NORTHANGER ABBEY CONCLUSION

I finally finished Northanger Abbey and I really like this book. It is an in-depth look into what life was like in the 1800's like many of her novels. The characters converse about the novels they have or haven't read and they come to the conclusion that life is rarely like a novel.All the symbols of the gothic novel are disrupted here. Catherine, the main character continually sees and misinterprets Gothic symbols: an old chest, a mysterios manuscript, a secret passageway...

The abbey activates Catherine imagination and she mistakes fiction for reality

As a reader, I haven't been at all disapointed by the evolution of the plot. I particularly enjoy the interventions of the narrator into the story to clarify anything that could lead to missundertandings. I have always loved happy endings so the ending of this novel is predictable but quite good.

You can find interesting information about this book here and here.

My next book was going to be Mysteries of Udolpho; however, I have been convinced by my sister that before approaching the world of Gothic I should read Neil Gaiman's Stardust. She's just read the novel and she had a good time so I have started Stardust. It's quite different to Austen but I'm having fun. So, now I'm entering the lands of Faerie

Faerie, after all, is not one land, one principality or dominion. Maps of Faerie are unreliable, and may not be depended upon.
We talk of the kings and queens of Faerie as we would speak of the kings and queens of England. But Faerie is bigger than England, as it is bigger than the world (for, since the dawn of time, each land that has been forced off the map by explorers and the brave going out and proving it wasn’t there has taken refuge in Faerie; so it is now, by the time that we come to write of it, a most huge place indeed, containing every manner of landscape and terrain).

Here, truly, there be Dragons. Also gryphons, wyverns, hippogriffs, basilisks, and hydras. There are all manner of more familiar animals as well, cats affectionate and aloof, dogs noble and cowardly, wolves and foxes, eagles and bears.

Extract from Neil Gaiman's Stardust

The novel starts with this beautiful poem from John Donne.

ENJOYING A GOOD COFFEE

These days it's been very cold here in Barcelona and for me one of the best ways of fighting off cold weather is having a hot cup of coffe especially I love lattes, capuccinos, mochas....

Last summer in Korea I found very nice cafés, one of them is this one in Gyeongju, a beautiful city South East Korea.






These are some other cute places to have a nice cup of coffee in Seoul

Christmas Market in Barcelona

One of the most typical traditions in Barcelona is the Christmas Market located opposite the Cathedral. There you can buy 'nativity' little figures and other Xmas goodies.

One of the most successful nativity figures is 'el Caganer' or the pooping man. It is always present in Catalan Nativity displays. The idea of 'el Caganer' isn't at all disrespectful, but it is a symbol of good luck, his poo fertilises the land and provides a good harvest for he year to come. In this Xmas market there were famous porcelain 'Caganer' figures such as the Spanish or the British Royal family....



Darth Vader, Spiderman, the Pope and a lot of polititians (Obama...).




Another peculiar Xmas tradition that we have here in Barcelona is the CAGA TIO. This is a wooden log with a smiley face painted or/and carved onto one end. It also wears a traditional Catalan red hat (barretina) On Christmas Eve it is covered with a blanket and it is fed so that it can poo as many presents as possible. The presents appear under the blanket but Caga Tio often needs some help or persuasion to poo the presents out. It is hit with a stick.

Flea Market in Barcelona

Last Saturday I went to the most famous flea market here in Barcelona, Els Encants. I used to go every Saturday quite a long time ago to browse mainly second hand books. Back then, I could buy many cheap and fantastic books. Now I have become more selective because I still have many unread books and I have no more room. In my bookcases every shelf holds two lines of books. Anyway, I still managed to find interesting stuff.

This camera (Vivitar EZ point 'n shoot big view) for 3 euros:






This beautiful camera Sports 35 for 2 euros.

And this book for 1 Euro:

I was happy to find this book in English, because I prefer to read it in its original language. And I already had another book of some of his short stories in spanish.

Having flicked trough it, It looks very appealing.

LIVERPOOL

These days I am planning a weekend trip to England. I'm not sure if I'll go to London or Edimburgh. I think it is going to be impossible to find a bargain flight ticket as I did last year. I could get a return ticket to Liverpool for 15 euros. I think Liverpool is a perfect destination to visit during a long weekend (bank holiday). I really had a good time. These are some of the photos that I took there.

so cute....

mondo sonoro

Open publication - Free publishing - More revista

LOU BARLOW

Last weekend I went to the Lou Barlow concert here in Barcelona. He is a great musician and songwriter. He was one of the founders of Dinosaur Jr and Sebadoh and he has been writing songs since back then (I remember having seen him two years ago in the Osaka Summersonic festival with Dinosaur Jr). Although he's a rock musician this concert was very special because it was held in a small theatre, El Casino de L'Aliança.


And a special enviroment emerged during the concert. He's so cool, he couldn't stop making jokes about how he liked SPANISH TORTILLA (omelette). He played only with his guitar and his concert was elegant, precious and fantastic.
When the concert finished, I could by this CD in the same venue just for 5 euros. Although this is not his last work, I think it's a couple of years old), I love it.

"Caterpillar Girl/Faith Defies the Night/Losercore" by Lou Barlow from Hobby Shop on Vimeo.

This are some videos I recorded from this concert:

Northanger Abbey and Mysteries of Udolpho

I'm so happy I have received the books I ordered from The Book Depository, Misteries of Udolpho and The Brontës.

These days I'm inmerse in my Jane Austen reading, Northanger Abbey and I find extraordinary the excitement of Udolpho in Catherine and Isabella
There are other books mentioned in the novel, such us:

The Monk by Matthew Lewis; The Italian by Anne Radcliff ; The Castle of Wolfenbach and The Misterious Warning by Eliza Parsons; Clermont by Regina Maria Roche; The Tale of the Black Forest.... but Udolpho is constantly present.


This is a very interesting post about the notion of non loving people by halves created by Isabella Thorpe.

SUEDE IN BARCELONA

Suede was one of my long time favourites bands. They splitted up some years ago but early this year they reunited to play one gig. Afterwards they decided they would play some gigs around Europe and one of them was here in Barcelona last Friday. They played all the classic hits and I could sing and dance... After some years on their own they still manage to play such a good gig...

Suede in Barcelona taken from YouTube:

KOREA

Last summer I spent more than 4 weeks travelling around South Korea and I really had a good time. I visited pretty much the most famous spots in the country and I met very nice people there. Since then, any news about South Korea catch my attention.
Some months ago a South Korean military ship was hit by a torpedo (that seemed to be North Korean) exploded and sank.

Unfortunately late news related to this beautiful country are negative again since North Korea attacked South Korea and some civilians were killed.

PARKS AND RECREATIONS and COMMUNITY

These last weeks I have been following some comedy tv shows that I have enjoyed a lot.

Community and Parks and recreations are my favourites.

Ron Swanson is one of my favourite characters in Parks and Recreations.

They are recording the new season already so I guess very soon we will be able to enjoy it.

And this is one of my favourite characters in Community season 1 (not season 2):

They both have 2 seasons already finished. Every episode share a simple plot but at the same time very funny due to the numerous surreal situations. Regarding Parks and recreation, every episode gets funnier and better. On the other hand, regarding community, I really enjoyed the first season, this second season although is not so good it is still worth watching.