Dublinesque

Name: Dublinesque
Brand: Penguin Random House NZ
SKU: 9780099555841
Price: 25.0 NZD
Availability: OutOfStock

By Enrique Vila-Matas

0.0 (0 reviews)

3.62

( 1,653 ratings, 213 reviews)

Summary

Dublinesque by Enrique Vila-Matas follows a retired publisher named Samuel Riba who becomes obsessed with the decline of the literary world and organises a pilgrimage to Dublin to hold a symbolic funeral for literature. As he journeys, Riba grapples with personal anxieties and the ghostly presence of famous writers, confronting questions of existence, creativity, and memory in a richly layered narrative. The story weaves together themes of loss, renewal, and the enduring power of books.
Read More

Format: Paperback / softback

TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of Dublinesque. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate a layered and reflective narrative, blending literary homage with the existential musings of a retired publisher journeying to Dublin. It's an intriguing exploration of literary landscapes and personal transformation, ideal for those who love meditative fiction with a nod to literary history.

NETFLIX ONE PIECE 3 Aug 2026

The Grand Line Awaits! New One Piece Plush Toys

New One Piece Plush Toys have arrived at Toy Hero

POLLY POCKET 1 Aug 2026

Bluey Alert: New Bluey Toys Have Just Arrived!

New Bluey Toys have arrived at Toy Hero

A personal message to our customers

We've heard that some people are surprised to learn that Book Hero is a 100%...

FICTION 1 Aug 2026

Fiction for Foodies

Lizzy is sharing some of her favourite fiction reads for people who love food as...

BIOGRAPHY 1 Aug 2026

Book Hero's Favourite Biographies!

The Book Hero team are sharing their favourite biography or memoir - some are recent...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDEPENDENT FOREIGN FICTION PRIZE

'A writer who has no equal in the contemporary landscape of the Spanish novel.' Roberto Bolaño

Samuel Riba is about to turn 60.

From one of Spain's greatest writers, a witty, moving novel about art, life, death and James Joyce.

Description

From one of Spain's greatest writers, a witty, moving novel about art, life, death and James Joyce.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDEPENDENT FOREIGN FICTION PRIZE

'A writer who has no equal in the contemporary landscape of the Spanish novel.' Roberto Bolano

Samuel Riba is about to turn 60. A successful publisher in Barcelona, he is increasingly prone to attacks of anxiety and, looking for distraction, he concocts a spur-of-the-moment trip to Dublin, a city he has never visited but once dreamed about.

He sets off for Dublin on the pretext of honouring James Joyce's Ulysses on Bloomsday. But as he and his friends gather in the cemetery to give their orations, a mysterious figure in a mackintosh resembling Joyce's protege Samuel Beckett hovers in the background. Is it Beckett, or is it the writer of genius that Riba has spent his whole career trying, and failing, to find?

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Vila-Matas's novel is celebrated for its joy and pleasure, expertly weaving literary allusions into a tapestry that echoes Joyce and Ulysses. It is praised for its humour and erudition without pretentiousness, providing an entertaining and delightful postmodern reflection on modernist literature. Critics appreciate its cleverness and depth, describing it as a meditation on the boundaries between fiction and reality.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780099555841

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 09 May 2013

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage

Contributors:

Translated by Anne McLean
Translated by Rosalind Harvey

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 19.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 223g

Pages: 320

Collections

Enrique Vila-Matas Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Penguin Books

About the Author

Born in Barcelona in 1948, Enrique Vila-Matas is widely considered to be one of Spain's most important contemporary novelists, and Dublinesque has been declared his masterpiece. His extraordinary oeuvre, translated into 30 languages, includes Bartleby & Co, Montano (longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize) and Never Any End to Paris (a finalist for the Best Translated Book Award).

Also by Enrique Vila-Matas

View all

Montevideo

The award-winning newest novel by Spain's premier writer—a metafictional meditation on the limits and possibilities of literature. The narrator of Montevideo is an itinerant writer and erstwhile drug pusher in the throes of a personal and literary transformation. Increasingly disillusioned with life in Paris and hoping for an artistic breakthrough, he ventures out in search of a "new style." His...

