A middle-aged woman begins a relationship with a young Moroccan immigrant but their love must contend with a nosy, racist neighbour. An alcoholic jazz pianist’s relationship with his younger Brazilian girlfriend and her son falls apart - could football star Ronaldinho save him? A translator meets a shady, wealthy neighbour who has a unique wardrobe - but who is the man who created it?
I quite liked Rupert Thomson’s latest novel, Barcelona Dreaming, which was well-written throughout and the stories were unpredictable with some intriguing elements in each, though I felt they were a bit uneven with as many dull passages as there were compelling parts.
The book is divided into three distinct sections - The Giant of Sarria, The King of Castelldefels, and The Carpenter of Montjuic - which only strengthens the impression that this is less a singular novel and more a trio of standalone novellas. Which they certainly could be, though there are elements that combine them together, like similar minor characters and events cropping up in each, as well as the setting of Barcelona and its surroundings, and the dreamlike aspects each possess; each story has surrealistic/supernatural elements that take place at night (the nocturnal giant, Nacho’s hallucinations, the moving wardrobe), ie. when most people are dreaming, hence the title.
I didn’t dislike any of the three stories but some were certainly more engaging than others. The Carpenter of Montjuic was definitely my favourite with its enigmatic cast of Vic Drago, a man who only becomes stranger the more we learn about him, and the mysterious carpenter who crafts seemingly-enchanted furniture, and the horror elements included were fun too. It also contains an intriguing story-within-a-story that is the novella Jordi’s translating (he’s also working on three works, like this book’s structure), about a married woman getting her inspired revenge on her husband and his mistress. The unrequited love angle though was a weak aspect to hang the story on and didn’t add much.
The Giant of Sarria had its moments but a lot of it is the protagonist Amy describing her rather mundane life and new love affair, which weren’t that entertaining to read. I also feel like Thomson was trying for a commentary on immigration but didn’t quite succeed. The story takes off though towards the end with a confrontation with the neighbour and the finale with the giant.
The King of Castelldefels wasn’t bad either but I feel like the changes to Nacho’s story were abrupt and arbitrary and stopped developing around the halfway mark, unlike the other stories, and flatlined the narrative before just ending unsatisfactorily. It is quite engaging to read the parts where Nacho’s life starts to fall apart and you realise he’s going coconuts.
An accessible, and by turns genuinely gripping and eye-closingly dull, read, Barcelona Dreaming is a pleasant mix of contemporary fiction and surprising (in a good way) elements from the horror and magical realist genres. It won’t knock your socks off but it’s not a bad read either.
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