Iberia (Mass Market Paperback)

by James A. Michener (Author), Robert Vavra (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"Massive, beautiful...Unquestionably some of the best writing on Spain...The best that Mr. Michener has ever done on any subject...Stunning...Memorable."
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Here, in the fresh, vivid prose that is James Michener's trademark, is the real Spain as he experiences it. He not only reveals the celebrated Spain of bullfights and warror kings, painters and processions, cathedrals and olive orchards; he also shares the intimate, often hidden Spain he has come to know, where toiling peasants and their honest food, the salt of the shores and the oranges of the inland fields, the congeniality of living souls and the dark weight of history conspire to create a wild, contradictory, passionately beautiful land, the mystery called Iberia.



From the Inside Flap
"Massive, beautiful...Unquestionably some of the best writing on Spain...The best that Mr. Michener has ever done on any subject...Stunning...Memorable."
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Here, in the fresh, vivid prose that is James Michener's trademark, is the real Spain as he experiences it. He not only reveals the celebrated Spain of bullfights and warror kings, painters and processions, cathedrals and olive orchards; he also shares the intimate, often hidden Spain he has come to know, where toiling peasants and their honest food, the salt of the shores and the oranges of the inland fields, the congeniality of living souls and the dark weight of history conspire to create a wild, contradictory, passionately beautiful land, the mystery called Iberia.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 960 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett Crest Books by Ballantine Books (October 12, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449207331
• ISBN-13: 978-0449207338
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #46,719 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an impressively deep, honest and affectionate view of Spain, May 5, 2000

By	J. K. Kelley "penslinger and long-term book j... (Eastern WA, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is not like most Michener books, which are generally fictional; this is his personal travelogue of his impressions of many travels all over Spain. It should be understood that it was published in the late 1960s and that much has since changed in Spain since that time. While 'Iberia' is normally taken (in the USA, at least) to incorporate Portugal, Michener is writing almost exclusively about Spain in this book.

Michener clearly loved Spain and knew many Spaniards as friends. He discusses Spain's history, culture, art, literature, dance, geography, sports, and spirituality. Rather than putting all that into nice neat little buckets, he weaves it all together to paint an entrancing picture of the Spanish soul as he knows it.

Unlike many such authors, Michener uses photos very carefully to illustrate aspects of Spanish culture, from the assuredly adamant eyes of the Guardia Civil to the warm smiles of the poorest people. He also takes a lot of time to explain words that are difficult to translate and what they tell us about Spanish culture.

Recommended with equal enthusiasm whether from the viewpoint of history, religion, culture, or art. Also of special value to those living in Spanish-speaking countries or regions with large Hispanic populations, as Spain's influence on those cultures, as a mother country, is readily apparent.

Bravo, Sr. Michener. Faltan mucho a Ud.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Michener's Best, February 14, 2000

By A Customer

As an avid fan of Michener's fiction, I decided to pick this book up to see how Michener dealt with nonfiction. I can without hesitation say that Michener is at his best in this genre. "Iberia" is a stunning achievement of meticulous care and fascinating recounting of events.

His account of Spain, though dated now by thirty years, made me feel as if I were there travelling side by side with Michener. It is wonderfully detailed and always engaging. There are long sections that are just descriptions of art and architecture, and being the art philistine that I am, these became a bit tedious. Still, my appreciation of these passages came less from the art described than from the obvious passion with which Michener describes them...

This book is a must-read.

50 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a massive, thousand-page love affair with Spain, April 19, 2001

By	E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

For my hundredth review, I wanted to describe a book that meant something very special to my husband and me. Although "Iberia" was originally published in 1968 (and spent the next seven months on the "New York Times" best seller list), we used it eleven years later to plan our first trip to Spain. It had not gone out-of-date. If it had aged at all, it was in Michener's less-than-balanced account of the Spanish Civil War (of course the same could be said of Hemingway).

"Iberia" is a massive, thousand-page love affair with Spain, part history, part travelogue, and part parador-and-tapa-bar guide. It is not 'merely' a tour guide to Spain, any more than Rebecca West's "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon" is 'merely' a tour guide to Yugoslavia. With the possible exception of his Pulitzer Prize winning "Tales of the South Pacific", I believe this to be Michener's finest work.

My opinion (or prejudice) is based on our unforgettable journey through Spain. Michener took us places we never would have found in the standard tourist guides. We pigged out in his tapa bars-"first comes the seafood--- the anchovies, eel, squid, octopus, herring, shrimp, salmon, five kinds of sardines, five kinds of fish; next come the boiled eggs, deviled eggs, egg salad, potato omelets cut in strips, vegetables, onions, salads; third are the cold meats in great variety, including meat balls, York ham, Serran ham, tripe, brains, liver in a variety of styles, beef, pork and veal; and finally the hot dishes..."

I booked us into many of the paradors that he recommended. Paradors are combination hotel-museums, which serve some of the best food in Spain---"Where practical, the paradors are housed in ancient buildings, such as old convents, monasteries, castles no longer in use, hospitals dating back to the age of the Catholic Kings, or inns in which Columbus may have slept."

In Merida, we stayed in a parador that is housed in the 500-year-old Convento de los Frailes de Jesus (Michener's personal favorite). Then there was the castle-parador, the parador that is built within the Alhambra, and the modern, ski-resort parador on the slopes of Monte Perdido. We stumbled across the last-mentioned resort while lost in the Pyrenees, and had it literally to ourselves (and one other couple), since the season was late spring.

My one regret is that we did not get to attend the ancient horse fair that follows Holy Week in Seville, and is so lovingly described in "Iberia." This fair dates back "two thousand years to the days when Romans came here to buy horses for their generals...If a man likes horses, this rough-and-ready market with no rules and little order would delight him. It is conducted under a blazing sun and has about it a strange and ancient quality. I have attended at three different times and found it difficult to believe that I was in the twentieth century..."

If you are planning a trip to Spain, book yourself into the paradors well in advance of your trip (at least a year in advance if you plan to visit during or immediately after Holy Week), try to attend Seville's ancient horse fair, and above all, buy and read Michener's "Iberia."