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Death And The Sun: A Matador's Season in the Heart of Spain – Following a Legendary Matador Through Ancient Ritual and the Weight of Family History
A brilliant observer in the tradition of Adam Gopnik and Paul Theroux, Edward Lewine reveals a Spain few outsiders have seen. There's nothing more Spanish than bullfighting, and nothing less like its stereotype. For matadors and aficionados, it is not a blood sport but an art, an ancient subculture steeped in ritual, machismo, and the feverish attentions of fans and the press.
Lewine explains Spain and the art of the bulls by spending a bullfighting season traveling Spanish highways with the celebrated matador Francisco Rivera Ordónez, following Fran, as he's known, through every region and social stratum. Fran's great-grandfather was a famous bullfighter and the inspiration for Hemingway's matador in The Sun Also Rises . Fran's father was also a star matador, until a bull took his life shortly before Fran's eleventh birthday.
Fran is blessed and haunted by his family history. Formerly a top performer himself, Fran's reputation has slipped, and as the season opens he feels intense pressure to live up to his legacy amid tabloid scrutiny in the wake of his separation from his wife, a duchess. But Fran perseveres through an eventful season of early triumph, serious injury, and an unlikely return to glory.
Lewine explains Spain and the art of the bulls by spending a bullfighting season traveling Spanish highways with the celebrated matador Francisco Rivera Ordónez, following Fran, as he's known, through every region and social stratum. Fran's great-grandfather was a famous bullfighter and the inspiration for Hemingway's matador in The Sun Also Rises . Fran's father was also a star matador, until a bull took his life shortly before Fran's eleventh birthday.
Fran is blessed and haunted by his family history. Formerly a top performer himself, Fran's reputation has slipped, and as the season opens he feels intense pressure to live up to his legacy amid tabloid scrutiny in the wake of his separation from his wife, a duchess. But Fran perseveres through an eventful season of early triumph, serious injury, and an unlikely return to glory.
- GenresNonfictionSpainSports
272 pages, Paperback
First published July 4, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 23, 2022
May 22, 2022 noon ~~ Review asap.
May 23, 6am ~~ As so many other reviewers have said, this book does not attempt to either justify or condemn bullfighting, merely to explain it. Author Lewine meets that goal in an interesting and informative manner as he travels throughout Spain during one season with matador Francisco Rivera Ordonez.
The reader is introduced to a country and a culture that he or she may never experience firsthand, and learns what life is like on the road during feria season in Spain. Matadors travel by car, sometimes driving hundreds of miles overnight to get to their next corrida. It is hard to imagine the endurance necessary to do this throughout the eight months of the bullfight season and still have the ability to face the bulls.
Ordonez is descended from famous matadors. His great-grandfather was the inspiration for Hemingway's main character in The Sun Also Rises. HIs grandfather and father were both superstars in their day, so Fran, as he is known, had a great deal to live up to in the eyes of the bullfight world. Was he talented enough to show that he too could be a legend?
I was fascinated by much of this book, but disappointed in Fran himself. He did not seem to me to have the desire to work at his craft, to learn the way I have read about other bullfighters doing. He did not seem to be very consistent or balanced with his skills. This part he was good at, other parts not so good. I know not every matador is able to be excellent at every phase of the procedure, but I also know that it is possible to improve, to train yourself to be better even if not perfect. I did not ever see this attitude in Fran.
I was impressed by the author's understanding of Spain and its culture, and the way he wrote about a subject that many people find distasteful. He was honest about what he saw during his time with Fran, even at the point where the matador and his crew began to feel that Lewine had become bad luck and refused to allow him to travel with them any further. I think they were just depressed over the poor performances and needed a scapegoat. Our author was the extra person along for the ride, so out he went.
Excellent book overall; and one I will read again.
May 23, 6am ~~ As so many other reviewers have said, this book does not attempt to either justify or condemn bullfighting, merely to explain it. Author Lewine meets that goal in an interesting and informative manner as he travels throughout Spain during one season with matador Francisco Rivera Ordonez.
The reader is introduced to a country and a culture that he or she may never experience firsthand, and learns what life is like on the road during feria season in Spain. Matadors travel by car, sometimes driving hundreds of miles overnight to get to their next corrida. It is hard to imagine the endurance necessary to do this throughout the eight months of the bullfight season and still have the ability to face the bulls.
Ordonez is descended from famous matadors. His great-grandfather was the inspiration for Hemingway's main character in The Sun Also Rises. HIs grandfather and father were both superstars in their day, so Fran, as he is known, had a great deal to live up to in the eyes of the bullfight world. Was he talented enough to show that he too could be a legend?
I was fascinated by much of this book, but disappointed in Fran himself. He did not seem to me to have the desire to work at his craft, to learn the way I have read about other bullfighters doing. He did not seem to be very consistent or balanced with his skills. This part he was good at, other parts not so good. I know not every matador is able to be excellent at every phase of the procedure, but I also know that it is possible to improve, to train yourself to be better even if not perfect. I did not ever see this attitude in Fran.
