Antoni Gaudí: The Life and Legacy of the Architect of Catalan Modernism

De: Charles River Editors

Narrado por: Dan Gallagher

"Those who look for the laws of Nature as a support for their new works collaborate with the creator." (Antoni Gaudí)

Halfway into the 19th century, Spain's Catalonia underwent a sweeping transformation when it was thrust into not one, but two golden eras - the Renaixença and the Industrial Revolution. It was during this explosive period of creativity, thriving prosperity, and invigorated patriotism that a steadfastly nonconforming and fascinatingly eccentric icon was born, one that was about to take Catalonia by storm with his brilliant eye for unorthodox art and his legendary - or as some would say, notoriously - out-of-the-box ideas. Salvador Dalí, the celebrated surrealist, was one of many who would find a fount of inspiration in him, even once raving about the Sagrada Familia, the highlight of this icon's career: "Those who have not heard about the chromatic and shining essence of its color, the astonishing polyphony of its towers as organ pipes and shocked by its mutant naturalism, are traitors." This icon in question, of course, is none other than what many now consider to be the patriarch of the Catalan Modernism movement: Antoni Gaudí.

Antoni Gaudí: The Life and Legacy of the Architect of Catalan Modernism examines his life and career highlights, how his religiosity and love for nature shaped his art, and how a dangerous obsession eventually led to a genius' tragic end. You will learn about Gaudí like never before.

©2017 Charles River Editors (P)2017 Charles River Editors

Concise and Short

The book is pretty accurate regarding Gaudí’s background and project. Went to Barcelona recently and during the tours there was information shared this book also covered. If you’re looking for a quick synopsis of highlights about Gaudí this might
be it.

Appalling narration

I understand that this is probably not an original Audible production, but shame on Audible for not checking the quality of products it sales. This is an interestingly written story on Antoni Gaudí that is absolutely butchered by the lowest-quality narration I have ever heard. First of all (not the biggest problem though), the narrator's very American pronunciation feels out of place for this Mediterranean story. Secondly, and far more importantly, it feels like he had never voiced anything before this book - and approached the job as lazily as one could. I am a radio professional and I understand the difficulty of foreign names - but I also understand their importance. This narrator didn't dedicate a second of his time to checking the pronunciation of Catalan or Spanish names. His butchering of the names of streets, phenomena and people makes listening to this title cringe worthy and close to impossible. He didn't even get the name of the main person in question, Antoni Gaudí, right! I am shocked and appalled at the quality of this. My recommendation for Audible is to take this title off the current items, re-record it with somebody who has any respect for the subject matter, and then return to the store. It shouldn't be for sale in its current state.