Anyone Read Any Good Travel Books About Spain?

I'm rereading Michener's "Iberia." It is extremely dated, 1968 I believe, and yet it has a lot of good history in it. I remember the first time I bought a copy was at the bookstore at Torrejon Air Force Base.

Has anyone read any other books of this caliper concerning Spain? I'm between books and dying for a good book about Spain right now.

Hi Gazpacho--

I loved Iberia. In fact, it was recommended reading for my parents before they came to visit me.

I am currently reading The New Spaniards . This book is much more about contemporary Spain from the dictatorship to "present" (I think 2000 or 2001).

I also read The Drifters several years ago by Michener. It was a book about the experiences of young travelers throughout the south of Spain and North Africa.

Thanks Chica,

I've read "The New Spaniards" and it was a good book too. Still a little outdated but a lot more recently written than "Iberia."

I'm looking for more of a traveller's book.

I'll paste below some descriptions of books I've written for something else. The first, Travelers' Tales, is my absolute favorite and I highly recommend it. You can find it easily in bookstores in the guidebook section - though it's not really a quidebook.

Travelers' Tales Guides Spain: True Stories of Life on the Road, collected and edited by Lucy McCauley. This is my favorite book about Spain. It's a wonderful collection of writings from many, many people, about many, many aspects of Spanish life.

A Romantic in Spain, by Theophile Gautier. Originally published in French in 1845, this is a narrative describing Gautier's travels through Spain just a few years earlier. I haven't read the whole book yet, but I'm looking forward to it. A book like this doesn't describe the political and international situation in Spain now, but offers what I find to be a fascinating look at Spain and Spaniards in the past, with a freshness that makes it seem like the present.

Tales of the Alhambra, by Washington Irving. This is another book describing Spain a long time ago - in 1829, to be exact, when the American Washington Irving traveled through Andalucia, avoiding bandits and collecting marvelous stories about the Moors. I also find it fascinating to read accounts of Spaniards so long ago. The Spanish character has changed little!

Spain: The Best Travel Writing from the New York Times by Katharine Lee Bates, Rachel Billington, Olivier Bernier, Malcolm Bradbury, Anthony Burgess, Penelope Casas, Joan Gould, Benjamin Jones, Barbara Kingsolver, James M. Markham, Deborah Mason, Michael Mewshaw. This looks like a great coffee table book that's also fascinating to read.

Off the Road: A Modern Day Walk Along the Pilgrimage Route into Spain, by Jack Hitt. Here's a more recently written book (1994). This is filled with the reflections of a modern-day young American man in Spain.

One very interesting point about Washington Irving...he was the United States first Ambassador to Spain and was considered, by many, to be the first American "hispanist" of the US. This is why he knew so much about Spain.

Sheryl

One very interesting point about Washington Irving...he was the United States first Ambassador to Spain and was considered, by many, to be the first American "hispanist" of the US. This is why he knew so much about Spain...and loved it so.

Sheryl

Hola Gazpacho,

Here are a few that I have recently read and would recommend. They are all travel books that focus on a specific type of travel.

I highly recommend the following books:
#1
Don Quixote's Delusions: Travels in Castilian Spain by Miranda France

Here is a review:
#2
If you want a book about visiting out of the way places, I would recommend this title, it is a reprint ...
Journey to the Alcarria Travels Through the Spanish Countryside. Reprint (Traveler) (Paperback)
by Camilo Jose Cela

An engaging book by the Nobel prize winner Camilo Jose Cela, a rural romp. "Covers his travels around the Alcarria, an area in New Castile, NE of Madrid sorrounding most of the Guadalajara province. Cela wanders from village to village and writes about a world most tourists don't visit.

A good read if you like travel reportage. I liked it!

#3
If you like visiting gardens, then this is a good travel book for you.

Hidden Gardens Of Spain by Eduardo Mencos
"With 250 color photographs the author escorts us from Galician to Granada, Barcelona to the Balearics, Catalonia and the Canaries, Madrid and Mallorca. Many of the gardens are drenched in that country's history, reflecting the influences of the Romans, Moors, and Europeans. Other gardens were created and are tended by their current owners, still others came to life through the talents of respected garden designers, such as Luis Gonzales-Camino and Arabella Lennox-Boyd. Mr. Mencos was allowed unprecedented access to private gardens, and his views of the Alhambra are spectacular."

#4
A friend gave me this book a couple of years age, and I love it!
Historical Paradors: A Journey Through Spanish Hotels (Hardcover) by Juan Eslara Galan.
Spain is presented to us through a tour of its most beautiful Paradors, important and historical buildings turned into exclusive hotels.
Here is a review by MM!
Hope this helps!
Carmen

If you enjoy the Michener book you might also be interested in "The Last Serious Thing" by Bruce Scheonfeld. He is an American sportswriter who tried his hand at bullfight journalism during the Sevilla Feria of 1988.

His stories roughly parallel the "Sevilla" and "The Bulls" chapters of "Iberia". There are updates on the stories of American Matador John Fulton, photographer Robert Vavra and the never ending quest (as of 1988) of Curro Romero to find the perfect bull.

I was able to purchase it used on Amazon.com for less than $2. (The shipping was $3! )

Thanks Diana, Sheryl, Booklady, Mongo and Chica,

It seems I asked the right question and hit the jackpot. Time to head over to Amazon or Half or Barnes & Noble. I should be through with "Iberia" again before they arrive.

