Looking For Orwell and Finding Gaudí

by Samuel Hux (January 2016)

Passing through Barcelona years ago, during the waning time of the Franco regime, and knowing I would have twelve hours in my favorite of all cities, I decided that instead of merely revisiting I would make a special itinerary, a kind of historical visit to a moment I had read of more than once: revolutionary Barcelona, 3rd of May, 1937.  more>>>

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2 Responses

  1. De gustibus, etc.

    I have not been to Barcelona, but have many times heard the encomiums given to Gaudi’s cathedral. To me, it is simply another horrid example of “modern art”. I’ll take classical cathedrals, such as Cologne’s, any day.

  2. I’ve visited Barcelona twice; all of Spain many times. Hux seems to me to get the culture exactly right, the city exactly wrong — except for La Sagrada Familia. I’ve visited dozens of cathedrals, with Chartres being the most stirring of its type. But Gauidi’s? Put aside the lens of modern art, instead affix youy eschatology equipment, and (if you are a Christian, as am I) feel the Incarnation. If I were a militant atheist, this is the building I’d want gone. But, of course, de gustibus . . .

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