Customer Reviews

Spanish Recognitions: The Road from the Past

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

An 82 year old woman from an American coal mining region heads out to explore Spain on her own in a rental car, with very little Spanish, but a wealth of information she has read before hand. Her notes and thoughts through the journey are fascinating and revealing. Her insights into St. Theresa are original and enlightening, her discussion of the Roman remains in Merida are very interesting reading. In a few short paragraphs lays out why the Muslin religion took hold so well when it did, a description that is simple that I have not seen anywhere else. She takes her facts and transcends them into clear understanding in an impressive way. Without speaking the language she has the feel for the people and conveys it quite well. The last couple chapters tail off in strength, but the book is a definite read for anyone who has been to Spain and is in love with the country. Remarkable piece of work.

This is a lovely account of one lady's tour through a country with which she so rightly tells us "no one in this new millennium should ignore... it was one of the first places mentioned as being stolen from the Muslims in an early televised Osama bin Laden tirade of bitterness and intent. ... Al-Andalus. Andalucia. Spain. Few in this country knew what he was talking about" (255). I (unknowingly following in Mary Lee Settle's footsteps) decided to find out.

Yet it was so difficult to discover any information about post-1492 Spain. I had a hard time finding books telling me about Knights Templar's history and tragic end in Il Torre Sangrienta (the tower of blood); giving me an intimate portrait of Black Virgin's of Guadalupe's haunting eyes; telling me of Unamunno's dramatic defiance of Franco's regime; or telling me the scandal in Zamora. And I had no joy at all in finding a book that tells the story of the many Spains (for in truth as Mary Lee Settle makes clear there is not ONE Spain but many) as though all its rich history grew up naturally--from the stones in the ground. As though this history were but part and parcel of the sights, sounds, and smell of modern Spain. Until, of course, I found this book.

For Mary Lee Settle's book does all of the above. She tells her and Spain's story from the vintage point of an often lost and eternally fascinated traveler. A traveler who romps through the physical Spain and through Spain's history equally and who manages to construct an immensely readable and thoroughly enjoyable book interweaving both journeys.

It is not, however, a history book and it freely admits this. Indeed, perhaps one of the most precious (to me) parts of this book is the frequent history book recommendations. Mary Lee Settle's Spanish Recognitions is thus the ideal book for someone like me: someone who wants to read about Spain's rich history and who would like to travel there armed with historical and cultural knowledge but who is not sure how to get started.

I highly recommend it.

If you base your review on the use of "da" instead of "de" and can't spell the name of the town where you live (it's Oakland), I suggest actually finishing reading the book before making such harsh judgements about it.
This is a wonderful read, full of interesting and accessible information on Spain. Those of us who have actually been there understand exactly what she is saying about the contrasts that exist in the people of Spain who are going through a tremendous change in national character, partly based on their EU membership. BTW: reviewing a travel book for authenticity should at a minimum have a requirement of having actually visited.
I am going back in a few weeks and hope to use some of the information in this book as a means of exploring the areas in and around Madrid.
As an aside, If you want to see a more objective sense of this woman's writing, check out what has been said about "Turkish Reflections".

Mary Lee Settle brings a sparkling sense of wit and passion to this memoir of her journeys through central and southern Spain. Our intrepid traveler made her journey alone, rented a car and drove herself across Spain, not able to speak Spanish. Even more amazing is that she did so at the ripe young age of eighty-two years old!

Spanish Recognitions is generally a pleasant read, although it loses steam in an anticlimactic finale. Settle begins her journey in Spain's capital, Madrid, winds through Castilla (Avila, Tordesillas, Zamora, Salamanca) and into southern Spain (Extremadura and Andalusia). Nary a mention is made of the architectural gems of Barcelona, the quest for an independent Basque country, or the lush green hills and Celtic legacy of Galicia, where bagpipes are the instrument de rigueur.

What Settle brings with her is a keen sense of living history, a touch of the supernatural (one of her visits to a Templar ruin hints at a credibility-straining otherworldly encounter), and decades of traveling experience. She respects Spanish culture and customs, and weaves seamlessly between important (often violent) battles from Spain's past and their effects on the present. Snippets of Spanish legend and folktale round out her explorations of archeological ruins and restoration projects.

