I’ve just started reading La Catedral del Mar; a novel set in 14th century Medieval Barcelona, by writer Ildefonso Falcones. The book has been a best-seller in Spain for couple of years now and has already sucked me in after only a few pages.
I’m reading it in Spanish, so the page turning is fairly slow. I have my trusty MSDict Spanish dictionary on my Nokia N95, without which the whole experience would be a lot more cumbersome. I can’t really imagine enjoying the laborious chore of turning the pages of my big Spanish-English Tome every few minutes to keep up with the book I’m reading. An electronic dictionary on my phone is just the ticket.
Writers tend to use language uncommon in normal speech, so reading novels means you’re going to come across words that you’ve never heard before. Luckily they tend to stick to certain choices for words, so the dictionary crunching gradually diminishes as you progress through the book.
With this book, I’m finding that I want to read at the pace I would read in English, simply because I want to know what happens next. The book is just exciting. It means I’m starting to let some words go; I have an idea of what they probably mean so I carry on. Of course this doesn’t always work and if I find myself confused, I go back and look up the culprit word and carry on.
What’s nice about reading a really good book in another language is that it makes learning new words so easy. It’s the best way to motivate you to learn. You’re learning to facilitate your enjoyment; the joy of reading.
The book is also now available in English. I saw it in Easons at the weekend.
It is a good book, although it reminds me a lot to the Pillars of the Earth…
There is another novel called The Shadow of the Wind which I think you will like a lot and the main story also develops in Barcelona.
I want to move to Barcelona…
I read The Shadow of The Wind in English and you’re right; I thought it was great. I’ll have to give Pillars of the Earth a go so..
i’m trying the same in Portuguese for book 5 of the epic Harry Potter series… I’ve taken the exact approach as you… i’m trying to read as fluidly as possible but i often feel like how I guess someone with a bad stutter feels everyday of their life… i just want to move on and read number but i just don’t have enough vocab to move on…
It’s an odd feeling alright; knowing that if you just knew more words you could fly ahead. It’s a good motivator though.
Yeah, I am nearly finished La Sombra Del Viento which I picked up in Spain. Fantastic novel. Usually i’m a non-fiction reader but that book just had me hooked from page 1.
This book is next on my list.
I totally understand where you are coming from, my dad is Spanish and my mother is Peruvian so Spanish is part of my life but I am Australian and so English is my first language so it has been slow going (particularly since this is the first novel i’ve tried to read in Spanish). The good thing is it definitely does get easier as you go along. I remember the first half of the book took forever.
I also love Barcelona (where most of my family is), just a gorgeous city - great architecture, food, style, etc etc… the people though are colder than the Southerners or Central Spaniards. Further Catalan is becoming more and more important and so don’t be surprised if people don’t talk to you in Castellano (or Spanish as it’s know around the world).
I´ve just finished La Catedral del Mar and I read it in spanish, I bought this novel when I was i Spain in april this year and I felt the same thing as you from the very first page.
The language in the boook was a little difficult because of the catalanian expressions, but afterwards you can understand the whole meaning. I´m from Colombia but I live in Stockholm, so this is the only way for me to practice spanish. So I undertand that you think it´s a little difficult reading in spanish.
I love history and the author wrote in a magnificent way, I could´nt put the book away. I´ll deffinitely read The shadow of the Wind.
I´ve been i Barcelona once five years ago and now I want to come back and visit La Catedral del Mar. Barcelona is a beautifull city and I love its culture, the food and wines too…
Whoah! So reassuring there’s someone out there who had been doing what I am doing. Reading in Spanish with a dictionary. I said I’d be reading it when I got home. But yes the first chapters keep you hooked. But I agree too that this book gave me expressions and words that are really new. Reassuring again, that it’s not only me.
Too bad I’ve been to Barcelona before reading this book.
Now I have hope. I’m not as pathetic as I thought I was. We all try. But having finished some books in Spanish, sometimes, you get the drift and the suspense just keeps you from getting your dictionary.
Saludos a ti!