Portugal Books

Arthur Landis updated version of his earlier book on the Americans in Spain must be read with the same prejudices reserved for many wrtiters directly involved in their subject. Mr Landis served in Spain on the Republican side and this certaily is reflected in this book. That being said it is still a fine read, though suffers from a lack of maps, which would make the battles easier to follow.

A great history of the International Brigades, with a wonderful degree of detail on the troops' experiences in each battle. You'll feel like you were there, because he was there.

I have to address the other reviewer who is hung up on the author's supposed bias. I guess he longs for a more positive spin on fascism. Good luck with that.

This play is not called a comedy because it is funny. Nor are any plays from Golden Age Spanish literature. They are called comedies simply because they are not allowed the name of Tragedies, which is reserved for plays written in Greek language and style. Spanish is a "vulgar" offshoot from Latin, and "tragedies" were not works for the vulgar (common) language. If you are looking for comedy in a Golden Age Spanish play it will be difficult. Most involve moral and religious issues. But you should still read this play because it is pretty [darn] good :)

This is one of those books that any contemporary reader shall not face alone. Even if your first language is Spanish, the archaic nature of some words and phrases, force you to read the relevant line more that three times to get a notion of the idea behind them. Afterwards, you must figure out why the work was considered as a comedy in the XVI Century. The infatuation between Don Alonso and Ines is not a joyful event on the contrary, both character are consumed by anguish and the rejected lover is only thinking about revenge. Only Fabia presents an element which lights up the gloomy nature of the play and that somehow is not predictable. Consider to read this book if you are interested in the evolution of Spanish Literature but do not expect much pleasure of laughter out of it.

I spent a week in Barcelona last winter and this book was a great guide to the city. The pictures are abundant and very entertaining to look at (I still take the book out every few months and rehash some old memories). I have used Lonely Planet books in the past (When I went to Paris and London), but the "See It" series eclipses them by far.

I bought this guide as it was the only one in available in the bookstore and I was unexpectedly going to Barcelona for a few days. I wasn't totally happy with it, and after using it, I still hold that opinion.

Here's a list of my criticisms: limited subset and poor presentation of hotel and restaurant options. It seems to offer a haphazard group of options. I'd rather use a the Lonely Planet guide (for inexpensive places) or a regular Fodor's guide (for mid-to higher-range places). Finally, I'd have found its shortcomings more forgiveable if it had been a pocket-sized guide.

Positives: useful transportation data, nice tips that help visitors to better see details that would otherwise go unnoticed, e.g., stylized bats in lamp posts, some nice pictures (but not nearly as nice as the DK Guides or the Knopf Guides).

Ghost Fever Mal de Fantasma by Joe Hayes is a spin-tingler that would be great for reluctant readers, especially those who are trying to learn English or Spanish. It is written in a bilingual style, small sections written in English and then the Spanish version mirrored right after it.
The story's setting is a southwestern town in the 1950's where a haunted house keeps tenants leery of renting it. The house's reputation is so bad the owner has to give away free rent just to find tenants. Finally a father (Frank) and his daughter (Elena) move in. The father seems nonplused with the noises and strange occurrences, but his daughter is not so oblivious. She feels a connection with the ghost because the ghost-girl is her age, and mysteriously died falling off the roof of the house. Elana tries to help the ghost, but ends up dealing with problems of her own.
Students in middle school and high school would enjoy this book, especially those who love a good ghost story. Its bilingual style makes an inviting read for students who are struggling to learn a second language.

Ghost Fever won the Texas Bluebonnet Award for 2007, joining previous Bluebonnet ghost stories winners. including The Ghost of Fossil Glen in 2000, Time For Andrew: A Ghost Story in 1996, Wait 'Til Helen Comes in 1989 and Christina's Ghost in 1988.

Joe Hayes is a professional storyteller known for his Southwestern stories. This 87 page book is the kind of chapter book I love because young readers, still gaining fluency, can move through the story quickly and feel successful that they have mastered "a chapter book." It certainly qualifies as the kind of "scary" book young readers seek.

Cole Cash rents houses in Duston, Arizona on the wrong side of the tracks. No matter what he does though, he cannot rent one abandoned house to anyone. In desperation he offers 6 months free rent to whoever will sign a one year lease. Rumors of ghosts keep the house empty until Elena's father hears about it. Newly unemployed with two young daughters, Frank Padilla decides to move his family in despite warnings and advice from family and friends. Luckily, Abuelita knows a thing or two about the spirit world so she takes fourteen year old Elena aside to warn her about ghosts.

She instructs Elena on how to talk to a spirit and warns her that she may be the only one who can hear or see it. Mona Pennypacker did the soft pencil illustrations which nicely evoke the apparition on pages 43 and the very creepy on page 63. I know these 2 pictures elicited the "oooooohs" when I introduced the Bluebonnet list last fall.

This is a very good book for someone who wants to have an overview of what it will be like to live and work in Spain and Portugal. Once you have opted for a country then you may want something more focused and comprehensive on the country of your choice, in my case Holtom's Working and living: Portugal. But this book is excellent for a first read and more. Though covering both countries, it still manages to address many important issues, like schools and education; health; and others. Very good for a short stay, still useful for settling in. Glad I bought it.

When I started looking for a place in the sun I found this book very helpful. It provides a bird's eye view of life and work in the two countries of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the kind of book to start with before you make a decision and then start focusing on the country of your choice. It is concise and to the point.

This is one of finest pieces of Spanish poetry of the second half of this century. It is cunningly sharp and precise, picturing life with a whole range of different colors and yet I must confess that, as with wines, the book acquires a different and better taste as time goes on. It is, with no doubt, good value for money.

