildefonso Falcones – another author from outside the publishing world and totally unknown until the book’s publication in 2016 – has all the ingredients you’d expect of the genre and will keep you immersed in the story from the first to the last page.
Nada. A crude account of post-war life
This excellent work by Carmen Laforet tells the story of Andrea, an 18-year-old girl who leaves her native Canary Islands for Barcelona to study for her career and start a new life. Disappointment follows the protagonist who finds a city still bearing the scars of the Civil War and with a Catalan bourgeoisie, once powerful and proud, vanishing before her eyes. Laforet’s story isn’t just a splendid portrait of the time, but a deep reflection of expectations, maturity, love and uprooting yourself.
One of the most important works in Catalan literature: Diamond Square
This book by Mercè Rodoreda is considered one of the most outstanding and noteworthy examples of Catalan literature, which is quite a claim. The protagonist, Colometa, is a young woman who develops throughout the novel, as does the city she lives in – before, during and after the Spanish Civil War. Genuine giants of world literature, such as Gabriel García Márquez, have described Rodoreda’s creation as “the most beautiful to have been published in Spain after the Civil War”. And we’re not going to contradict such glowing praise here…
Categories: barcelona