Brilliant and rotten books about Spain (that I have read so far, and those on my wish list)

The other day I was reading the Olive Press, an English magazine based in Andalucia that used to be great.  It had an article on the best Spanish novels, which made me very cross – had this woman actually read the books or simply just ripped off the publishers blurb from the back of the book?  The author’s credentials seemed to be solely  that she was an English graduate, and might have read some books in the past.   Therefore, I feel completely justified spouting my views on books and I don’t even have an English degree, but I suppose this is the beauty of a blog.

So here is a list of great books I have read about Spain;

Giles Tremmet – Ghosts of Spain , Brilliant for anyone who wants to know the history and culture of Spain in an accessible, witty way.

Laurie Lee – As I walked out one midsummer’s morning.  I loved this novel of a man leaving his English village to travel on foot around Spain in the 1930s.  See my review.

Lorca

Lorca – Boda de Sangre  and various poems – I try really hard with Lorca especially as I am reading him in Spanish.  I have enjoyed the things I have read by him but find his life (and death, during the Civil War) even more interesting after going to his house at Huerta de San Vincente in Granada.

Javier Marias – Tomorrow in the Battle think on me.  An interesting novel about a man whose married lover dies in his arms.  I have reviewed this.

Washington Irving – Tales of the Alhambra.  Great historical legends, of the Moors and the Spanish, a must for anyone who has or is visiting the beautiful Alhambra.  Washington wrote this whilst he was living in the Alhambra Palace in 1829, am very jealous, it must have been an amazing experience.

Castile for Isabella, Jean Plaidy – Great historical novel about Isabella of Castile, see review

Here are some average books about Spain;

Carlos Ruiz – Shadow of the Wind/the Angels Game.  I really enjoyed the historical context of the Shadow of the Wind but found the Angel’s Game more of the same and less interesting.

Dave Goling – Guernica .  Overrated, see review.

Ernest Hemingway – For Whom the Bell Tolls, almost impossible to read.  See my review

C J Sansom – Winter in Madrid, more famous for his Reformation novels, this is set in Madrid during the Civil War.  A good novel for anyone who wants to learn more about that, but not amazing.

Carmen Laforet –  Nada, see review

Victoria Hislop – The Return.  Another novel set during the Civil War this time in Granada.  Was really excited about reading this as I used to live in Granada province but found it a bit clichéd and had read it all before, probably much better for someone who knows little about this period of history. An easy style beach read.

Here is a bad book I have read about Spain;

Chris Stewart – Driving over Lemons.   A novel about someone moving to Andalucia and nothing much happens, but it gets published because he used to be in Genesis.

Finally, some books I would like to read about Spain

The Cathedral of the Sea  – Have to admit I started this and gave up after the first chapter of miserableness, eg rape of peasant woman on her wedding night but her overlord.  Going to have another go as it is about the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Mar in the Barrio Gotico in Barcelona

George Orwell – Homage to Catalonia.  Obviously loved 1984 and Animal Farm so am interested to read Orwell’s take on the Civil War

Don Quixote – the kids version in Spanish.  Am not obviously going to manage the tome in Spanish nor English, so this was my compromise, unfortunately yet to finish this.

John Hooper – The New Spaniards.  Like the Ghosts of Spain this book deals with the recent history of Spain in order to explain how a country that was a dictatorship in the 1970s has evolved into a democracy and Spaniards attempts to come to terms with their past.

Javier Cercas – Soldiers of Salamis.. I have read great reviews of this book and read interviews with the author.  Lots of people say it is a must read novel of the Civil War, and unlike a lot of the other novels about this period, it is written by a Spaniard.

Laurie Lee – A Moment of War and A Rose for Winter.  The sequels to As I walked out one midsummer morning.  I enjoyed the latter so much that I want to read more

Blind Sunflowers’ by Alberto Mendez.  I also heard Radio 4’s A Good Read talking about this novel about the Civil War, which seemed to divide opinion, so it sounded interesting.   However it also has a terrible review in the Observer. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01blgsp/A_Good_Read_Bonnie_Greer_Simon_Brett/

Hotel Westin, Madrid

Cadiz

The Mezquita, Cordóba

Laurie Lee – As I walked out one midsummer morning

Laurie Lee – As I walked out one midsummer morning  was another book club choice.  I was originally a bit disappointed when this was chosen after reading Cider with Rosie and not really enjoying it.   When the book arrived I was even more upset; I am sure Laurie Lee didn’t walk around Spain wearing jeans as shown on the cover.   The only positive for me  was that this one was set in Spain and one particular part in Almuñecar where I used to live.  In fact I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.

It is a true story set in the 1935 of the Stroud poet Laurie Lee setting  off to London armed with just his violin in order to do some busking and have an adventure.  He later decides to catch a ferry to Vigo in Galicia and he then walks (!) through Spain right down to the Andalucian coast.  I found this element of the unknown really fascinating.  Today if we go travelling we normally have money and are also able to communicate with our family.  My journey from Almuñecar  to Santander seemed adventurous enough and I drove in a car (admittedly a banger over 20 years old).  He knows nothing about Spain apart from the Barber of Seville and that Barcelona has nuts, but he manages to set of on this amazing, lone journey.

Along the way Lee gives quaint descriptions of the Spanish,  which could seem patronising but  are also affectionate.  He meets lots of poor locals willing to give him shelter.   One humourous part for me is when he goes to the Post Office to pick up a letter and it is filed under E for Esquire.  He makes some interesting observations such as the Civil Guards are the poison dwarfs of Spain, in my experience nothing much has changed.  In Toledo he visits a beautiful gorge, Pena Gajera  where he discovers it is the local traditions to throw criminals over.  Folklore tells of an innocent girl who was  miraculously saved but this doesn’t stop other criminals being thrown over subsequently.

Lee reaches  Almuñecar just as the Civil War is starting so to protect identities he refers to it as Castillo.  He describes it as  “grey almost gloomily Welsh”.  This isn’t my experience of the area but his writing and descriptions of the Spaniards are so interesting as is his journey through this country on the verge of a Civil War.  It was admittedly written in the 1960s so some parts may have been embellished but it is still a great piece of travel writing.

Lee´s grave in Slad