Re: Books about Spain..
 

The Spanish Civil War by Antony Beevor. A very organised and formal summary of events. A bit heavy going at times, but very informative on key events.

A more lighthearted approach to that period of history: A Moment of War by Laurie Lee and As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee. Great descriptive writing.

For Spanish idiom, I loved In The Garlic as already mentioned, and also Street Spanish 1, 2, and 3 by David Burke.

Finca: Renovating an Old Farmhouse in Spain by Alec and Erna Fry. Exactly what it sounds like, with tons of useful information from people who actually did the work.

I found Chris Stewart’s Lemons, Parrot and Almond Blossom to be interesting and humorous books with a lot of background information on Spain. I’ll certainly be reading them again.

Re: Books about Spain..
 

Some personal favs for the english to enjoy. Sorry if some have been mentioned before. Being Spanish myself, you won't expect me to read the full 4 pages of the thread, will you? Here we go :)
Contemporary novel
Cabo Trafalgar,Arturo Perez Reverte. The Naval Battle from Spanish eyes. You can find it in English, named Cape Trafalgar. Check from the same writer the series El capitan Alatriste. If you like Sharpe, you will love them. Not sure if you can get translation, but there is a movie version with Viggo Mortensen.
Corazon tan blanco (A heart so white) and Negra espalda del tiempo (Dark back of time), by Javier Marias Beautifully written. The author was lecturer at Oxford University, where the second novel is set. You will appreciate England and the English from his perspective.
La sombra del viento (The shadow of the wind), by Carlos Ruiz-Zafon A worthy bestseller. Compulsive reading.
La catedral del Mar, Ildefonso Falcones. Set up in the medieval Barcelona
Los Santos Inocentes, Miguel Delibes.This is a tough novel. Rural aristocracy cruelty with servants. In the film version you will find my favourite Spanish actor: Francisco Rabal.
Cien anos de soledad - A hundred years of solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez The most read novel in Spanish. A modern classic. Looong gem.
Poetry
If you like Spanish language, you will love Lorca's Romancero Gitano and Machado's Campos de Castilla. Also, Neruda's Veinte canciones de amor y una cancion desesperada / twenty love songs and one despair song. Any good bookshop will find a bilingual version for you. If you don't like Spanish beforehand, you will love the language afterwards.
History
About Civil War, Hugh Thomas and Stanley G Payne are widely respected as classics in the subject. Both have their books in Spanish and English.
El Imperio y la leyenda negra, Jose Antonio Vaca de Osma, Debunking myths about Spanish black legend (Inquisition and American empire revisited I would say). I hope all of you with a good level of Spanish read it.
If you have children at school, check their history books, you can help them with the homeword and kill two birds with the same shot (or however you say that, you know what I mean)
Varia
Casas de Espana. Unfortunately I cannot remember the author. A book about the traditional houses on the different parts of Spain. Splendid photography. This is a big, coffee table book.
1080 recetas (1080 recipes), Simone Ortega. THE spanish cookbook. No fancy photos or modern cook, but everyday real traditional thing. The only cookbook that my mother consistently use. There is an excellent translation.
Hola and Telva Magazines. I have seen some of you are into Hola. Telva is a "Spanish" Vogue. More traditional, but my mum says that it shows "wearable" clothes, you know what I mean. A top women magazine. Madrid posh sort of thing.
El Pais, ABC, El Mundo Newspapers. Depending of your political view. El Pais if you like The Guardian, El Mundo for the independent folk. ABC, er, somewhere between Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph. All use excellent Spanish. El Mundo and El Pais have got good websites.

I would encourage all of you to listen radio (Ser, Onda Cero), read books and papers as the best way to increase vocabulary in a fun way. You will get a wealth of knowledge about Spain. And you can start bitching with the locals about the goverment, then. :eek: Hope this list helps

Re: Books about Spain..
 

[QUOTE=lee8;5748424]Ghost of Spain...QUOTE]

Oh good! Received this as a Christmas gift!

Thanks, toyboy! I've forgotten (yet again) about this one! I'll make a note of the others, too.

Regards,
Carol

Re: Books about Spain..
 

Hi Carol. Yes I like trees. But also, Olmos is my 2nd surname (Elm tree, isn't it)?
BTW, I have done my homework and I've read the full thread already, trust me:rofl:

Yes, same Machado (Antonio, his brother Manuel was also a poet, but with that name you can imagine, the quality was not the same) Here you have one of my favourites, with a nice translation to English http://www.cha.uga.edu/bjc/machado.htm
He was a good man with a sad life http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Machado

Funny idioms: you say "in for a penny, in for a pound" I say "from lost to the river" (Ya de perdidos, al rio). And lose the plot = lose the paperwork (perder los papeles)

I forgot to mention "Platero y yo" by Juan Ramon Jimenez. A man and his donkey.

Also, if you or your husband are into DIY/gardening, there is a nice program called Bricomania, sundays at 13.00 (Telecinco). You can learn the lingo there, just to impress the local ironmonger. The program is so good that King Juan Carlos is a DIY aficionado now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXYpZ...eature=related
LMAO
Regards,
Olmos

Re: Books about Spain..
 

