The Christmas / New Year holiday is so long in Spain, and the weather forecast for this year is so bad, that we need something to do indoors, other than watching end-to-end Christmas films and TV repeats.
How about reading a good book?
[The Guardian]
Here are The Culture Vulture's suggestions for a festive reading list in no particular order.
The writers are American, English, Irish, Norwegian, Ukrainian and two Spanish.
7 Up - Seven Books for Christmas 2025
"Reconciliacion" - The approved biography of Juan Carlos I
This biography of the former king of Spain, who abdicated suddenly in 2014 in favour of his son Felipe VI, was based on a lengthy interview with a French journalist.
The resulting book was released in France in French in November. It has since been translated into Spanish and was published in Spain on 5th December. I had pre-ordered a copy which now sits on my bedside table. I've started it and will probably finish it before New Year.
[Diario de Sevilla]
My early impression is that it is not convincingly truthful about JC's fall from grace.
"Volodymyr Zelenskii" by Serhii Rudenko
I literally got this two days ago, so haven't started it yet. Thankfully it's not in Ukrainian nor Russian, but Spanish.
It's a few years old, it was published in 2022, but should be interesting nevertheless.
Zelenskii trained as a lawyer, but never practised, preferring instead to become a comedian and actor.
A native Russian speaker, Zelenskii is a Jew.
I confess to liking the man. Anyone who stands up to the murderous Putin and the ego-centric Trump has to have our respect. I look forward to learning more about him from this "portrait".
[Google Play]
Federico Garcia Lorca's "Rural Trilogy"
The greatest Spanish poet and dramatist of the 20th century, Federico Garcia Lorca, was murdered at the behest of General Franco in 1936.
For being outspokenly anti-Franco or for being homosexual? Both, perhaps!
I love Lorca's trilogia rural - "Blood Wedding", "Yerma" and "La Casa de Bernarda Alba".
I studied Lorca at university and taught "Bernarda Alba" at A-Level.
[Paul Whitelock]
As a point of interest, one of my students back then in the mid-1970s was Andy Burnham, current mayor of Greater Manchester and former foreign secretary to Tony Blair. He got a grade "A" in Spanish and went to Cambridge to study ..... English!
"Doh!"
I've seen three live productions of "Bernarda Alba", the first with Glenda Jackson as the matriarch at The Lyric, Hammersmith, London.
The second in Stockton Heath, Warrington, starred my then wife, Jeryl Burgess, in the lead role.
The third time was in Ronda, where an amateur group managed an absolute disaster of a production. My now wife, Rita, knows a thing or two about the theatre, and that production still haunts her to this day!
I was proud to see my son Tom, a professional actor, play the role of Juan in "Yerma" at The Cervantes Theatre, London.
"As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning" by Laurie Lee
This is the first book about Spain that I ever read. I was just 19.
I couldn't put it down. It had a big impact on me and was instrumental in my decision to emigrate to Spain, although it took a while!
I first came across Laurie Lee while at university and anticipating my year abroad in Spain and Germany. In that year, 1969, Penguin published his book about his journey on foot across Spain in 1934.
The book tells of Lee’s walk from La Coruña to Málaga armed with very little but his fiddle. We learn of his adventures en route, the kindness of strangers, and we can smell the poetic descriptions of the food he samples. His trip is cut short by the onset of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and he is repatriated to the UK, only to return later to fight against Franco in the International Brigades.
[Paul Whitelock]
This masterpiece still rates as the best book about Spain that I’ve ever read, and I've read a few: "Driving over Lemons" (Chris Stewart), "A Castle in Spain" (Matthew Parris), "Duende" (Jason Webster), "The Road to Ronda" (Alastair Boyd), "The Spanish Labyrinth" (Gerald Brenan), "The Spanish Civil War" (Hugh Thomas).
"Casita 26" by Karethe Linaee
Born in Norway, Karethe Linaee lived in Paris, Los Angeles and Vancouver (Canada) before moving with her Mexican husband Jaime to Ronda a dozen years ago.
She used these experiences as the basis for her first book, Casita 26, which has been published in both English and Spanish.
[Paul Whitelock]
I know Karethe and Jaime well. I met them when they rented a flat from me to do a recce of the City of Dreams. Next thing, they bought the house next door, did it up and they still live there.
"The Luckless Girl" by Michael Coy
A former teacher, lawyer and barrister, Irishman Michael Coy moved to live in Ronda over 20 years ago.
A prize-winning amateur poet, in 2022 he published his first book, "The Luckless Girl", an epic poem based on a true story set in Italy.
I met Michael over 20 years ago and we became drinking buddies.
I attended his book launch at an open-air restaurant overlooking the Tajo, bought a copy of the book and Michael wrote a very nice dedication at the front.
"The Luckless Girl" is longer than "War and Peace" and I confess I haven't read it yet, but I'm sure it's good.
It sells steadily in a local bookshop in Ronda.
[Amazon]
"Death and the Sun" by Edward Lewine
The American journalist Edward Lewine fell in love with Spain during a holiday here.
He returned to spend time in Ronda where he travelled with the bullfighter Francisco Rivera Ordoñez and wrote "Death and the Sun" about his time with Fran, who is the elder son of Paquirri and grandson of Antonio Ordoñez Dominguin.
As a footnote, Orson Welles, the Hollywood actor, director and producer, was a huge fan of "los toros" and great friends with Ordoñez. Welles' ashes are scattered on the Ordoñez "ranch" near Ronda.
[Paul Whitelock]
Links:
BOOKS and WRITERS - Help me, Ronda
LOCAL AUTHORS - Help me, Ronda
© The Culture Vulture
Pictures:
Amazon, Diario de Sevilla, Google Play, Paul Whitelock, The Guardian
Thanks:
www.secretserrania.com, www.help-me-ronda.com
Tags:
"A Castle in Spain", Alastair Boyd, American, Andy Burnham, anti-Franco, "As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning", biography, "Blood Wedding", Cambridge, "Casita 26", Cervantes Theatre, Chris Stewart, "Driving over Lemons", "Duende", English, Federico Garcia Lorca, Felipe VI, festive reading list, fiddle, former foreign secretary, former king of Spain, General Franco, Gerald Brenan, Glenda Jackson, grade "A" in Spanish, homosexual, Hugh Thomas, International Brigades, Irish, Jason Webster, Jeryl Burgess, Juan Carlos I, Juan in "Yerma", Karethe Linaee, "La Casa de Bernarda Alba", La Coruña to Málaga, Laurie Lee, Matthew Parris, mayor of Greater Manchester, my son Tom, Norway, Norwegian, professional actor, "Reconciliacion", Ronda, "Rural Trilogy", The Culture Vulture, The Lyric Hammersmith, Tony Blair, Ukrainian, Serhii Rudenko, Spanish, Spanish Civil War, Stockton Heath, "The Road to Ronda", "The Spanish Civil War", "The Spanish Labyrinth", trilogia rural, Volodymyr Zelenskii, Warrington, "Yerma",