Barcelona [Paperback]

Robert Hughes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 9, 1993

Barcelona is Robert Hughes's monumentally informed and irresistibly opinionated guide to the most un-Spanish city in Spain. Hughes scrolls through Barcelona's often violent history; tells the stories of its kings, poets, magnates, and revolutionaries; and ushers readers through municipal landmarks that range from Antoni Gaudi's sublimely surreal cathedral to a postmodern restaurant with a glass-walled urinal. The result is a work filled with the attributes of Barcelona itself: proportion, humor, and seny -- the Catalan word for triumphant common sense.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hughes's historical-cultural treatise on the Catalonian capital sparkles on the topic of architecture. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- The throbbing beat of flamenco guitars and the clicking of castanets resound as readers peruse the pages of this epic history. Founded as an encampment by Roman invaders around 210 B.C. , Barcelona passed through centuries of strife until it reached its ``Golden Age'' between the years 1850 and 1925; it is on this era that Hughes focuses. Aficianados of his descriptive, colorful prose style from such bestsellers as The Fatal Shore (Random, 1988) and The Shock of the New (McGraw, 1981) will not be disappointed with this work, and students of architecture will be especially pleased with the author's detailed comparisons of the city's varied structural styles. A must book for students of modern Spanish or European history and culture.
- Richard Lisker, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (March 9, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679743839
• ISBN-13: 978-0679743835
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.2 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,617 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > History > Europe > Portugal
  • #34 in Books > History > Europe > Spain

More About the Author

Robert Hughes was born in Australia in 1938 and has lived in Europe and the United States since 1964. Since 1970 he has worked in New York as an art critic for Time Magazine. He has twice received the Franklin Jeweer Mather Award for Distinguished Criticism from the College Art Association of America.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important historical perspective, April 27, 2000

By 

DvoraT (Catalunya Spain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barcelona (Paperback)

I read Hughes' Barcelona before I went to Barcelona for the first time, and it made all the difference in the world. I arrived not as a stranger, but as a student of Catalan culture and history. The book gave me the background to have an informed perspective on what I was seeing. It may be long, but it has tons of information. My only complaint is that Hughes assumes the reader has a knowledge of history that I, for one, don't have. So there were things I didn't understand.

I liked that Hughes sometimes talked about the big things -- big events, important people, and he sometimes talked about the little things that make a place distinctive. His love of the place came through to me, and I fell in love with it too.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful city, scholarly book, September 19, 2004

By 

C. B Collins Jr. (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Barcelona (Paperback)

I visited Barcelona in 1982 and then again, 20 years later, in 2002. I am certainly glad I read Robert Hughes' "Barcelona" before going the second time since it certainly gave me a new perspective on the city, its history, its art, and its architecture.

The history of the Catalunya area is fascinating, an area that predates the Roman Empire. Two Roman Emperors came from Barcelona, Trajan and his nephew Hadrian. Hughes helps us understand the unique development of the Catalan language, culture, history which is frequently at odds with Madrid and Spain's central government.

Hughes does an excellent job of mapping the development of city with changes in politics and the coming of the industrial revolution. At one point, Barcelona was filled with sweat shops, offering long 12 hour days, very low wages, unhealthy nasty work conditions, deprivation of exercise and light, and explotative child labor. As I walked the city of Barceona, I imagined the struggling families trying to survive under these conditions in times past.

Even though the full 574 pages are engaging in this long book, the chapters on Gaudi are the strongest, most enjoyable, and most insightful. If pressed for time before taking a tripto Spain, I would strongly recommend reading the sections on Gaudi before seeing his actual works which are spread out all over the city of Barcelona.

The concept that was fascinating to me was Hughes' explanation that Gaudi's work was in fact very conservative rather than radical. His work is based on a return to the natural object, the shell,the wing, the tail, the spine, the leaf, the root. His work takes these natural objects and reduces to essential form and then expands again from that essential form with texture, color, and sensitivity to the material and physicality of the medium. This explains the amazing popularity among the Japanese for the work of Gaudi, which philosophically and esthetically is more in line with Japanese culture and esthetics. Knowing this before seeing his Cathedral, parks, and residences gave me a completely new appreciation for Gaudi and the city in which he created his masterpieces.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good detail on Barcelona and Catalunya, May 21, 1998

By 

Ratón de Biblioteca (Puerto Bories, Chile) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barcelona (Paperback)

Robert Hughes' "Barcelona" is the book that I wish that I had before I went to live in and around Barcelona, and since it came along after that time, reading it made me want to go back to that city again and again. By all means, if you plan to visit Barcelona or any other city in Catalunya, dedicate the time necessary to absorb this book before you go. It is not light reading, nor is it a "guidebook." The format doesn't really lend itself to a brief and casual visit -- but the market is full of those alternatives. Instead, you gain a more fulfilling context and deeper historical perspective. "Barcelona" is a bit like the famous Canaletas fountain near the head of the Ramblas. Once you have drunk from it, as they say, you are thereafter certain to return to the city.