Choosing a single book is a painful task,” says musician Gerard Quintana. “I confess that it has taken me two days of searching and discarding all the readings that, in one way or another, have turned me into another person when I finished them.” The truth is that there are many stories that can impact each of us throughout our lives, in a more or less profound way, but it is always interesting to share those feelings, in case they can also germinate in other people's bodies.
La Vanguardia has consulted personalities from very different fields which book has marked and changed their lives and why. A seemingly simple question, but one that has forced the interviewees to sit down and think, calmly, a quality that is not easy to enjoy in an era in which hyperproductivity and immediacy reign. The answers are varied and encompass different perspectives. Some defend their narratives. Others relive again the experience of having read them to their children when they did not yet know how to read. There are those who influenced her profession and her designs and, also, those who have managed to love an author thanks to her translation. In the foreground or background, but the reading is always there. And they all prove it.
In Praise of Shadow, by Junichirō Tanizaki
“I am recovering this reading because I think it is a good time to reread it. She enhances the beauty of old age and reflects on how society throws away everything that is old, without taking into account the well of wisdom behind it.”
The Stranger, by Albert Camus
“I read it in French when I was young. If I am who I am, this book is partly to blame, because it taught me that there were multiple ways to take life. In addition, it reflects well the bubble in which we are trapped today and the lack of empathy.”
Marie Antoinette, by Stefan Zweig
“In this book, Zweig explores the allure of the public sphere and of a princess who arrives in France. A woman who little by little becomes unpopular, but who, however, has a very dignified end. For me, it is a lesson in political life.”
Sexist microphysics of power, by Nerea Barjola
“The essay revisits the murder of the Alcàsser girls and what happened until the bodies appeared, socially and in the media. An event that marked those of us who were girls at that time and subsequent generations.”
The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov
“I love temporal paradoxes, and this book that was written in the fifties has something very modern for its time. I think that series like The Ministry of Time draw a lot from this literature, which at the time set the foundations.”
A few short stories, by Virginia Woolf
“I come from a background where not reading Virginia Woolf is frowned upon. It has always seemed tiresome to me, until I came across a translation by Marta Pera Cucurella that made me finally fall asleep. My thanks are, actually, to her.”
Nothing is opposed to the night, by Delphine de Vigan
“When they ask you about a book, it seems like you have to say the great classic. But I was lazy. I prefer a reading that has made me reflect, like this one, and in which I have been able to see myself reflected. “My oldest daughter was also impressed.”
Matadero cinco, de Kurt Vonnegut
“I read it for the first time when I was twelve years old and it was reassuring to see that it was possible to write like that. When they ask me if I am an Argentine or Spanish writer, I always answer that I am Tralfamadorian or extraterrestrial, in homage to the book.”
Little Blue and little Yellow, by Leo Lionni
“This is my daughters' and my favorite book. She read it to him when she was little. It talks about how adults are becoming darker and we have no purity when it comes to looking. And it teaches you to see again without filters.”
Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden
“I like the book because of how detailed it is. You know everything about geisha makeup and clothing. I liked it so much that I traveled to Japan and immersed myself in its culture, to the point that many of my tuxedos have Asian designs.”
