Must-reads: best books about Barcelona
Barcelona is a city steeped in magic and history. Its streets, buildings, parks, monuments, and beaches have been captured in hundreds of travel guides. But if you really want to get to know it, today we'll present a foolproof method: explore it through the words of writers who based some of their best literary works on it. These blend knowledge, drama, and mystery.
The best thing about this selection of books about Barcelona is that each volume is geared towards exploring different places in the city.. Its characters also walk through it and show, for example, what it was like to live there in ancient times or how certain customs were inaugurated. If you want to explore it, these are the best books about Barcelona you could read.
Best books about Barcelona
The wind's shadow (2016), by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Apparently, there is nothing to Ruiz Zafon did wrong when it comes to literature, but there is no doubt that The wind's shadow, the first volume of the tetralogy The cemetery of forgotten books, is the best of his worksThe novel tells the adventures of Daniel Sempere, a boy who runs a bookstore with his father and who loves books with every inch of his being.
This young man's life changes when his father takes him through the dark streets of 1940s Barcelona. and shows him The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a quasi-magical place where he has the chance to be chosen by a book. Daniel, barely a child, is captivated by The wind's shadow, a cursed title that will lead you to unravel a gothic plot full of betrayals, journeys, curses and forbidden loves.
Quotes by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
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"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it, lived it, and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone turns its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens."
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"I guess you don't have many friends. Me neither. I don't trust people who say they have many friends. It's a sure sign they don't know anyone."
All the detectives are called Flanagan (2006), by Andreu Martín and Jaume Ribera.
This is the second volume in the award-winning literary series by Andreu Martín and Jaume Ribera, although the reader should not worry about not starting at the beginning, as each work is independent of the previous one—although there are connections, especially on a sentimental level. This title, in particular, tells how Juan Anguera, better known as Flanagan, meet one of the most recurring characters in the series.
This is Nines, a rich girl who lives in the upper part of Barcelona, and helps the teenage detective discover the location of the nephew of Carmen, a gypsy girl from his neighborhood. Together, they will experience dangerous adventures that will make the protagonist's affection for both girls grow. In the end, he will have to choose one of them, but first, the mystery must be solved.
Quotes by Andreu Martín
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"She left there and there she has her family, humble paper book makers. A poor family, with an old-fashioned television, who even now, it seems unbelievable, lament their dependence on technology and consider knowing how to look into each other's eyes a virtue."
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"The way to feel nothing is to think nothing. Through the insensitivity of the body, one achieves the supreme insensitivity, which is the insensitivity of the brain."
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"To enjoy death, you must be very aware that your prey is alive. Life is her treasure, and you will take it away from her, but there is no possible pleasure if she doesn't realize you are taking it away."
Latest afternoons with Teresa (2016), by Juan Marsé
This is a love story. The protagonists are two young people from very different social classes. On one side, we have Pijoaparte, a local charnego, and on the other, Teresa, a daughter of the Catalan bourgeoisie. Over the years, this book has become one of those classics contemporaries, joining the collective imagination of all Spanish speakers.
A curious fact about this volume is that it was written in the midst of the civil war, during 1966. Due to its context, the book had to be censored, as it was considered to contain an excess of lurid scenes, as well as left-wing political references. This 2016 edition includes a prologue by Pere Gimferrer and a text by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán.
Quotes by Juan Marsé
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"What else could have been expected of young university students back then, if even those who claimed to serve the country's true cultural and democratic cause were men who would drag their mythical adolescence into their forties? Over time, some would be seen as frauds and others as victims; most as idiots or children; some as sensible, generous, and even rewarded with a political future; and all as what they were: shitty young gentlemen."
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"And he silenced her with another kiss, this time very soft, a mere touch, that abandoned, tender kiss of reparation by which one affirms the purpose of amending all sins except the one one intends to commit immediately."
The cathedral of the sea (2024), by Ildefonso Falcones
This is one of those books that's difficult to read, not because of its narrative style, but because the story it tells is so hard. The title tells the story of Arnau, a young man who arrives in Barcelona fleeing the abuses of the feudal lords of the 14th century. At that time, the city was under the Crown of Aragon. Therefore, the inhabitants of the fishing district of Ribera decided to build the largest temple at sea in history.
In this context, the protagonist will do a thousand and one jobs, but always in the shadow of the Cathedral of the Sea, which, along with Santa María del Mar, protected him until he rose from poverty to nobility. Since its publication, this book has become a resounding success., being translated into more than fifteen languages and sold in more than thirty countries, which served to create cultural routes.
Quotes by Ildefonso Falcones
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"It just moves again, and again, and again. And again. Year after year, century after century. Yes, majestic, but it always dies here, at the feet of those who come to contemplate it. Tomorrow will be the same. And on the day it ravages, kills, and sows destruction, it doesn't know why it does so."
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"We are nothing more than toys in the hands of the nobles. They decide their affairs without caring how many deaths or how much misery they may bring to others."
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"The sea knows nothing of the past. It's there. It will never ask us for explanations. The stars, the moon, they are there and continue to illuminate us, they shine for us."
The diamond square (2016), by Mercè Rodoreda
This is the masterpiece of the influential Catalan writer Mercè Rodoreda. Many things have been written about this book, but not enough to honor the great legacy it left behind.That's why, in Barcelona, specifically in the Plaça del Diamant square, there is a statue that celebrates its protagonist, turning her into a symbol of feminine strength and the city's history.
The story tells the life of La Colometa, a girl without direction, totally lost in a disorderly life, amidst the suffering of losing her loved ones and the oppression of her husband, Quimet, a child of his time and the upbringing he received. This volume gives readers a chance to experience post-war Barcelona: miserable, anguished, and infinitely beautiful.
Quotes by Mercè Rodoreda
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"I was made of cork. Not because I was made of cork, but because I was made of cork, my heart made of snow. I had to make myself made of cork to get ahead."
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"And between bells, a sea snail, one of those that, when you put your ear to it, the sea sounds inside. That snail, which had been able to hold all the cries of the sea inside, was more than a person to me. No one could ever live with that coming and going of the waves inside. And when I brushed off the dust, I listened to it for a while."
The silent city (2013), by José Luis Caballero
This is a curious book because, unlike what usually happens, it's based on a movie. That is to say: it's a novelization.Specifically, it is inspired by the film The last daysThe plot tells the story of a post-apocalyptic Barcelona where a strange epidemic forces its inhabitants to live underground. What could possibly happen in a setting like this in a historic city?
Despite being a novelization, The book changes aspects of the film that give this work a whole new dimension.For example, here, the protagonist is Andrea, a supporting character in the film played by actress Leticia Dolera. This is why, if you've seen the film, the book will be a spoiler-free surprise. The ending is also innovative.