By Enrique Vila-Matas

Hardback

$35⁹⁹

Available
Ships in 3-4 weeks
Mac and His Problem

A funny, erudite novel from one of the great European storytellers, with the process of writing and creation playfully at its heart. Mac, over sixty and recently unemployed, lives on his wife's earnings from her furniture restoration business. An avid reader, he decides at the age of sixty to keep a diary. Mac's wife, Carmen, a dyslexic born of dyslexic...

By Enrique Vila-Matas

Paperback

Sold Out
Bartleby And Co

Prize-winning novel from Spain - intellectual, contemporary, very funny and highly original - by one of the most admired of present-day Spanish writers. Marcelo, a clerk in a Barcelona office who might himself have emerged from a novel by Kafka, inhabits a world peopled by characters in literature. He once wrote a novel about the impossibility of love, but since...

By Enrique Vila-Matas

Paperback

Sold Out

More from General Fiction

View all

The Wedding People

'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...

By Alison Espach

Paperback

$23⁹⁹
Elsewhere:
~~$27⁹⁹~~

(3)

In Stock
Ships today
Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)

Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...

By Sarah J. Maas

Set

$124⁰⁰
Elsewhere:
~~$155⁰⁰~~

(6)

In Stock
Ships today
The Goal

Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...

By Elle Kennedy

Paperback

$24⁹⁹
Elsewhere:
~~$27⁹⁹~~

In Stock
Ships today
Red Rising

The first book in the incredible New York Times bestselling series Darrow is a Helldiver, toiling beneath the surface of Mars. As a member of the Red caste, he performs grueling labor in the belief that his sacrifice will enable future generations to one day inhabit the surface of the Red Planet. The Reds are humankind's lowest caste, living in...

By Pierce Brown

Paperback

$22⁰⁰
Elsewhere:
~~$27⁹⁹~~

(1)

In Stock
Ships today
The Score

Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...

By Elle Kennedy

Paperback

$24⁹⁹
Elsewhere:
~~$27⁹⁹~~

In Stock
Ships today
New Release

The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]

The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...

By Sarah A. Parker

Hardback

$59⁹⁹

In Stock
Ships today
Dylan's Pick

Theo of Golden

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...

By Allen Levi

Paperback

$28⁹⁹
Elsewhere:
~~$34⁹⁹~~

(5)

In Stock
Ships today
Lizzy's Pick

Yesteryear

A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE — Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE — Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE — Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS — Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale — Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...

By Caro Claire Burke

Paperback

$29⁹⁹
Elsewhere:
~~$36⁹⁹~~

(2)

In Stock
Ships today
Golden Son

ENDER'S GAME meets THE HUNGER GAMES in this, the second in an extraordinary trilogy from an incredible new voice.'I'm still playing games. This is just the deadliest yet.' Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind's last hope....

By Pierce Brown

Paperback

$24⁰⁰
Elsewhere:
~~$27⁹⁹~~

In Stock
Ships today
Voracious

From USA Today bestselling author and TikTok sensation comes the gripping, steamy dark romance series that everyone is talking about!'Filled with TENSION, HEARTBREAK and ELECTRIC CHEMISTRY. This one will tear your heart right out of your chest before tossing it back in and sewing you up' No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Brynne Weaver'Leigh Rivers is THE QUEEN OF...

By Leigh Rivers

Paperback

$22⁰⁰
Elsewhere:
~~$27⁹⁹~~

In Stock
Ships today
The Mistake

Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Mistake now for the perfect second chance romance! He's a player in more ways than one . . . College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants....

By Elle Kennedy

Paperback

$24⁹⁹
Elsewhere:
~~$27⁹⁹~~

In Stock
Ships today
Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...

By Andy Weir

Paperback

$23⁹⁹
Elsewhere:
~~$24⁰⁰~~

(4)

In Stock
Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.