It's such a delight when a book surprises you. Who'd have thought
there was anything new to be said about Spain and the tale of Don
Quiote? Surely we know everything it's worth knowing about such a
familiar place and such a well-known story? But no - Miranda France
(a gift of a name for a travel writer) succeeds in intriguing us.
The glory of Don Quixot's Delusions is in the detail. The author
has the most astute eye. She makes the very ordinary and seemingly
mundane not just interesting, but fascinating and full of meaning.
Spain is out under a microscope. So, under France's guidance, we
sniff for the first time 'a marriage of hairspray and cologne'
which breezes down the city streets each night at eight, heralding
the start of the El Paseo, the ritual of the evening stroll. Such
minute observations are matched with amusing facts that I find
myself quoting often : Spaniards are the most sociable Europeans,
spending at least two and a half hours a day with friends. And did
you know that Spain has only slightly fewer bars than the rest of
the European Union put together? France's story is set in three
times - the early 17th century of Cervantes, author of Don Quixote,
the most translated book after the Bible; 1987, when France spent a
year as a student in Madrid; and the present day, when she returns
to Spain to find both Cervantes and her younger self. The three
eras meld beautifully, so we get a complete picture of a country
and its people through vast historical changes. This book shows
that fine travel writing dies not have to be about the distant and
exotic. It proves that a place we can be blase about may still make
the best story. Review by: DEA BIRKETT. Editor's note: DEA BIRKETT
is the author of Serpent in Paradise. (Kirkus UK)
A humorous and affectionate look at modern Spain, and a celebration
of the country's greatest book, from the pen of a brilliant young
writer. When in 1987 Miranda France spent a year living in Madrid,
the post-dictatorship ebullience was at its height. Pornography and
soft drugs were legalised alongside more basic freedoms, such as
divorce, party-affiliation and kissing in the street. In 1998 she
returned to make a journey through the great cities and towns of
central Spain - Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Salamanca and others. With
the new prosperity, much has changed. But much has also endured, as
she learns from the people she meets, who include a private
detective, a shepherd, various nuns, two belly dancers and a
Castilian separatist. She also discovers that Cervantes' DON
QUIXOTE' published in 1605 and the most translated book after the
Bible - is a work of genius which still helps to explain the
Spanish character: today's Spaniards still suffer from Don
Quixote's delusions, and are as stubborn, inflexible and
unrealistic as they have always been.
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