Barcelona – Cannonball Read 17

Total Football

The Barcelona Complex: Lionel Messi and the Making -- and Unmaking -- Of the World's Greatest Soccer Club by Simon Kuper

September 9, 2021 by Jake Leave a Comment

Read as part of CBR13Bingo: Travel. I’d love to go to Barcelona some day. My first real exposure to FC Barcelona was the 2009 Champions League Final. At the type, I wasn’t seriously following European soccer. The hype of this match reached my ears. Man U was on its last legs as the nonpareil of England, Cristiano Ronaldo was just entering his prime. Meanwhile, Barca was emerging as the sport’s dominant force with stars such as Girard Pique, Andres Iniesta and the rising Lionel Messi. […]

The whole experience of being hit by a bullet is very interesting.

Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell

January 13, 2019 by tillie Leave a Comment

Orwell is a man of strong convictions. He believes so passionately in the fight against fascism that in 1936 he travels to Barcelona to fight in the revolution. Homage to Catalonia is a detailed account of the politics surrounding the revolution, a fervent defense of the working class and a witness of war from the trenches. “All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.” I will be honest and say that the politics interested me […]

Just because you can write a 1000 page book doesn’t mean you have to…

January 18, 2017 by pluiedenovembre Leave a Comment

El laberinto de los espíritus (literally, The Labyrinth of the Spirits) is the fourth book in the saga of The Cemetery of Forgotten Books by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. This saga started in 2001 with The Shadow of the Wind, followed by The Angel’s Game and The Prisoner of Heaven. All three books take place in Barcelona, in the aftermath of the Civil War. If you are not familiar with them, I recommend you get your hands on a copy of The Shadow of the Wind […]

The Angel’s Game: Barcelona as You’ve Never Imagined

May 20, 2014 by Mrs Smith Reads Leave a Comment

It was a dark and stormy night… As funny as it might seem to echo the opening sentence of Snoopy’s novel in the Peanuts cartoons, it’s an apt description of the atmosphere and ambience of Carlos Ruiz Záfon’s second novel in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series, The Angel’s Game. For anyone who has ever spent time in Barcelona and remembers it as being a sunny, youthful and vibrant place, Záfon imbues his Barcelona of the 1930s as a dolorous, dark and mysterious city full of […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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