Book Club

Book clubs are places for discussion and debate. A group of people decide on a book to read, and they meet to comment on it and exchange opinions with other readers, thus combining the pleasure of reading and the pleasure of conversation around the text.

Since the 2019-2020 academic year, the Faculty’s Language Promotion Committee has been organizing a book club aimed at three groups of the Faculty. The aim is to share the personal experience of reading with joint analysis and reflection on the style, form, type of narrator, structure, detail, narrative time, characters… and to leave the session with a new interpretation of the story.

Each course has five sessions which last one hour and a half. These take place on Thursdays, from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm (except for the April session, which coincides with the "Trobada literària amb…", an activity planned to celebrate Saint George’s Day). There is a coach in all sessions in order to contextualize the author and the work and chairs the session. It is a free activity, although it is necessary to fill in the registration form for each session.
For more information: clubdelecturafee@ub.edu.

This year’s books to read are:

  • 3 October 2024: Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
  • 28 November 2024: La mestra i la Bèstia by Imma Monsó
  • 20 February 2025: Baba Dunja's Last Love  by Alina Bronsky
  • 24 April 2025: Morir sabent poques coses by Joan Enric Barceló
  • 12 June 2025: I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé

Session 1: 3 October 2024 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

  • Original edition in Norwegian: Ut og stjaele hester.
  • Edition translated from Norwegian into Catalan by Carolina Moreno Tena: Club Editor (242 pages).

Session 2: 28 November 2024 from 2.30 to 4.00 pm

La mestra i la Bèstia by Imma Monsó

  • Original edition in Catalan, Editorial Anagrama (347 pages).

Session 3: 20 February 2025 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

Baba Dunja's Last Love by Alina Bronsky

  • Original edition in German: Baba Dunjas Letzte Liebe.
  • Edition translated from German into Catalan by Ramon Farrés: Editorial Les Hores (132 pages).

Session 4: 24 April 2025 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

Morir sabent poques coses by writer and musician Joan Enric Barceló. Session with the author in “Trobada literària amb...”, organized under the Saint George's Day activities at the Faculty.

  • Original edition in Catalan: Edicions del Periscopi (213 pages).

Session 5: 12 June 2025 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

I Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé

  • Original edition in French: Moi, Tituba, sorcière...: Noire de Salem
  • Edition translated from French to Catalan by Oriol Valls i Fornells: Tigre de Paper Edicions (216 pages).

Session 1: 5 October 2023 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm
Catch the Rabbit by Serbo-Croatian writer Lana Bastašić.

  • Original edition in Serbo-Croatian: Uhvati zeca.
  • Edition translated from Serbo-Croatian into Catalan by Pau Sanchis Ferrer: Edicions del Periscopi (210 pages).

Session 2: 23 November 2023 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm
Junil a les terres dels bàrbars by north-Catalan writer Joan-Lluís Lluís

  • Original edition in Catalan, Club Editor (288 pages).

Session 3: 15 February 2024 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm
No other voice by Algerian writer Maïssa Bey

  • Original edition in French: Nulle autre voix.
  • Edition translated from French to Catalan by Anna Casassas i Figueras: Editorial Les Hores (184 pages).

Session 4: 24 April 2023 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm
Alone by Catalan writer and translator Carlota Gurt. Session with the author in "Trobada literària amb...", under the Saint George's Day activities at the Faculty.

  • Original edition in Catalan: Edicions Proa (384 pages).

Session 5: 13 June 2024 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm
The day before happiness by Napolitan writer Erri de Luca

  • Original edition in Italian: Il giorno prima della felicità
  • Edition translated from Italian to Catalan by Anna Casassas i Figueras: Editorial Bromera (120 pages).

Session 1: 6 October 2022 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

My name is Lucy Barton by American writer Elizabeth Strout

  • Original edition in English: My name is Lucy Barton
  • Edition translated from English to Catalan by Esther Tallada: Edicions de 1984 (224 pages)
  • Edition translated from English to Spanish by Flora Casas: Me llamo Lucy Barton published by Duomo Ediciones (224 pages)

Session 2: 24 November 2022 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

Stoner by American writer John Williams

  • Original edition in English: Stoner
  • Edition translated from English to Catalan by Albert Torrescasana Flotats: Edicions 62 (336 pages)
  • Edition translated from English to Spanish by Antonio Dez Fernández: Baile del sol (240 pages)

Session 3: 16 de febrer del 2023 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

Fugir era el més bell que teníem by Canadian-but-Barcelona-born writer Marta Marín-Dòmine 

  • Original edition in Catalan: Club Editor (224 pages)
  • Edition translated from Catalan to Spanish by the author: Huir fue lo más bello que tuvimos publicat by Galaxia Gutenberg (160 pages)

Session 4: 24 April 2023 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

Els angles morts by Catalan writer Borja Bagunyà. Session with the author in "Trobada literària amb...", under the Saint George’s Day activities at the Faculty.

