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Last posts

Talking a walk through Barcelona: “Don Quijote in Barcelona”

Mónica Boixeda Barcelonian, Only-Be

Barcelona is the only real city that is mentioned in „Don Quijote de la Mancha“ and that’s because Miguel de Cervantes visited the city and was so captured by it that he described it in his book. Now there are organized tours throughout the city that explore the different places that Quijote and Sancho passed. On this route we are reminded of passages of the book, in which he expressed the greatness and beauty of the city. And Cervantes was not only fascinated by the city but also the sea and that is why he described it so delicately in his texts. Passing the Plaça de Palau where the gate of the city walls once were and where Cervantes initially places Quijote. We take a walk to Call street where the print shop of Sebastián de Comelles is that Hildalgo also visits in his novella. Still in the Barrio Gotico we pass the Perot lo Lladre Street where the Catalan bandit will lead Don Quijote and Sancho to Barcelona. For more information on the journey in „El Quijote en Barcelona“: http://www.iperqueno.info/visitasguiadas/barcelona/rutasliterarias.htm Benjami If you would like to see Barcelona with Quijote’s eyes rent apartments in Barcelona and explore the city that was so fascinating to Cervantes.? Translated by: salome... read more

Orhan Pamuk: The Museum of Innocence

Mónica Boixeda Istanbulite, Only-Be

Everyone who was lucky enough to read Istanbul, City and Memories written by the Turkish author and Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk can certainly confirm that he has an extraordinary ability to describe this city by the means of his memories. And also how he encourages the reader to ponder the complex relationship between literature and reality and the different ways in which the first influences the second. If the aforementioned book mentions this differential characteristic of the city by describing its sights not in regards to their public presentation but as part of their surroundings where life happens then The Museum of Innocence reflects the similarities between novel and museum, both spaces to gather details of our lives that are doomed to disappear with time. According to Pamuk the purpose of gathering objects is to hold on to the past. Although the novel is about an extreme love and shows the same conventions just like a melodrama, a musical or a romantic movie that coined Turkish cinema in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, his novel is more personal and intimate without being too dependent on the experience of the author or the incidents that happen to the narrator. He is a member of one of the wealthiest families in Istanbul and is passionately in love with one of his cousins who is much younger than him and has lower social status. This love turns his life upside down and it seems like he is sleepwalking through streets, cafes, restaurants, bars, cinemas and houses looking for signs and things she might have left. With those he creates a museum,... read more

Mario Praz: The House of Life

Mónica Boixeda Only-Be, Roman

The known writer and art and literatur critic Mario Praz didn’t only suffer the evil words by Cyril Connolly who said about the House of Life that it is one of the most boring books he ever read, a book so unbelievably exhausting. But also did he have the reputation to bring bad luck and was held responsible for sinking ships, broken lamps and other kinds mishaps, that happened wherever the writer appeared. Of course his fans didn’t want to leave it at that and think that this interpretation of> his text is nothing more than an unlucky coincidence. To them the house of Mario Praz in Rome is one of the most incredible museums of a writer and The House of Life – in which Praz analyzed the story of his wonderful collection – is far from a bad reputation. According to James Joyce this collection was a way for Praz to express the mystery about himself in his furniture. He was one of the greatest experts regarding Antonio Canova and Baroque, as well as Neoclassicism and the history behind the decorations in Pompeji. Luchino Visconti dedicated a figure in one of his movies, Gruppo di famiglia in un interni (1974) played by Burt Lancaster to Praz. For more information visit: http://www.museopraz.beniculturali.it/ Paul Oilzum If you rent apartments in Rome you should visit the Palazzo Primoli (Museo Mario Praz, Via Zanardelli 1).? Translated by: salome antigone... read more