Spain Readings and Other Library Books

I know I've just returned from a holiday, and I should be well-rested. But my eyes are already scouting for possible travel destinations for 2008 (or 2009). Is it premature? Maybe. But the world is immense, and there will always be places we have not seen -- or might never see. (I would like to visit the Antarctica -- but everything I have read about it scares me. I guess there lies the appeal.)

One of my colleague is saving for her Spain trip next year. I am envious, as Spain is one of those places I want to visit.

Then I discovered something unusual on my library account yesterday: I had no books on loan -- AT ALL. I had returned all my library books because I wanted to avoid the overdue charges when I am on holiday, and I have not borrowed anything since.

Still: no books at all? That is something I felt I have to rectify. So, I sauntered down to the library last evening and bagged myself some books:

• DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Spain - I usually go for the Lonely Planet guides when I'm planning a trip. DK guides tend to be more expensive and they are also heavier -- less handy to carry around. That said, I still I enjoy looking at the pictures inside the DK guides. They give me a sense of what I might want to see in that country. I wouldn't buy them unless they are on sale, but I love the library for making them available.


• Don Fernando by W. Somerset Maugham - I find myself addicted to Maugham's writings. It also helps that the blurb at the back says Graham Greene (another of my literary favourite) considered Don Fernando to be Maugham's best work.
  Don Fernando is a collection of essays by Maugham on Spanish culture and civilisation. It begins with the tale of Loyola, and moves on to discuss the writing of St. Teresa, the paintings of El Greco and other Spanish artists and writers.


• The Spanish Bow by Andromeda Romano-Lax - Jenclair first wrote about this book, then Sharon. It has been on my radar for a while. Last night at the library, a copy of The Spanish Bow was sitting in plain sight on the New Arrivals Highlights. Fate had decreed I read this book. I obey.
  

What else did I borrow? Edmund White's Hotel de Dream was sitting right next to The Spanish Bow, so I swiped it. I also picked up Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris and Re-readings because I thought it would be nice to re-read some of the essays.

I am a happy puppy this weekend.

Recommendations for Spain Readings

Reading blogs can be a very dangerous things.

The Literate Kitten is off to Spain and Morocco soon. I am envious of her because a while back, I was actually researching Spain as a possible travel destination. It's okay - I will get there eventually.

Anyhow, like all good bookfiends, LK knows the importance of good books to pack on a trip. She has asked her readers for suggestions. I threw in a few titles for her picking.

My list of Spain Reading (with the help of my colleagues):

1. On Bullfighting by A.L. Kennedy
   - Well, A.L. Kennedy does discuss bullfighting in the book, but there's a lot more. At one point she was in so much pain from a displaced disk that she found herself on the verge of jumping out of a window, literally. But at that moment the phone rang: someone had an assignment for her to write about bullfighting. Perhaps it was a sign, but she took the assignment and began to explore the seduction and dance of death in the bullpits. On the way, she wrote about Federico Garcia Lorca, and his concept of the duende - the "dark notes" in poetry, in the dance of flamenco, and in bullfighting.

2. Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart
   - Remember the music group, Genesis? Chris Stewart was their drummer. This is about his travels to Andalucia all naively optimistic - with his straight-talking wife, Ada, as his comic foil.

3. Jason Webster's books: Duende, Guerra, Andalus
   - Jason Webster first travelled to Spain to learn about flamenco. Somewhere along the way he stayed long enough to write 3 books about Spain.

4. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
   - Orwell went to Spain during the Spanish Civil War, full of youthful naivety that he was helping the fight against Fascism. Instead, he struggled with lice, rats and boredom - and came to the realisation that war is more complicated than he had imagined.

5. Ghosts of Spain by Giles Tremlett
   - I have read a few good reviews on this book, and while researching it for LK's Spain reading, I find myself intrigued by the book. Now I want to read it.

   I'm a little hazy on Spanish history, so the book is supposed to explain the bad blood between Madrid and Barcelona - and on Chapter 4, it explains "How the Bikini Saved Spain." Now, that really caught my attention!

Like I said: Reading blogs can be dangerous, because I have just returned from the library with a copy of Ghosts of Spain. Hah! Here I am, trying not to start any new books.