  • Original edition in Catalan: Edicions del Periscopi (491 pages)

Session 5: 15 June 2023 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

The Sense of an Ending by English writer Julian Barnes

  • Original edition in English: The Sense of an Ending
  • Edition translated from English to Catalan by Alexandre Gombau Arnau: Angle (176 pages)
  • Edition translated from English to Spanish by Jaime Zulaika: El sentido de un final publicat per Anagrama (192 pages)

Session 1: 7 October 2021 from 2.30 to 4.00 pm

Aprendre a parlar amb les plantes by Catalan writer Marta Orriols

  • Catalan edition: Edicions del Periscopi (256 pages)
  • Translated into Spanish by the author: Lumen (256 pages)

Session 2: 25 November from 2.30 to 4.00 pm

Les gratituds / Las gratitudes by French writer Delphine de Vigan

  • French edition: Les gratitudes
  • Translated from French to Catalan by Jordi Martín Lloret: Edicions 62 (153 pages)
  • Translated from French to Spanish by Pablo Martín Sánchez: Anagrama (176 pages)

Session 3: 17 February from 2.30 to 4.00 pm

Cara de pan by Spanish writer Sara Mesa

  • Spanish edition: Anagrama (144 pages)

Session 4: 25 d'abril del 2022 from 2.30 to 4.00 pm

Els impostors by Catalan Pilar Romera. Session with the author in "Trobada literària amb...", under the Saint George's Day activities at the Faculty. 

  • Catalan edition: Columna Edicions (336 pages)
  • Translated into Spanish by the author: Ediciones Destino (384 pages)

Session 5: 9 June 2022 from 2.30 to 4.00 pm

Fear by Austrian writer Stefan Zweig

  • German edition: Angst
  • Translated from German to Catalan by Joan Fontcuberta: Quaderns Crema (128 pages)
  • Translated from German to Spanish by Roberto Bravo de la Varga: Acantilado (144 pages)

Programme

We are bringing back the Book Club we had to stop last year! We will read again contemporary novels and at the same time very diverse thanks to the different use of language used by the chosen authors. We will be able to appreciate how a word can give added value in one text and remain in another. Not only that, but we will be surrounded by different types of environments, families, ways of facing reality, etc. In short, we will enjoy readings with great touches of humour, tenderness, melancholy, pain... and we will see how the human condition in fiction is a mirror of the reality that it never overcomes.

Session 1 (online): 22 April 2021 from 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm

El cel segons Google / El cielo según Google by Catalan writer Marta Carnicero. Session with the author in "Trobada literària amb...", under the Saint George's Day activities at the Faculty.

  • Catalan edition: La Magrana (144 pages)
  • Translation from Catalan to Spanish by Pablo Martín Sánchez: Acantilado (144 pages)

Session 2 (online): 20 May 2021 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

Lluvia fina by Spanish writer Luis Landero

  • Spanish edition: Tusquets Editores (272 pages)

Session 3 (online): 17 June 2021 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

Lost for Words by English writer Edward St. Aubyn

  • Translation from English to Catalan by Yannick Garcia: Raig Verd (192 pages)
  • Translation from English to Spanish by Cruz Rodríguez Juiz: Random House (175 pages)
  • English edition: Lost for Words, published by Picador

Programme

For this 2019-2020 academic year, we have some novels that are contemporary and at the same time very diverse thanks to the different use of language used by the chosen authors. Moreover, the social and economic contexts are not the same either. We will be able to appreciate how a word can add value in one text and remain in another. We will be able to distinguish between what it was like in rural England and what it is like to be a queen. Likewise, we will be able to listen to the three voices that make up the same family and their particular visions and voices. We will be surrounded by different types of environments, families, ways of facing reality, etc. In short, we will enjoy readings with great touches of humour, tenderness, melancholy, pain... and we will see how the human condition in fiction is a mirror of the reality that never surpasses the reality of life.
 

Session 1: 3 October 2019 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

The colour of milk by English writer Nell Leyshon

  • English edition: The colour of milk, published by Penguin Books
  • Translation from English to Catalan by Jordi Martín Lloret: Angle Editorial (192 pages)
  • Translation from English to Spanish by Mariano Peyrou: Sexto Piso (174 pages)
Session 2: 14 November 2019 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

Hablar solos by Argentinian writer Andrés Neuman

  • Spanish edition: Editorial Alfaguara (192 pages)

Session 3: 20 February 2020 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm

The Uncommon Reader by English writer Alan Bennett

  • English edition: Faber and Faber (121 pages)
  • Translation from English to Catalan by Ernest Riera Arbussà: Empúries (124 pages)
  • Translation from English to Spanish by Jaime Zulaika: Anagrama (128 pages)

Session 4: 22 April 2020 at 11.30 am 

El cel segons Google / El cielo según Google by Catalan writer Marta Carnicero. Session with the author in "Trobada literària amb..." under the Saint George's Day activities at the Faculty. THIS SESSION WILL BE HELD DURING THE 2020-2021 ACADEMIC YEAR.

  • Catalan edition: La Magrana (144 pages)
  • Translation from Catalan to Spanish by Pablo Martín Sánchez: Acantilado (144 pages)

Session 5: 4 June 2020 from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm - Cancelled.

Lost for Words, by English writer Edward St. Aubyn

  • English edition: Picador
  • Translated from English to Catalan by Yannick Garcia: Raig Verd (192 pages)
  • Translated from English to Spanish by Cruz Rodríguez Juiz: Random House (175 pages)