Everything Passes, Everything Remains: Freewheelin' Through Spain, Song and Memory

by Chris Dolan

How would any of us feel if we could meet our teenage selves, a ghost on the road?

Everything Passes, Everything Remains is a confluence of journeys, made by Chris Dolan, his friends, and writers before him. It’s a bit about cycling, a bit about walking, and a bit about buses. It’s a kind of travelogue, over time, and through some lesser-known parts of Spain. It’s an obsession with Spain’s writers and its history, from the Inquisition to the Civil War to the questions it faces as a country today. What makes a nation, or a family for that matter, or a group of friends? In many ways it’s as much about Scotland and the UK as Spain.

But mostly it’s about growing up and growing older – how the past plays merry hell with the present. About friendship, loss, music, writing. And it’s about memory, and the tricks it plays.

Genres: Travel

295 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 5, 2020

Reviews

[Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself dipping in and out of this book. A pleasant read from start to finish but a lot of references went over my head, more due to an uneven onslaught than lack of knowledge or interest. Literally, and metaphorically, Dolan and his pals peddle through tales of their past and their surroundings. The momentum drew me in, the tarmac felt close and the stories seemed sincere and familiar. But sometimes they rode off without the reader in meandering thoughts with little context. And of course sometimes conflicting - ie suggesting that the Tory-leaning people of the Scottish Borders are all Brexit/anti-independence voters! I would certainly enjoy a dram and a jabber with Dolan. As for ‘Everything Passes, Everything Remains’, it piqued my interested rather than left me enamored to read more.

[David Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was not the book I was expecting: It was considerably better. More memoir than travelogue, it is a delightful combination. Evocative about Spain, it wends a thoroughly enjoyable path through history, literature, culture, Spain, memory, sport, song, politics and other topics. The central part of the book is indeed an account of the coast to coast cycle of Spain. In it the author meets, and introduces us to a host of fascinating characters from his own past and present, as well as from history.

This is a rich and enticing book, which I greatly enjoyed. It is more at the W.G. Sebald's The Rings Of Saturn end of travelogue writing, but not as heavy-going as that book. Despite the meanderings of thoughts, however, it still left me yearning for Spain.

[Ian Macgregor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Self absorbed. Boring. Did not finish it.

[Rab Devlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretentious- did not finish

[Ian Howells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written. I now want to cycle across Spain

[Robin Cunninghame Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, all the more so as I followed the blog and met them one evening for a chilled glass of Rueda. Though one does not need a passion for Laurie Lee, one does need a love of Spain and to enjoy the accidental meeting of real characters who exemplify the variety of folk who live in the various parts of this beautiful country.