Spain Books

First published in 1980, Makbara demonstrates a radical use of linguistic and structural experimentation. Now that Goytisolo has loosened his ties to his mother country (since completing the Mendiola trilogy), his search for his "authentic self" is challenged by the indomitable formalizations of the spoken language. The pleasure of reading Makbara comes from a reading which does not depend on such linguistic verbal formalities, and deciding whether other forms of communication are possible. This novel is intricate and challenging on all levels in accord with Goytisolo's intent that his writing is not for everyone to read.

I have a "thing" about Teresa of Avila. She's been in my life (as a role model for both spiritual worship and daily living) for almost twenty-five years, and I occasionally give speeches about her. And, as part of the research, I've become familiar with much of the literature that has been written about her. Teresa was an amazing, and complex person who lived (1515-1582) in the middle of The Golden Age of Spain. Depending on who you talk to, or which book you read, Teresa was "an obedient daughter of the Church" who did everything that her Church superiors told her to do, or else "a firebrand who turned Spanish Catholicism completely upside down" as she established a series of seventeen contemplative convents where women and men could worship God in quiet surroundings, away from the overly-socialized churches and convents of the day. Some will tell you that Teresa (who suffered from a wide variety of illnesses for much of her life) was just a hysterical woman, who was unable to cope with common events (death of a parent) that beset all of us. While others will maintain that all of her illnesses, and all of her yearnings for contemplative living, actually served as prodding steps which moved her closer and closer to God, and ultimately assisted her in writing thousands of pages of beautiful literature which endure to this day. In all the confusion of Spain in the mid-1500s, and the Catholic Church in the middle of the Spanish Inquisition, and even Teresa in the midst of her illnesses and mystical yearnings for God, it is NOT easy (for a reader) to really get an accurate "sense" of Teresa in terms of who she was as a woman, and as a daughter of God. But all this background brings us to Francis and Toni Gross, who have written one of the most compelling and valuable books ("The Making of a Mystic: Seasons in the Life of Teresa of Avila") I have ever encountered on the life of this saint. This book really "gets" Teresa. It gets her as a human being (with all the weaknesses and failings that implies), as a saint (possessed of a holiness and closeness to God that the rest of us strive for, but almost never attain), and as someone dealing with all the problems of life.

Rather than approach her directly through her writings (as most other books on Teresa tend to do), "Making of a Mystic" is a "developmental biography" (as the authors call it) designed to explain Teresa's mental and spiritual journey from infancy to old age. The reader is taken on a lifelong adventure into the heart and mind of Teresa, and shown how Teresa slowly evolved as a person and as a contemplative. And, in case the reader has trouble understanding the psyche of Teresa, the book compares and contrasts her psychological development with those of Mohandas Gandhi and Dorothy Day, two other complex and fascinating personages who often struggled with their own spirituality (and had conflicts with various aspects of religious organizations) on the way to discovering the central place of God in their lives. One thing I should point out is that this book is NOT just a history of Teresa of Avila, nor a compendium of her writings and sayings. And to be fair, if you are looking for a summary of the life of this saint and her major writings, you might want to take a look at "Teresa of Avila: An Extraordinary Life" (by Shirley du Boulay), "Teresa of Avila: Mystical Writings" (by Tessa Bielecki), and "From Ash to Fire: A Contemporary Journey through the Interior Castle of Teresa of Avila" (by Carolyn Humphreys) which brings Teresa's most famous work alive for modern audiences. Those three books do an excellent job of providing the first-time reader with a suitable introduction to Teresa. But if, on the other hand, you are already somewhat familiar with Teresa, and want to really understand the workings of her mind and psyche, then I can't recommend anything as highly as "The Making of a Mystic: Seasons in the Life of Teresa of Avila". It's a wonderful read, and well worth your time. Teresa found (struggling for decades with her spirituality and her health) that the road to God is not at all easy. And for us today ... beset on all sides by earthly distractions that would pull us off of our own spiritual paths ... she's a marvelous role model for women and men alike who are seeking a quieter and more contemplative life. Reading this book made me feel that I really "knew" Teresa for the first time, on a deep and personal level. And I think it can have the same result for you.

This is the first volume of three being published by the Hakluyt Society ( www.hakluyt.com ) on the 18 C expedition of Malaspina for the Spanish crown to the American colonies with the aim of fixing frontiers, improving scientific and geographical knowledge, and generating maps. A splendid work of scholarship and a great read!