Mongo, I'm not as enthusiastic about bullfighting as Michener was, but I have nothing against it. Heck, once I saw cockfighting in the Philippines I didn't think it was all that cruel. And I would like to know how Fulton and Vavra turned out. I must have lived over there when the two were around, but I hadn't heard of them then.

Next time I go, I want to spend a few nights in some paradors, in Avila, Burgos and/or Santiago. Won't be until around 2008 I'm afraid.

When I first moved to Spain I was frustrated how little I knew about the history of the country. I found The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe's Most Fascinating Country by Mark R. Williams in FNAC and found it to be an excellent introduction to the history of Spain. Enough detail to be hold informed discussions and decide where and when I wanted to visit certain places, yet not too detailed or hard going. Highly recommended by me.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0970696922/

Thanks Keeper,

Already read that one to death, and it is a good one.

Being in a rather severe "I miss Spain and want to be there" funk this thread was of great interest. I have read, reread, and reread again the many books I own related to Spain and this list gave me some new options.

The library here went on a scavanger hunt for me and pulled a number of the suggested titles from all over the place -

Have finished Jack Hitt's "Off the Road ..." and thoroughly enjoyed it. A bit of a different take on walking the Camino but one I found to be honest, comincal and poignant at times. Even shed a tear or two - :o

For the purists out there - you might find what a friend who did walk part of the Camino referred to as Hitt's slightly irreverent attitude to be a put-off - I didn't see that in the book.

"The Last Serious Thing" (Schoenfeld) can't be called a definitive book on bullfighting by any means - but it is an excellent introduction into the emotions, especially behind the art of the torero. The author's love for both bullfighting and Sevilla in particular is evident - worth reading.

Hi Puna,

Thanks a lot for your input. I just e-mailed the Booklady telling here I just finished her first suggested reading "Don Quixote's Delusions."

Definetyly a good read. Especailly for anyone wanting a light analyses of our illustrious caballero, the light and hope of knight errantry. The only problem is, I read it in only two days.

But, because of this excellent book, I've decided to read "Don Quixote" again.

I was saving Don Quixote's Delusions" for the end of my "library haul" - sort of the theory of best for last
Thanks for validating my first impression!

I thought Chris Stewart's Driving Over Lemons was hilarious. Has anyone read George Orwell's Homage to Calalonia?

Every time I read Lemons I laugh - yeah, it is a re-readable book And one of my favorites - not serious just simple fun -

Orwell's Homage to Catalonia is a classic - many consider it be the finest book written on the Civil War - Booklady - this is your kind of question .....

Lately I have been spending my time not reading but looking at photographs of Spain. Recently I looked at two photographers' photos of Barcelona. To get ideas of the light and what off the beaten path I could take photos of when I visit Barcelona in October.

Also I checking out photos of Girona see what photo ops are there too!

So if anyone know of any good photos on the internet I am alway interested.

Bill

Finished Miranda France's "Don Quixote's Delusions" late last night- or early this morning - and loved it!

Completely original and fun, "Delusions" is written from both the aspect of relating to serious literature as well as from the perspective of the author - from 10 years prior as a student to her perspective as a published author and (hate to use the term but) more mature adult.

Highly recommended - and yes, it does make you decide to reread Don Quixote!!

Diana was right on the money! Good suggestions in her list and I read "Traveller's Tales" in June just before my most recent trip to Spain in July and loved it. All this talk makes me want to re-read Quijote as well..."Yo se quien soy".
Anyone seen Terry Gilliam's "Lost in La Mancha"?

The Buried Mirror by Carlos Fuentes is worth reading for a Spanish-Latin American (incl Mexico) perspective. It reads quite well; clear, interesting, well-written. Definitely not a dry history text.

1) Hemingway's "Fiesta" also know as "The Sun Also Rises" is my favorite fiesta de San Fermin story.

2) This is not a travel book, but rather a philosophy story "Monseignor Quijote" by Graham Greene, based loosely on the Don Quijote story.

3) There is a lot of good travel material on the internet: tripadvisor.com is my favorite for hotel reviews.

To anyone still following this thread,

I just got through reading "Spanish Lesssons: Beginning a New Life in Spain" by Derek Lambert, and I really enjoyed it. I thought a lot about the MadridMan while reading it. I really liked the writers sense of humor.

The story is about an English journalist, his wife and son, who decide to by a home inland from the coast, near Valencia and Denia. The majority of the story is about the challenges he has in hiring people to take care of many of his new homes problems. The good thing is, many of the problems are solved with a little patience.

If the MadridMan hasn't read it, and if he can obtain it, I would like to recommend it to him.

Gazpacho: As Mrs. Dweller and I are considering a second home in Spain or somewhere else outside the US I think that I will pick up a copy of the book. It does not matter if one buys a new house or used there are always a certain number of things that must be repaired. If Spanish contractors are anything like their American counterparts, good luck in getting them to come back and make the adjustments.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Desert Dweller,

About a week ago I finished "Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalusia" by Chris Stewart that is a very similar story to "Spanish Lessons". Both of these stories deal with the problems encountered when buying a house in Spain. "Driving Over Lemons" is a little less dated being published in 1999.

What I've really learned by reading both books, is that Brits are a rather hearty breed. I'm not sure I would have handled some of the situations with such grace. In both books, thier patience really paid off and they ended up in a very nice situation.