Josep Pla (1897-1981) was a Catalan writer and journalist who lived
in Spain, France, Italy, England, Germany, and Russia. He was
awarded The Gold Medal of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia
for his contribution to Catalan literature. His complete works are
published in thirty-eight volumes.
Peter Roland Bush is an English literary translator. He has
translated works from Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan to English,
including the work of Juan Carlos Onetti, Juan Goytisolo, and
Fernando de Rojas.
"Moving around the capitals of Europe in a time of depression and
unremitting melancholy, Pla often serves up small moments of
perhaps unintentional brilliance [...] Students of Orwell's
journalism and of Kapuscinski will be glad to discover Pla, whose
melancholy resembles that of his contemporary Stefan Zweig—and for
some of the same reasons." — Kirkus Reviews
"This new translation of Josep Pla is an unclassifiable, happy mix
of stories, memoir, essays, anecdotes and travel pieces, all
brought together by Pla's wonderfully direct, ironic style...
Combining general comment and the immediacy of close observation,
he helps us see the world afresh." — Michael
Eaude, Catalonia Today
"Josep Pla was a great noticer of things and places; his gaze was
alert and dry; he wrote in a style which registered both the
smallest detail and the large picture. His relationship to Catalan
identity and Spanish history was complex, often ambiguous. His
relationship, however, to the scene in front of him, or the days in
which he lived, remains fascinating for its clarity, its sharpness,
its originality and its wit. On display in his work is a glittering
and sparkling sensibility." — Colm Tóibín
"Pla’s book of “narrations” shows us why this Catalan writer is
considered the “finest…of his generation.” Each narrative piece is
like a still-life, focusing on the tangible and memorable things of
this world. Pla invites us to share his perspective on the
complexity and sensuality of our surroundings." — Book Riot
"Pla is [...] one of Catalonia’s greatest authors." — Three
Percent
"Pla has often been compared with the great Joseph Roth – they were
both astute witnesses of their respective worlds...
Outstanding." — Eileen Battersby, The Irish
TImes
"Considered one of the most influential Catalan authors of the
twentieth century, [Pla] was born and raised in the Empordà, and
over the course of his life wrote over 30,000 pages of prose in
which he diligently catalogued the landscape and the life and
habits of the people of the region. His complete works, published
and republished over the years, contain marvelous descriptive
passages that capture the landscape's history and its complex
topography at once." — Words Without Borders
"An excellent translation by Bush… delightful. Pla loves people and
honest conversation. His ear for dialogue is faultless, his
snatches of overheard conversation are meticulously realistic… The
tone of the stories is often a bubbling good humor..." — Nick
DiMartino
"Life Embitters, probably the best book in Josep Pla's vast body of
work, is a literary feast which combines all his best qualities at
once: the sharpness of the journalist, the modern style of the
novelist, and the insight and lucidity of the
autobiographer. Through these stories, Pla distills the
experiences of a young man traveling around a dramatically changing
Europe. This is the book I recommend whenever someone asks me
about Catalan literature." — Jordi Punti, translator and
author of Lost Luggage
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