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San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Jose, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego - some of the string of pearls along the length of California.
The book uncovers the work of those few hardy souls who founded those communities in the seventeen-hundreds. Their development model was radically different from the US mainstream: that the land belonged to the Native Americans, and that the missions were to mentor those who volunteered in their transition from the hunter-gatherer/horticulturalist to the agriculturalist strategy.
Already then we see the clash between Serra and the naive Europeans who wanted to rush to impose a European-model urban-based governance system, regardless of the vulnerability of Native-American culture to urban European abuses, and how he held them off for a generation.
And we also see the human dimension: how every great person is in the end a bundle of strengths and weaknesses, and how a person that felt ordinary in himself performs historic achievements. This account is both humbling and empowering.
A clear and fascinating account of Junipero Serra, key person in one of the greatest and most influential states of today's world.

This is a first-rate biography that is an excellent follow-on to Stroud's book about Napoleon's nephew, Charles-Lucien Bonaparte (The Emperor of Nature). Stroud has been a biographer of natural historians (another was of Thomas Say, the first American naturalist), but this sojourn into the American exile of Napoleon's older brother Joseph, an aristocrat and former king of Naples and Spain, proves a good fit for her.

One suspects Stroud was drawn to Joseph's story in part because he made his large estate in southern New Jersey into a vast private nature reserve, in which he enriched the natural stock by introducing species from his much-missed Europe, including hares and Osage orange trees. Stroud throws in amusing
anecdotes about encounters with wildlife: Charles-Lucien, newly arrived from Italy, once gleefully leaps off his horse to grab a beautiful black-and-white creature scurrying along the ground -- only to get sprayed by a skunk.

But Stroud doesn't dwell on the natural history but rather on the rich aristocratic life of Joseph in America, who built one of the country's finest art collections at the time. Stroud makes it clear that the degree to which Joseph influenced the advancement of high European culture in this country, which today reveals itself in great private and public art and library collections, magnificent gardens, and grand estates, was significant. His library, for one, had more volumes than the Library of Congress.

Joseph, a sensitive sophisticate who seems to be the polar opposite of his willful, deeply egotistical younger brother, comes across as a highly likable fellow who is at once an expatriate playboy and a partisan utterly committed to restoring a Bonaparte to the throne of France. His exile in America, which lasts 17 years, makes for a good story, and Stroud tells it with verve, intelligence, and an easygoing yet authoritative style that should appeal to both lay and scholarly readers. I particularly enjoyed her sense of humor: there's one scene of Joseph confronting Napoleon in the bathtub about the Louisiana Purchase that should not be missed.

This was one of the funniest children's books we've ever read. Loved reading a book about a boy growing up in Spain -- so different, but so totally relatable. The illustrations are completely charming. We laughed out loud every page.

I'm amazed noone has reviewed this book or recommended it. If you are an adult trying to learn Spanish, a good trick is reading childrens' books before moving up to adult fare. But you have to pick good books, or be bored out of your mind. Most of the Spanish childrens' books I've bought have been riddled with pious Catholicism and unpleasant machismo. (I remember one book where a 12 year old kid is depicted as cutting the throat of a turtle as big as a motorcar while wise old fishermen stand round approving this 'rite of passage'.)
Anyway, Manolito Gafotas is enchanting, up there with Le Petit Nicholas.
I can also recommend La Isla del Tresoro by R. L. Stevenson (!), and the sword and dagger books Limpieza de Sangre, etc. by Arturo Perez-Reverte (his adult books are disgusting, but these are an enjoyable pastiche of Dumas). And one more - El Pirata Garapata. Fantastic!

Studies of musical modernism have focused largely on European nations but Spain has been often neglected in such discussions as having cliched and overly recycled arrangements. Manuel Defalla And Modernism In Spain focuses on the music of composer Manuel de Falla, considering his emergence as a leading figure in Spanish modernism who used impressionism and a range of styles which paralleled the development of a unique artistic and literary style in Spain. Manuel Defalla And Modernism In Spain is an excellent survey for students of Spanish art history.

A very solid review of architectural works in photos, hard line presentation drawings, plans, sections, elevations, sketches in color or B&W of excellent quality, short project descriptions, published under ISBN: 3764359161 by Birkhäuser (Basel...) and ISBN: 0817959161 by Birkhäuser (Boston) on 128 pages on the highest possible level, graphically beautiful and with contents up to snuff.
CONTENTS:
10 A Complex Weave of Space
17 Selected Works
18 Family House in Corrubedo
26 Family House in El Carballo
38 Painter's House and Studio in Isla de Arousa
42 Cultural Centre in Valdovino
54 Museum of Sacred Art in La Corunna
66 Housing Development in Paderne
72 Cultural Centre in Chantada
84 Family House in Veigue
96 Museum of Fine Arts in La Corunna
116 Master Plan for Avenida Juan XXIII in Santiago de Compostela
122 Research Centres at the University of Santiago de Compostela
136 Master Plan for Botanical Gardens in Santiago de Compostela
140 Health Centre in Viveiro
154 Farmhouse Reform in Laiosa
159 Works and Projects
170 Biography
174 Bibliography
176 Credits