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Spanish Recognitions: The Roads to the Present
"Settle takes us along as she digs into Spain's past....Consistently compelling."―Wayne Hoffman, Washington Post Book World At eighty-two years old, Mary Lee Settle set off alone to find the Spain she thought she knew. But, like Columbus on another voyage of discovery, she found something―many things―that she hadn't even known she was looking for. Winner of a National Book Award for fiction and author of an acclaimed book of travel and history on Turkey, Settle brings to her task the visual equivalent of perfect pitch. She follows the great, traumatic flows in Spanish history: the Moorish conquest from south to north, and the Christian reconquista several hundred years later in the opposite direction. Those epic struggles, shaped by geography, are the source of the fascinating tensions in the Spanish character, in its art, architecture, and literature, and the author's magical prose puts these gifts in our hands.
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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About the author
Mary Lee Settle
48 books18 followersGraduate of Sweet Briar College. Winner of the National Book Award in 1978 for Blood Tie.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 28, 2017
I read this book to get me in the mood to visit Spain in a few months and it did the trick beautifully.
It's a set of meandering reflections on Spain and its history based upon the author's travels there. I thoroughly enjoyed it because it's well-written and full of history, my favorite emphasis.
It's a set of meandering reflections on Spain and its history based upon the author's travels there. I thoroughly enjoyed it because it's well-written and full of history, my favorite emphasis.
May 18, 2017
Somewhere between a 3 and a 4. It's hard to find good travel memoirs set in Spain! This one was slow getting started but I did love the author's interest in history and how past events seem so relevant to her when she visits places. I admire how she traveled alone in Spain, driving herself between cities, at age 82. Mary Lee Settle is best known as a historical novelist, writing about the Virginia and Appalachian frontier, so this seems a complete change of pace for her although she's also written a memoir about 2 years in Turkey.
Author has her favorite Spaniards from history & we follow them, visit the places most associated with them . . . St. Teresa of Avila, Juana the Queen who never ruled (daughter of Isabella), Goya, and Lorca. Isabella and Ferdinand, Christopher Columbus, and Charles I keep showing up, too -- modern Spain still a product of their times.
Most interesting chapter may have been on Tartessos, a pre-Roman city and even a possible candidate for inspiration of the Atlantis legend.
Author has her favorite Spaniards from history & we follow them, visit the places most associated with them . . . St. Teresa of Avila, Juana the Queen who never ruled (daughter of Isabella), Goya, and Lorca. Isabella and Ferdinand, Christopher Columbus, and Charles I keep showing up, too -- modern Spain still a product of their times.
Most interesting chapter may have been on Tartessos, a pre-Roman city and even a possible candidate for inspiration of the Atlantis legend.
May 25, 2017
An 82-year-old American woman who spoke little Spanish drove through Spain (stick shift, no less) and recorded her impressions of the character of a changing yet timeless country.
She wrote: "To be a stranger in a strange land, as travelers have been for centuries, is to keep astonishment alive, see as a child sees, retain one's awe, astonishment, and wonder."
From 1964 to 1966, my family lived in Spain. I was ten when we arrived and, obvious to those who can do simple math, twelve when we left. Franco was in power then, and I remember playing in abandoned Spanish Civil War fortifications (cannons intact) on the hill above our apartment house. Almost fifty years have passed, but in that small slice of time the essence of Spain has not. Miss Settle echoes many of my own impressions of a beautiful and fascinating place.
She wrote: "To be a stranger in a strange land, as travelers have been for centuries, is to keep astonishment alive, see as a child sees, retain one's awe, astonishment, and wonder."
From 1964 to 1966, my family lived in Spain. I was ten when we arrived and, obvious to those who can do simple math, twelve when we left. Franco was in power then, and I remember playing in abandoned Spanish Civil War fortifications (cannons intact) on the hill above our apartment house. Almost fifty years have passed, but in that small slice of time the essence of Spain has not. Miss Settle echoes many of my own impressions of a beautiful and fascinating place.
April 12, 2020
Like being back in Spain and enjoying the flood of memories....along with enjoying Ms. Settle's story.
August 31, 2022
Great book - a cross between a guide book & a history book. One to take with you on a trip in Spain. Not an easy read but so much detail & information.
June 12, 2008
I sort of liked some parts of this book. Since I was just in Spain for four months, it was fun to read about some of the places I'd been. But, overall, I thought the author romanticized Spain way too much. She described "all" Spanish people as being well-dressed, sophisticated, and classy, which, in my opinion, was not the case. I found that many Spanish people have a propensity for tacky clothes and hilarious mullets. In fact, Max and I documented these.
Anyway, lots of what bothered me about this book was a weird sense of hypocrisy in her writing. For example, she condemns the way tourists judge Spain without really getting to know it, but then she does the same thing. I realize she knows more about Spain than the average tourist, but she often writes sweeping genralizations about how Spanish people are, or makes huge logical leaps when talking about Spanish history. Also, she claims that Latin is the mother tongue of Spanish, French, Italian and English. Hmmm...as much as I wish English was a romance language to help me in my Spanish studies, I have always been taught that it is a Germanic language. I'm not sure why that particular mistake irritated me so much.
Anyway, lots of what bothered me about this book was a weird sense of hypocrisy in her writing. For example, she condemns the way tourists judge Spain without really getting to know it, but then she does the same thing. I realize she knows more about Spain than the average tourist, but she often writes sweeping genralizations about how Spanish people are, or makes huge logical leaps when talking about Spanish history. Also, she claims that Latin is the mother tongue of Spanish, French, Italian and English. Hmmm...as much as I wish English was a romance language to help me in my Spanish studies, I have always been taught that it is a Germanic language. I'm not sure why that particular mistake irritated me so much.
July 25, 2010
This is a wonderful travel memoir by the same author of [Turkish Reflections:] with history thrown in.
What I really liked about this book was that Ms Settle covered not only the beautiful cities, towns and countryside, and the cultural notes on the people she meets, but that she provides a good historical coverage of each city she visits. This is different from a generic look at the long history of Spain because she focuses on individuals that have shaped the history in each city and town. I thought this a delightful historical journey through Spain.
What I really liked about this book was that Ms Settle covered not only the beautiful cities, towns and countryside, and the cultural notes on the people she meets, but that she provides a good historical coverage of each city she visits. This is different from a generic look at the long history of Spain because she focuses on individuals that have shaped the history in each city and town. I thought this a delightful historical journey through Spain.
September 5, 2015
I actually didn't finish reading this book. I found the premise - repeated often - that she was NOT a tourist and not doing touristy things and just wandering where fate would take her etc. a little annoying Sometimes she will describe something she has read about in history relevant to a site she is visiting then at the end of the section she'll basically say "I can't remember where I read that and it wasn't mentioned in the museum". It's obviously not billed as a travel guide, so don't rely on this for accurate information, but it's rather interesting as a personal story.
December 7, 2009
82 year old mary settle rents her a car and takes off (by herself, she says it is the most opulent luxury there is). staying mostly south of madrid. she's a cool lady, i wish i cold have gone with her. travel book about spain.
February 10, 2009
Mary Lee Settle's novels bore me, but her travel and description works on Spain and Turkey are observant, interesting and wonderfully written.
August 29, 2011
Excellent book...I love how she sees Spain through the past.
November 27, 2011
Lots of historic information is packed into this book that explores Spain. Would have been better if I'd had a better grasp of Spanish history.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews