Barcelona

出版者:Vintage

作者:Robert Hughes

页数:592

出版时间:1993-03-09

价格:USD 19.95

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780679743835

具体描述

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.

From Library Journal

The acclaimed author of The Fatal Shore ( LJ 11/1/86) and The Shock of the New ( LJ 2/15/81) brings to life that "great enchantress" of the Mediterranean with the same panache and elegant prose readers have come to expect. Barcelona's literature, painting, complex politics, vivid personalities, and cunning entrepreneurship through 1500 years are ingeniously interwoven. The result is a brilliant tapestry keyed to the city's architecture from its medieval Gothic splendors to Antoni Gaudi's dominating "delayed baroque" style and the present transformation associated with the forthcoming Olympic Games. Hughes's lengthy and thoroughly researched narrative lucidly delineates those historical factors generating the intense cultural nationalism of Spain's Catalonia and its great metropolis. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries. History Book Club and Quality Paperback alternates; previewed in Pre pub Alert, LJ 10/1/91.

- William F. Young, SUNY at Albany Lib.

Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

After a rousing introduction that touches on the Spanish Civil War and Mir¢, Gaud¡, and the Barcelonese mania for design and its folk-pride in ``seny'' (well-proportioned common sense), coexisting with its ``tradition of intense, wrenching civic change, of long- shot gambles and risky endeavors,'' Hughes plunges into the history of the city and of Catalunya entire--and is all but lost in its swamp thereafter. Understandably wishing to replicate his deserved success with The Fatal Shore (1986), Hughes takes Barcelona chronologically. But where the Australian epic of the earlier book was one of remade identities and turbulent national narration, Hughes here is faced with more frozen layers of culture and provincial self-regard. He goes at it painstakingly--all the names and dates are here, from the Romans onward--yet the result is deprived of Hughes's signature dash and vector. There are fine historical cameos--ever hear of Narcis Monturiol and his pioneering submarines, proof of Barcelona's helpless but also wonderful addiction to modernity?-- but Hughes also must address himself to literature (the Catalan language being so important a determinant to the culture), and when he does this he seems to lose the confidently acerbic snap that his visual-art and architecture prose has (``The language of L'Atlantida is rich, sonorous, imbued not only with rhetorical grandeur but with intimate precision of observation and feeling''). The Gaud¡ section, which is very good, comes only at a very long book's end, by which time you are weary, and less involved than its great subject merits. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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."

--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."

--New York Newsday

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."

--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."

--New York Newsday

Product Description

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.

From the Publisher

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

Inside Flap Copy

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.

From the Back Cover

"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." -- 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."

用户评价

这本书的魅力在于其对一个特定文化群体内部细微差别的洞察，那种微妙的阶层差异、代际之间的观念冲突，被描绘得入木三分，充满了生活的气息。我从未想过一个如此宏大的主题，能被作者处理得如此贴近个体经验。书中关于“归属感”的探讨，贯穿始终，它不仅仅是关于地理位置的迁移，更是关于精神家园的构建与崩塌。角色D的奋斗历程，是如此的真实和痛苦，他为了融入主流社会所付出的代价，让人既感到钦佩又替他惋惜。这里的对话是这本书的一大亮点，人物之间的交流充满了潜台词，很少有直白的表述，你必须学会倾听那些“没说出口的话”，才能真正理解角色的意图。这种“留白”的艺术，极大地考验了读者的参与度和解读能力。当我读到主角们在某个深夜的街角进行的那场关于理想的争论时，我仿佛置身其中，能感受到夜风的寒冷和他们眼中燃烧的火焰。这本小说成功地将地方志的广度与个人史诗的深度完美结合，读完后对那个特定的地域文化有了远超书本介绍的感性认知。

坦率地说，这本书的艺术成就毋庸置疑，但在阅读过程中，我体会到了一种强烈的疏离感，这并非是贬义，而是一种独特的审美体验。作者似乎刻意保持着一种冷静的旁观者视角，即便是描写最激烈的情感场面，笔触依然保持着一种克制和距离感，这使得情感的爆发力反而被推向了另一个维度——一种压抑后的巨大张力。书中对于“记忆”与“真实”之间关系的探讨尤其发人深省。哪些是我们亲身经历的，哪些是我们被告知或主动构建的？角色C在试图重构自己的过去时，那些似是而非的细节，让我开始反思自己对往事记录的可靠性。这本书的语言风格是极其注重声韵和节奏的，阅读时我忍不住会大声朗读那些精妙的排比句和那些突然出现的、极具画面感的比喻。它更像是一部用文字写成的交响乐，每一个音符、每一个停顿，都经过了精确的计算。它不提供简单的答案，而是抛出一系列令人不安的问题，迫使读者在合上书页之后，依然在自己的脑海中进行着未完成的辩论。

这部作品最吸引我的是它对人性复杂性的深刻挖掘，它没有简单地将角色脸谱化为好人或坏人，而是展现了人在极端压力下所能展现出的所有可能性。例如，配角B，一开始我以为他只是一个功能性的工具人，用来推动主角的成长，但随着剧情的深入，我发现他背负着更沉重的秘密和更难以启齿的道德困境。作者对这种灰色地带的刻画，真实得令人不安，仿佛我们身边那些最熟悉的人，也可能藏着我们一无所知的另一面。我特别喜欢作者用来展现内心冲突的那些内部独白，它们语言精炼，充满力量，不像某些作品那样冗长拖沓，而是像锋利的刀子，直插问题的核心。这本书的结构也是非线性的，时间线在过去、现在和近未来之间跳跃，这要求读者必须保持高度的专注力，才能跟上作者精密的布局。这种挑战性反而增加了阅读的乐趣，每一次成功理清一个时间节点，都会带来一种智力上的满足感。它不迎合快餐文化，更像是一块需要细细咀嚼的陈年佳酿，需要时间去体会其中蕴含的醇厚和回甘。

这本书的叙事手法简直让人拍案叫绝，作者仿佛是一位技艺高超的魔术师，将那些看似毫不相关的碎片信息巧妙地编织成一张密不透风的情感之网。我尤其欣赏他对环境氛围的细腻描摹，那种潮湿、带着海盐味的空气似乎能透过纸页直接拂到脸上。故事的主角A，他的内心挣扎与外界的喧嚣形成了鲜明的对比，每一次抉择都像是在悬崖边上跳舞，让人提心吊胆却又忍不住想知道他下一步会如何行动。虽然情节推进的速度时快时慢，尤其在中间部分略显拖沓，但正是这种节奏的把握，让后半段的爆发显得愈发震撼人心。书中关于“时间”的探讨，并非那种枯燥的哲学思辨，而是融入到了角色日常的琐碎和那些突如其来的顿悟之中。我读到某一章，主角无意中路过一家老旧的书店，店里泛黄的书页和木头的气味，一下子将他带回了童年某个模糊的夏日午后，那种强大的共鸣感，让我不得不放下书本，静坐良久，回味那份失而复得的宁静。整本书读下来，像经历了一场漫长而又充满惊喜的旅行，虽然终点在哪里并不那么重要，重要的是沿途那些令人难忘的风景和那些难以言喻的心绪波动。

我必须承认，这是一部需要耐心去消化的作品，初读时可能会因为其大量使用专业术语和晦涩的背景设定而感到吃力。然而，一旦跨过了最初的门槛，后面的阅读体验就像是进入了一座设计精巧的迷宫，每走错一步，都会发现新的风景。作者在构建这个虚构世界的规则体系上，展现了令人惊叹的想象力和逻辑自洽性。他没有回避那些复杂的社会结构和历史遗留问题，而是将它们作为故事的基石，而不是障碍。我特别欣赏书中对“系统”与“个体反抗”之间张力的处理。例如，当角色E试图挑战既定的规则时，那种微弱但坚韧的抵抗，比任何声势浩大的革命都来得更打动人心。书中的插图（如果书中有的话，此处代指那些极具画面感的描述）和附录资料，为理解这个复杂的世界提供了必要的锚点，使读者不至于在信息的洪流中迷失方向。这是一本不适合在通勤路上快速翻阅的书，它要求你沉浸其中，全身心地投入到作者构建的这个精密而又充满张力的宇宙之中。它更像是你在书架上会反复拿出来查阅的工具书，而非一次性消费品。