| | South From Granada |  | Author: Gerald Brenan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Category: Book
Buy Used: £4.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 3170614
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5.8 x 0.9
ISBN: 052128029X
Dewey Decimal Number: 946.81
EAN: 9780521280297
ASIN: 052128029X
Publication Date: September 30, 1980
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 A true taste of old Spain. June 26, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a true classic from Gerald Brenan. After WW1 the author was close to breakdown, desperate to experience poetry and literature and the recipient of a small war pension. His solution was to travel to a remote village in the South of Spain, take 2000 books and soak in the atmosphere and learn how to love once again. His journey is understated, educated, intelligent and human.
It is no picture book. It is a true snapshot taken through the eyes of a would-be Bloomsbury boy who had experienced the Empire, the Somme and physical illness and who then decided to actually pay attention to the world sarrounding him.
Brenans description of the personalities, geography, love affairs and society he encounters are glorious to me. There is no vanity or laziness in the writing. As his lifestyle is stripped to necessities so is his writing. Yet it is free and beautiful and evocative in many places. So many modern travel writers try to recreate life as a gaudy, filter-enhanced, postcard picture of the places they are subsidised to visit. Gerald Brenan captures a clear, gentle, colour snap of his life spent in Yegen during a period of time when black and white was all the camera could capture. Perhaps that is the reason it seems to have been so important for him to record it faithfully.
Visceral travel literature February 16, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I read this book before spending three weeks in Granada with the weekends in the Alpujarras. I have never been better prepared by a piece of fiction for a holiday. The prose is superb, and the stories are enticing. Naturally, excessive tourism has changed the areas that Brenan discusses, but the spirit of the book can still be seen. This book can bring some of the magic of the area to armchair readers, or is the perfect complement to an Andalucian break. Beats the Lonely Planet Guide any day of the week!
A thoroughly enjoyable read January 5, 2006
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book - As I'm going to the area, I thought I'll indulge in some light reading - It adds to the excitement. Once you start, it'll be difficult to put down.
Great book!!! March 15, 2004
4 out of 13 found this review helpful
Excellent book for those that are in academics, and also for recreation.
 South From Granada January 19, 2003
23 out of 29 found this review helpful
If you're looking for a travel guide of the Sierra Nevada, then this book isn't it. It's Gerald Brenan's account of his experiences of village life in the Alpujarra (near Granada) just after the 1st World War.
It is quite well written, and his descriptions of people, village life and intrigue are excellent. What he wrote about local food and customs is interesting, but which I found less compelling.
If you're visiting the area, then you should read this book to capture some of the atmosphere, which may still be found today, although perhaps not now quite as primitive as described by Brenan.
He also captures glimpses of the Spanish character, which he articulates well and which are very useful to anyone new to the area.
A rewarding read, which was enough to make us hire a car from Granada and go and see for ourselves - we were not disappointed.
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