Biedma is a genious in that he captures a very real, non-traditional side of Spanish life. The truth in his poems is captivating and somewhat addictive. However, as a bi-lingual speaker, I found Nolan's translation to be inacurate and therefor I was forced to give this book only 3 stars. If it had been a Spanish-only version or had been translated properly I would have given it 5.

This is a classic text in Chicana Feminist literature and in Gender Studies. In the early 1980's, Moraga was at the forefront of feminist theory by U.S. Women of Color which attempted to put issues of racial and ethnic identity in dialogue with issues of feminism and sexuality. Moraga not only critiques the racial and ethnic oppression practiced by mainstrem society, but she bravely critiques the gender opression practiced within Chicano/a communities as well. A "must" for anyone interested in the intesection of race, gender, sexuality and culture. Her moving and brutally honest work brings together essays, stories and poems, both personal and analytical, in a collage that breaks down the barriers between genres as well as between political ideologies. A very powerful book.

Moraga's LOVING IN THE WAR YEARS is a classic in Chicana literature indeed. However, the new edition just doesn't cut it. The new essays are interesting to read, but they are not as compelling as the original text. Definitely worth buying, but certainly disappointing as far as "updating" the book.

This guide and excellent map served the need well.Recommended

This book has lots of interesting cultural information. It is helpfully broken down into regional sections. The map that comes along with it looks comprehensive.
But if you're looking for a guide for transportation and lodging, you'll have to look elsewhere. It has a sentence on about 3 hotels per region. But I think that's probably how it is meant to be used, to give details to go with your other book.

I was looking for information for a trip to Portugal but the book is about 80% Spain and 20% Portugal. It also is not in English. It was helpful but not as much as I expected.

I am a professional chef who: loves Spain; specializes in modern Spanish cuisine; visits often; needs accurate professional information about restaurants and hotels. I buy this book every year.

I also own many of Michelin's other guides. This is definitely the most accurate. Their Spanish reviewers are spot-on: if the book says it is good...it is good. Well, 90% of the time....which is all you can ask for.

The accuracy of the book extends all the way from the least expensive restaurants, tapas bars, agroturismos and hotels to the most expensive.

Michelin is a big organization...and moves slowly. Many of the tiny, up and coming places are missed....thank god. I don't want a bunch of tourists clogging up the good spots!

Just kidding.....

And....as for the other reviewer who was mad that the book was in Spanish.....Duh! The title is in Spanish, dummy! And, why are you going to Spain if you don't speak Spanish? There is an English section at the front to explain everything.

The reviewer also complained that 80% of the book was about Spain. Well, Spain has by far the best, most modern, most advanced, most creative food in the world....along with the best ingredients.

So....why are you going to Portugal?

Manuel Vazquez Montalbano was an sometimes and author in search of a book. This novel is one of those searches, but I'm not sure if he found what he was looking for. In the summaries and synopsis you read about his ability to turn nothing into something, but here he seems to just wander around old Barcelona as it 'primps' itself getting ready for the 1992 Olympics.

This is a very existentialist, absurdist (where's Edward Albee when you need him) metaphysical journey of a man whose life is becoming redundant, even to him. Carvalho spends way to much time trying to live in his past and finds that much of what he remembers is now changed to fit what he wants to remember as opposed to what actually happened. There is a touch of the Alain Robbe-Grillet, 'nouveau roman' to the whole book that goes along well with the allusions from Barrie' 'Peter Pan'.

This seems to me to be the 'swan song' for Carvalho as the 'devil may care' communist/collaborator/detective, and the maturing of his personality to fit the changes in Spain with the passing of Franco and its' entry into the European Community. Depending on how you read it, it's either a very good book, or just a jumble of attitudes, happenings and words. Your call.

"An Olympic Death" is an unorthodox mystery novel set in Barcelona on the eve of the '92 Olympics. As a portrait of Barcelona, the novel reveals it for what it is -- at once one of the most exciting cities in Europe and a postmodernist pigsty. A hilarious satire on contemporary art, aging hippies, preparations for the Olympics. philosophy, books, gay bars, and even mystery novels themselves, "An Olympic Death" is Manuel Vázquez Montalbán at his best.

The novel's opening scene could have been taken straight from a Peter Sellers movie. Claire Delmas, a eye-boggling French beauty, and her friend the Olympic agent Georges Lebrun, pay a visit to Pepe Carvalho, Barcelona's aging private-eye, gastronome extraordinaire, and repentent Communist. Carvalho (pronounced "car-valyu") is truly an unorthodox figure among private-eyes. Immediately, it is evident that he is much more of a psychiatrist than a private-eye, braving the dangers of his clients' conversation instead of the world of crime. Claire and Lebrun are looking for Alekos, Claire's renegade Greek husband turned homosexual. Their search for him -- chaperoned by Carvalho -- leads them through a motley of comic scenes in Barcelona.

Perhaps uniquely among detective novels, Carvalho is simultaneously at work on a curious, entirely unrelated second "case". Luis Brando, a wealthy publisher (no relation to Marlon), engages him to keep an eye on Beba, his nymphomaniac teenage daughter. Beba is a lusty lass with a penchant for screwing old men. Carried out alongside the search for Alekos, Beba's case leads Carvalho through a riotous labyrinth of crazy characters and a hilarious tour of Barcelona by night.

While I enjoyed the novel immensely and I understand it's largely a satire on "cultural hooliganism" (Carvalho's phrase), I have to admit that there are some trashy scenes. Montalbán could have excluded them and not damaged his story. I'm not a prude, but from time to time he overkilled the sex and profanity. So much so that to be frank, I was ready for the novel to end.

Nevertheless, the book was a fantastic read and I'm eager to find more Montalbán. 5 stars.