Hola! Olmos,
No matter how many times it's explained to me, I always have to think which one of the two surnames in spanish is the maternal name and which one is from the father's side? For instance: Juan Ramon Jimenez Gonzalez. Ok, would Gonzalez be his mother's maiden name? However, if it were a woman's name, for example, Maria del Mar Montes Orozco, would Orozco be the name of her husband?:unsure: If she were single, would she also call herself after her mother's maiden name?
Thanks for the poem. In spanish, I believe the word "camino" has great importance or significance.
I also heard that "Platero y yo" is being made into a film, set in Moguer. Have you heard likewise?
As for idioms, they sometimes confuse me!:D
:rofl::rofl: "Borbonmania": I thought I was going to see the real man, complete with velvet slippers! Very good! I do laugh at the silliest things; I especially liked the bit when he shouts "AAaaray!" (something in the tone of his voice?) when giving advice (borbonconsejo;)) to take care with the jigsaw. And, is HM prone to stutter the word "heredero"? Or, is this an inside joke?
Regards,
Carol

Re: Books about Spain..
 

Bricomania sounds good. If you google it there’s a website.

Just to confuse even more, I thought the Spanish used ‘Camino’ like we use ‘Bloggs’, eg: That’s where Joe Bloggs buys his bread, would be (something like) aquí es donde Juan Camino compra su pan. :unsure:

Re: Books about Spain..
 

OK, I will try to explain you at the end of this post.
Indeed. I like some of that translation, but road is a no-no. Path for both (camino and sendero) would sound better. Camino has also that spiritual journey meaning, think Camino de Santiago, it is not only a road. You know what is Opus Dei, I suppose. Their book-guide, apart from the Gospels, is named "Camino". Poetry or humour translation is a work of art in itself. Think another Machado verse: "Yo voy soñando caminos de la tarde" "I go dreaming evening's paths"??. I am trying to do the other direction, translating "Under Milk Wood" to Spanish, and it is nice but a hell of a job,.

There is this old version. I watched it years ago in the telly. Best word to define: Cosy
http://www.dvdgo.com/product~catgid~...~refid~308.htm
I've never bought there, but Grupo Planeta should be a guarantee. About a new version, dunno. I am an expat myself to London from last summer, until next summer, just went Christmas to Spain and I am not keeping updated with cinema news there.
Yes he has some slight speech troubles. He is a Borbon, at the end of the day:rofl:


THE GUIRIS' GUIDE TO SPANISH SURNAMES
ANOTHER FREE GUIDE FROM B.E.TEAM

This explanation was enough to make understand the subject to an Irish bloke in a noisy pub. He was pissed, calling me "my cute Spanish señorita, your gorgeous spanish dark eyes..." all the time. Funny because I am 6 foot tall, blue eyes, male and haven't shaved myself since last September. So this guide works even in extreme situations.

I will divide the subject by parts, as Jack the Ripper used to say.

John Blair Brown marries Carol Thatcher Major.
They have one son, Michael Blair Thatcher.
And a daughter: Sally Blair Thatcher.

The portuguese system is difficult. But the spanish is, as you see, easy.

Carol will not change her surname when married. She will be Carol Thatcher Major all her life (passport, bank statement, driving license, etc). And she will usually be known as Carol Thatcher. With two exceptions: If the second name is uncommon, and the first very common, people will remember and use the second. Also, primary school classmates, because in the register teachers call them using the full name plus two surnames, they remember them forever.

Other question is this: Carol could be introduced to someone using this old fashioned way: I want to introduce you Carol Thatcher, Señora de Blair. A wedding invitation can arrive for John and Carol as "Blair y señora", or, if the invitation is for all the family, as "familia de Blair". Even my mother get some letters calling her Vda de Martinez. Vda = short for viuda (widow).

But, even if Carol married 10 times, her legal name will always be Carol Thatcher Major. That is why no Spanish ask ever for "mother's maiden name" as a secret question: it is the same.

This is it. You can ignore the next bits if don't feel like, they are just some "curiosities" about the subject:

With this system, female's surname is lost in two generations. If a couple have no sons, their surname will be lost. So, you can register first the mother's surname, and then the father's. But, by default, father's surname will go first.

Some (probably most) young married women prefer to don't be called as señora de (hubbie's surname). And then, sending an invitation to "familia de Blair-Thatcher, or Thatcher-Blair" in the example is absolutely correct. Nobody (apart from my sisters) will made a big deal of this if you get it wrong, though.

Portuguese system is weird. I THINK wifes take hubbies surnames, but children get as first surname the second of the father, and second surname the second of the maiden's mother surname, and they are known mostly for the second surname.

To make it funny, in Spain some people have a doble barrel sort of thing as just one surname. Used to be aristocratic, they will count as one surname. Then, you can have people known as Fernando Gonzalez de Cordoba y Rodriguez de los Monteros. Some people join their two surnames in the register, to make their children have both. They say that is because they don't want to lose the female's line of the family. But, as I mentioned, you can just swap surnames in the register. So, if anybody does that nowadays, is snobbism, to look old posh family, more than anything else. :rofl:

And then, as inverted snobbism, some old nobility are simplifying their surnames because "anybody can have them nowadays".:eek:

The funniest combination of surnames I've heard in Spanish is this:
Miguel Fuertes Gonzalez married Maria de Cabeza Garcia. They have a daughter, and their favourite christian name for girl was Dolores...so...

Regards,
Olmos

Re: Books about Spain..
 

I heard that one in the South, also, Pepito Perez.

Re: Books about Spain..
 

Dolores Fuertes de Cabeza! Phew! And don't I have one at this moment!:rofl: Thanks very much for the information.:thumbsup: It takes forever to sink in, however!
Pepito Perez, would he be related to Peter Piper?;)

Re: Books about Spain..
 

EXACTLY :D.
It makes sense, doesn't it.

Re: Books about Spain..
 

Just borrowed a book (in english) from the library: "The Lady in Blue" by Javier Sierra.