zebec

Pretty sure that this book is by now considered 'old hat' for some readers here. But those who may be Spain-bound could do worse than read Gilles Tremlett's 'Ghosts of Spain'.
Those with an interest in modern Spanish history will be well satisfied. Got this recco from the Rough Guide: Spain suggested reading list.
Great stuff.
I am done. the silent past

ekscrunchy

Gracias.


Greetings from The Future.


There is another classic but I cannot remember the name now.....non-fiction by American author....
IBERIA is worth reading, still.

amsdon

Driving over Lemmons? ( can't remember)
I believe i enjoyed that One i that the correct title.
Thank you for suggesting Ghosts of Spain.

ekscrunchy

I did read that and another by same author.
But book I am thinking about is not a memoir but something along the lines of Bahraini's THE ITALIANS, but about Spain. Maybe written during or just after Franco years....

Forgive mistakes...waiting time for Lufthansa flight change by phone is now up to 1 hour 35 minutes!!!!!
Thank whoever invented speaker phone!

ekscrunchy

Sorry, NOT Bahraini!!! Luigi Barzini!!

margo_oz

ekscrunchy

Are you perhaps thinking of James A Michener's Iberia?

ekscrunchy

No, that is a great book but this is something else and I've looked and looked online and cannot find it...maybe written by a NYTimes or WaPo writer (?).
it was written decades go but I thought it was kind of a classic and its driving me crazy!

progol

We really enjoyed the book and read it before our 2016 trip to Spain. It gave us a good sense of what the country had been like under Franco and the deep conflicts that were left in his wake.

amsdon

Ernest Hemingway's for Whom the Bell tolls?

ekscrunchy

No, non-fiction.

I bet its out of print so that ids why its not on Amazon, or at least I could not find it on Amazon, yet!

ekscrunchy

Finally:

THE NEW SPANIARDS

Faedus

I appreciate seeing book reviews on this forum, and it's hard to resist jumping in. I "second" the OP's recommendation for "Ghosts of Spain" -- I read it myself, and found it to be excellent background reading for anyone whose interests in Spain go beyond pleasure and food. (I wouldn't consider it "old hat" at all!)
Like other respondents, I'll offer a recommendation of my own, but for a special reason. My recommendation is "A Stranger in Spain" by Henry V. Morton. It was published in 1955, so it's not exactly an up-to-date travel guide, but I find it interesting to see what places like Spain were like before the recent quantum leaps in mass global tourism. Morton is also an engaging writer -- witty, but also respectful and informative. But my main reason for calling attention to this book is that unlike certain foreign writers such as Michener and Hemingway, who seemed to find a sort of vicarious machismo in their love for the bullfights, the clear-eyed Mr. Morton had no illusions about it at all. Though I recommend the entire book, those who may be flirting with the idea of the bullfight may want to read at least Chapter 6, section 6, where Morton describes a bullfight he witnessed -- describes it in every gory, ugly, agonizing, gruesome detail. (Unlike Hemingway, who as I recall, also revealed some of these details, Morton makes no attempt to raise the bullfight above the level of slaughter.)

ekscrunchy

I will look for that book..does HV Morton not have at least one book about travel in Italy? (I think I own it but I'm not at home right now to check)
Thanks to you both.

Faedus

Yes, in fact he does -- two of them, one on Northern, and one on Southern Italy.