“Cool readings as they are each of the stories of Añoveros are grateful in these moments when the political plot invades us”
Dr. Xabier Añoveros
Xabier Añoveros, full academician and vice-president of the Governing Board of the Royal European Academy of Doctors-Barcelona 1914 (RAED), has presented his work “La noria de siglo XXI” (The wheel of the 21st century), a novel written by the same academic, to the academicians and other attendees at an event held at the RAED headquarters. The book follows the same narrative scheme used by Luis Romero in his work “La noria” (The wheel), winner of the Nadal prize in 1951. The presentation has been carried out by the author himself and the also academician of the RAED José Maria Gay de Liébana, who has outlined the essential aspects of the work and has highlighted the literary face of Añoveros.
“When Xabier proposed to me to present his book at the Royal Academy -explained Gay de Liébana- he convinced me, first, about the plot and, secondly, about telling me that I would have read it in an afternoon. Actually the book is read at a stretch, although the one in an afternoon is a little exaggerated, because it is a novel of those that requires many nights and several weeks. But Xabier’s book is pure freshness, contagious narrative, a lively, agile, dynamic and passionate walk through Barcelona today, through its neighbourhoods, strolling around, presenting a series of characters that are, we are, of course the authentic human fauna of this great city”.
Dr. José María Gay de Liébana
Gay de Liébana has considered that the work is a true portrait of the current Barcelona as in its day was the work of Luis Romero. “You see each of the characters, you place them perfectly not only in their neighbourhood but in the same street where Xabier places them, demonstrating his vast knowledge of today’s Barcelona and, even more, I would say that several of the protagonists I could identify them perfectly, refreshing readings such as each one of Xabier Añoveros’ stories are appreciated in these moments when the political plot invades us”.
“La noria del siglo XXI” is a choral novel in which through 32 characters the current Barcelona is portrayed, how it throbs, how it moves and how it thinks. A society totally different from the one 60 years ago Romero portrayed. These 32 protagonists are linked to each other as the links of a chain, until the last link with the first, closing the circle of that urban Ferris wheel, in which the environments, concerns and needs of its protagonists appear in their different social layers of the city.
