Barcelona - Softcover

Hughes, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0679743839 ISBN 13: 9780679743835

Publisher: Vintage, 1993

Synopsis

An informed and readable work of history, art criticism, and urban anthropology devoted to the most un-Spanish city in Spain.

About this title

Review:

Under Franco's regime, it was declared as gospel truth that Madrid and Old Castile were the spiritual and cultural heartland of Spain, and peripheral cities and cultures of the Iberian peninsula must bow to that truth. Barcelona, however--la gran encisera, "the great enchantress"--always saw things rather differently. The earliest area of Spain to be colonised by the Romans, the capital of Catalonia is fiercely independent, somehow Spanish and not-Spanish, and most mysteriously of all, has been at the forefront of modernity, especially modern art and architecture, ahead of any other European city you could name with the possible exception of Paris. It is this Barcelona that fascinates Robert Hughes most, and he in turn fascinates us with his enthusiasm and knowledge of the place. He thrillingly evokes the cosmopolitanism and openness of Barcelona--qualities, he says, that derive inevitably from its status as a great Mediterranean port. And he is brilliant on perhaps the most exciting modern architect of all, Antoni Gaudi, the creator of the (still unfinished) Church of La Sagrada Familia, now as much an icon of the city as the Opera House in Sydney or the Statue of Liberty in New York. -- Christopher Hart

Review:

"Confirms . . . Mr. Hughes's authority as a first-rate chronicler and historian. The book is destined to become, like Forster's Alexandria and Mary McCarthy's Venice Observed, a classic." --The New York Times Book Review

"Authoritative, carefully researched, and full of insights into the city's great heritage . . . his judgments are full of tolerant and good-humored fascination. . . . There is no single volume in either Catalan or Spanish that approaches this book in scope or detail...a superb achievement and a great pleasure to read." --The Washington Post Book World

"Brilliant...an extraordinary book that combines history, criticism of the arts and architecture, and a profound sympathy for the moral essence of a people." --Newsday

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0679743839
• ISBN 13: 9780679743835
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 592