Nearly 100 pages are devoted to the Islamic presence in Spain. North African Muslims (Moors) invaded Spain in 711 CE and retained power over a gradually shrinking Spanish kingdom until Ferdinand and Isabel conquered their last remaining stronghold, Granada, in 1492, followed by the expulsion of all Jews and Muslims that same year. This had severe repercussions for Spain, as talented doctors, bankers, craftsmen and scholars were lost and libraries of Arabic texts on medicine and learning, very advanced for their time, were burned during the Inquisition. Settle hints at how the Moorish kingdom was torn apart not by Christian soldiers and mercenaries, but by rival Islamic rulers and increasingly extremist fundamentalists who felt that certain rulers were engaging in un-Islamic behaviors. There is even a mention of Osama Bin Laden, who cited the theft of Al-Andalus (Andalusia) by the Christians in an early videotaped tirade.

The weakest part of the book is by far the final few chapters, which take some of the power away from the excellent musings on Islamic Spain's past glories. There is a sudden, jarring transition away from Granada to theories on Atlantis, of all things. But overall, Settle brings a joyful freshness to a much-written-about destination, with a child's sense of wonder and a love of exploring off the beaten bath. She makes long-lost footnotes of Spanish history come alive in a way that few writers are able to accomplish, and fans of Michener's Iberia will most likely enjoy Spanish Recognitions, as will most anyone who's had the good fortune to travel in Spain.

This chronicle of a long ramble through parts of Spain by 82-year old (at the time) Mary Lee Settle is far from perfect in its detail and flow, but there is something quite endearing about it. Settle poked into some obscure corners of the country and discovered some fascinating people and places. Her descriptions of each encounter really make readers want to replicate the experience for themselves. The discomforts and limitations of an elderly traveler are unexpectedly interesting. Settle's forbearance and resolve to get on with the trip no matter what are also inspiring. This is an interesting and touching travel memoir that is definitely worth reading, especially if a trip to Spain is being planned by the reader.

I am buying another copy for my sister I loved it so much. Of course the author's views of Spain are colored by her prejudices and pecadillos - THIS IS ALL HER OPINION. If I want dry accurate facts and figures I will read a text book, but I want to read what someone feels when standing in the same spot that St. Teresa stood in, or what it feels like to walk around the mountains of Extremadura. I loved her connections from past to present and the general chattiness as if she were acquainted with historical figures. This is a book about feelings and if you don't like that kind of narrative you will not like the book.

I do not recommend this book, for the very reason that makes travel writing often wonderful or terrible with no middle ground: The author's neurotic, closed-minded, and intolerant persona comes across rather than a view of Spain. The book should rather be called "Self-Recognitions," rather than "Spanish Recognitions," for that reason. Contrast Barbara Grizzuti Harrison's wonderful _Italian Days_. No one ever accused Harrison of being easy to get along with (I was acquainted with her before her death), yet in _Italian Days_ she demonstrates that she is aware of how her neurosis colors her views of Italy. Paul Theroux and Bruce Chatwin show similar characteristics in their writing. Here, on the other hand, is no such self-awareness or insight. I recommend Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls's _Spain_ (a Cadogan guide). During the six months that I lived in Spain, I sometimes found their conclusions loony, but the authors at least show how their own personae lead them to those sometimes-loony conclusions. (For the record, however, their book is, for the most part, fabulous.) The same cannot be said of Ms. Settle's work, where conclusions are presented as if they were analytic truths. The first reviewer of this book, although he or she did not finish it, should be lauded for his or her perception of the author's limited vision.

This is an immensely annoying book, full of misinformation passed off as fact and truly unique and laughable interpretations of Spanish history and culture. The author fails to check even the most basic spellings (for instance, the composer's name is Maunel da Falla, not de Falla). It is peppered throughout with self-congratulatory references to the author's "research" on the Spanish Civil War and other suspect expertise.

In one chapter she tells the apocryphal story of an American volunteer in the War who, upon finding no empty beds in the Escorial turned hospital, finally finds an empty cot and collapses onto it in sleep only to discover in the morning that he has taken over Philip II's bedroom. Such baloney!

Tapas she describes as appetizers that the Spanish have turned into a meal. What a self-referential hoot!

Elsewhere she accuses a guest at a wedding party of rudeness and arrogance for upbraiding her for turning the rental car she clearly has difficulty managing into a hotel garage driveway in the middle of the wedding party's walk to the reception, blocking its progress. It is shamefully apparent that the rude and arrogant party is the author who is completely incapable of courtesy and unaware of others.

The descriptions of her arrivals at hotels invariably include references to her need for a drink and attendant complaints about her desperation to find space without others, particularly Spaniards, in which to enjoy it.

I must be honest and say that I did not finish the book, one hundred pages having been enough. One good comment I have is that the reading was so loathesome that it makes me want to go to Spain as an antidote for the author's wretched, self-indulgent nonsense.

I am flattered by ahamilton reviewing my review!!!