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Barcelona is one of the most visited cities in Europe, a multilingual capital of an autonomous region that longs to be independent of Spain. The city is famous for its painters, modernist architecture, style of football, and its history, but as Peter Bush reveals it has always been a major centre of literary talent and creativity. Barcelona Tales presents a selection of newly translated short stories by 14 writers, many of them Catalan. The stories explore the themes of migration and class conflict in a city renowned in world literature from the day rural innocents Don Quixote and Sancho Panza visited its streets at the beginning of the seventeenth-century, and witnessed the wonders of the printing press and the cruelties of slavery. Together, they open up the city in ironic, tragic, and lyrical ways, inviting readers to explore fictional lives and literary styles that reflect the dynamic, conflict-ridden character and history of this great European city.
List of contents
- General Introduction, Helen Constantine
- Introduction, Peter Bush
- 1. What happened to Don Quixote when he went to Barcelona?, Miguel de Cervantes
- 2. Transplanted, Narcís Oller
- 3. A Brief, Heart-warming Story of a Madame Bovary Born and Bred in Gràcia, Following our Best Principles and Traditions, Montserrat Roig
- 4. Ramon from Montjuic, Josep Pla
- 5. Blitz on Barcelona, C.A. Jordana
- 6. A Detective Story, Juan Marsé
- 7. Three Steps, Miquel Molina
- 8. Dead Time, Teresa Solana
- 9. The Shoe-shine and La Locomotora, Alfredo Bryce Echenique
- 10. Neighbours, Jordi Nopca
- 11. Which Country Do You Want?, Empar Moliner
- 12. The Sound of Keys, Najat El Hachmi
- 13. The Boy who was Sure to Die, Quim Monzó
- 14. Julio, the Parrot and the Taxi Driver, Jorge Carrión
- Notes on the Authors
- Further Reading and Viewing
- Publisher's Acknowledgements
- Map
About the author
Peter Bush first went to Barcelona in 1968 to research writing inspired by the 1868 Revolution and in 1970 he returned to help set up a group opposed to the Franco dictatorship. He lived in Barcelona for 10 years after retiring from his post as Director of the British Centre for Literary Translation in 2003. An award-winning literary translator, he has translated over seventy books from Catalan, French, Portuguese and Spanish: modern classics like Mercè Rodoreda's In Diamond Square or Valle-Inclán's Tyrant Banderas and work by living authors like Jorge Carrión's Bookshops and Najat el Hachmi's The Last Patriarch.
Summary
Barcelona Tales presents a selection of newly translated short stories by 14 writers, many of them Catalan. The stories open up Barcelona in ironic, tragic, and lyrical ways, inviting readers to explore fictional lives and literary styles that reflect the dynamic, conflict-ridden character and history of this great European city.
Additional text
Peter Bush, the translator, does an excellent job translating both from Spanish and Catalan into English. He very well replicates the style and flow of the original author ... Helen Constantine and Peter Bush have produced a quite excellent, if slightly quirky, book. A great read for anyone heading to the Catalan capital.
Report
A fascinating and varied collection, which captures the diversity and atmosphere of the city. Karen Langley, Shiny New Books