I was impressed by the author's understanding of Spain and its culture, and the way he wrote about a subject that many people find distasteful. He was honest about what he saw during his time with Fran, even at the point where the matador and his crew began to feel that Lewine had become bad luck and refused to allow him to travel with them any further. I think they were just depressed over the poor performances and needed a scapegoat. Our author was the extra person along for the ride, so out he went.
Excellent book overall; and one I will read again.
August 11, 2011
Fascinating, moving, beautifully written book. Even for a vegetarian Englishwoman who feels bad about swatting a fly. It doesn't matter what you feel about bullfighting; the book doesn't make you decide, you just get caught up in the human and artistic aspects of it all. Essential reading for any true hispanophile.
September 13, 2016
This was a truly absorbing book. A debt goes to Francisco Rivera Ordonez, as well, for allowing a writer to join his entourage.
Lewine gives us an appreciation for this art by taking us into the life not just any matador, but one who wears the mantle of his fathers.
We learn about how the crowds vary from city to city, how the bulls are bred and selected, the attitude of the "bull press", the history of the game. We learn how to appreciate the matador's movements and about the nature and of his entourage. We learn about costumes, the genteel way to buy scalped tickets and how to run with the bulls in Pomploma and much more.
Pictures would have been great, but the writing is so good they're not missed until the book is over. I went to Francisco's web site where there are lots of photos, small and unlabeled, but many you can figure out.
Through the writer's respect for the matador, and Fran in particular, the reader learns respect as well.
OLE!
Lewine gives us an appreciation for this art by taking us into the life not just any matador, but one who wears the mantle of his fathers.
We learn about how the crowds vary from city to city, how the bulls are bred and selected, the attitude of the "bull press", the history of the game. We learn how to appreciate the matador's movements and about the nature and of his entourage. We learn about costumes, the genteel way to buy scalped tickets and how to run with the bulls in Pomploma and much more.
Pictures would have been great, but the writing is so good they're not missed until the book is over. I went to Francisco's web site where there are lots of photos, small and unlabeled, but many you can figure out.
Through the writer's respect for the matador, and Fran in particular, the reader learns respect as well.
OLE!
June 12, 2018
Author Edward Lewine follows Francisco Romero Ordóñez on the bullfighting circuit from the famous rings in Seville, Madrid and Bilbao to dusty little towns that put on only a couple of corridas a year during the local Féria. In Spain, bullfighting is regarded as an art, not a sport. There is no betting, no truly objective way to judge a good performance from a bad one, and reviewers may also review music, theater or dance performances. And, as with other artistic careers, it’s devilishly difficult to make a living. Many aspire to the profession, but only a few major stars make real money. It’s certainly not a contest because if all goes well the bull will certainly die. But the matador certainly risks death. In fact, Fran’s father died in the bullring when he was only ten. At its best, proponents claim the bull and the matador perform a kind of dance of death together in the ring. It’s a quintessentially Spanish art, although the Spanish matadors also fight in rings in southern France and Mexico. I’m really glad to have read this book, because I’ve learned to appreciate a tradition that has shaped Spanish culture. But it’s left me with less and less interest in seeing a fight myself. I remain somewhat agnostic about claims from animal rights advocates that bullfights should be banned on the grounds of cruelty to animals. Those of us who eat meat should recognize that, with the exception of the day of their death, the bulls lead longer and better lives than animals raised for meat. But I have watched some of the You Tube videos which predictably focus on goring and prey on our desire to see blood and gore. Not an appeal to the better angels of our nature. Even those that show the art of the performance do seem to be pitting the superior mind of the matador seeking to dominate a dumb animal who is destined to lose.
June 28, 2019
A lot of depth goes into the art of bullfighting. Packing a more absorbing stab at it than our man Hemingway. Although his books will remain classics.
This book is very well written, the sun shines bright over this piece on bullfighting and the art behind it.
This book is very well written, the sun shines bright over this piece on bullfighting and the art behind it.
March 3, 2017
I still would never attend a bullfight, but after reading this book, I can say I understand its place in Spanish culture.
August 22, 2011
I am not that interested in bullfighting per se but Edward Lewine gives us a compelling narrative about one season in the life of a prominent Spanish bullfighter. I enjoyed this book immensely--a look at a very particular way of life, with its own rituals and customs. Great reporting and a marvelous story.
January 5, 2011
Excellent book. It was a very straight forward way to look at the culture of Bullfighting. It does not support ot condone it in my opinion but let's me decide about it. While I feel that it is art I'm not sure it is for me. I hope I get more chances to continue to develope my understanding.
July 29, 2013
Reminds me of all the glorious contradictions that make me miss Spain everyday.
January 7, 2014
Great books! I visited Spain and become obsessed with the life of matadors and this family. A true depiction of the travels of a matador.
May 12, 2013
A great insight to the sport/art of Bullfighting.
