Review of the book “Siempre de paso”, by Miguel Barrero
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The only thing i knew of Always passing through to want to read it was that it spoke of travel and literature. I did not know Miguel Barrero, but in the first pages I already learned that he is a cultural promoter, novelist, essayist and contributor to magazines such as Zenda, from whose column this book takes its name, as it compiles its most significant articles, as well as others published in Jot Down, What to read, the supplement Culture / s from The vanguard, Asturias24, CTXT, The Summit and Librújula. The nexus of all those selected is that they tell “the way in which literature – and its surroundings – is influenced by the places where it emerges, or from which it emanates, and how these, in turn, are impregnated with the vision that gives off that one to incorporate it to its idiosyncrasy ».
With Miguel Barrero we visited the Quintana hotel, in Conllioure, where Antonio Machado spent his last days; We travel through Oviedo, stopping at the emblematic places of The Regent Clarín and we know the University of Salamanca, which inspired José de Espronceda.
We enter cemeteries such as those of Orense or Zamora, where illustrious dead lie, and we discover the charm of León, Soria or Madrid, to which he dedicates a letter that deserves to be framed.
We know stories as varied as the multiple versions about the origin and identity of the Magi; that of the man who tried to discover where the body of Federico García Lorca was; that of the peculiar French lord who inspired Dan Brown to write The Da Vinci Code or how Hemingway’s passion for Sanfermines was born.
We are surprised with the crazy rules of the Order of Toledo, created by Buñuel; with everything that Dona Rosalía de Castro had to endure and with the end of Ramón María del Valle-Inclán, so grotesque that it is even said to be a legend.
On Always passing through We also crossed the pond to walk through Paraguay, the country that no one seems to care about, and through cities such as Buenos Aires, Cartagena de Indias and Montevideo, led by our tour guide, Miguel Barrero, who flees from the clichés and throws us away. their essences.
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This list of articles is just a sample of what we found in Always passing through, a tour that will delight any wounded letter. Above, it is full of literary winks, which we will recognize if we have read the works or which we will want to know later by all those that the author evokes us when talking about the authors and their lives. But the book is not only worth it for being a compendium of curiosities, but because Miguel Barrero narrates them with such beauty that I do not rule out rereading it to once again enchant me with his prose. It has fascinated me as much or more than the stories, which is saying.
The followers of Miguel Barrero’s columns have here a wonderful compilation. And those who, like me, did not know him still have a great opportunity with Always passing through. He has already beaten me and I am willing to buy the ticket for any literary trip that he offers us in the near future.