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October 4, 20172008-02 - Death and the Sun: A Matador's Season in the Heart of Spain by Edward Lewine.2005. 272 pages.
The topic of this book is controversial, bullfighting. Many people abhor it and others are simply fascinated or love it. This book will not convince you to change your position from either camp, but then again it was not meant to. This books purpose is to serve as an introduction into the sport/art of the bullfight.
The author lays it all out for the reader to make their own informed choices. The path way to entry is through the experience of a single matador. The matador chosen is not a bottom rung matador and he is not a top rung matador he is your average working matador. The choice is a good one and it is literary inspired as the matador is a fourth generation bullfighter whose ancestors were influential in inspiring Hemingway to write of the bullring and thus introduce the sport to a wider American audience.
The author does an excellent job of teaching the reader about the bulls, their breeding, the types, the evolution of the bull and the mythology behind the bull. The author does a masterful job of breaking down a day at the bullring into its many parts which make up the whole. Most of this knowledge is unknown on those who are not in cultural tune with the culture of the bulls. This knowledge makes it easier to understand what you are seeing and why. It does open the art of the bullfight and allows the viewer in.
The author also allows us to see behind the scenes into the lives and struggles of a matador and his crew. The difficulty and flavor of every city and its crowds. The author is a journalist and as such he presents the information objectively even though he is embedded with the matador and his crew. But the writing is well constructed and flows well from topic to topic making this a very easy and good read. It is hard to read bullfight aficionados or purists as they tend towards using only the Spanish terms which can confuse an English speaking reader. The author here presents the terms and defines them but routinely uses the more familiar, if not perhaps as precise, English terminology. What you lose in nuance you gain from entry. I read this book in two sitting being drawn into the text and the imagery of the written word. Though a travelogue in many ways it reads like a well written page-turner of a novel. Storytelling remained a priority.
Bullfighting is perhaps the only sport/art in which the individual is not judged on how well they move but rather on how well they stand. It is our only real link back to the ancient Roman world where man was pitted against beast. It is in some ways even more ingrained in the pre-historic world where man hunted and matched wits with beasts for food and survival. There is something of poetry in this primeval dance. Should the bullfight be legislated out of existence the bulls may delight but it would be a serious long festering sore, as if from a goring itself, on the cultures in which it is commonly practiced.
Yes, I have been to the bullring. Yes, I enjoyed it immensely. I enjoyed it for reasons that are very difficult to put into words. I have tried but how can you describe the tension and the smells? How can you describe something that touches and pricks deep in your soul? The poets have tried with love for eons and yet they come up short.
The topic of this book is controversial, bullfighting. Many people abhor it and others are simply fascinated or love it. This book will not convince you to change your position from either camp, but then again it was not meant to. This books purpose is to serve as an introduction into the sport/art of the bullfight.
The author lays it all out for the reader to make their own informed choices. The path way to entry is through the experience of a single matador. The matador chosen is not a bottom rung matador and he is not a top rung matador he is your average working matador. The choice is a good one and it is literary inspired as the matador is a fourth generation bullfighter whose ancestors were influential in inspiring Hemingway to write of the bullring and thus introduce the sport to a wider American audience.
The author does an excellent job of teaching the reader about the bulls, their breeding, the types, the evolution of the bull and the mythology behind the bull. The author does a masterful job of breaking down a day at the bullring into its many parts which make up the whole. Most of this knowledge is unknown on those who are not in cultural tune with the culture of the bulls. This knowledge makes it easier to understand what you are seeing and why. It does open the art of the bullfight and allows the viewer in.
The author also allows us to see behind the scenes into the lives and struggles of a matador and his crew. The difficulty and flavor of every city and its crowds. The author is a journalist and as such he presents the information objectively even though he is embedded with the matador and his crew. But the writing is well constructed and flows well from topic to topic making this a very easy and good read. It is hard to read bullfight aficionados or purists as they tend towards using only the Spanish terms which can confuse an English speaking reader. The author here presents the terms and defines them but routinely uses the more familiar, if not perhaps as precise, English terminology. What you lose in nuance you gain from entry. I read this book in two sitting being drawn into the text and the imagery of the written word. Though a travelogue in many ways it reads like a well written page-turner of a novel. Storytelling remained a priority.
Bullfighting is perhaps the only sport/art in which the individual is not judged on how well they move but rather on how well they stand. It is our only real link back to the ancient Roman world where man was pitted against beast. It is in some ways even more ingrained in the pre-historic world where man hunted and matched wits with beasts for food and survival. There is something of poetry in this primeval dance. Should the bullfight be legislated out of existence the bulls may delight but it would be a serious long festering sore, as if from a goring itself, on the cultures in which it is commonly practiced.
Yes, I have been to the bullring. Yes, I enjoyed it immensely. I enjoyed it for reasons that are very difficult to put into words. I have tried but how can you describe the tension and the smells? How can you describe something that touches and pricks deep in your soul? The poets have tried with love for eons and yet they come up short.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews