The Basque Country
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Review
"A terrific modern introduction to the Basque Country... succeeds in showing us the complexities of the Basque struggle for identity." -- The Irish Times
"An enthralling homage...deserves to rank as [the] companion of Julio Medem's film, The Basque Ball." -- Sunday Tribune
"Buy this book [even if] you have no intention of ever going but enjoy armchair exploration." -- The Dubliner
"Shrewd and affectionate...full of gems...a splendid portrait of a bewitching land." -- Financial Times
"Woodworth guides us [so that] you want to savour the uniqueness of the Basque country first-hand." -- Sunday Business Post
"An enthralling homage...deserves to rank as [the] companion of Julio Medem's film, The Basque Ball." -- Sunday Tribune
"Buy this book [even if] you have no intention of ever going but enjoy armchair exploration." -- The Dubliner
"Shrewd and affectionate...full of gems...a splendid portrait of a bewitching land." -- Financial Times
"Woodworth guides us [so that] you want to savour the uniqueness of the Basque country first-hand." -- Sunday Business Post
Synopsis
The Basque Country is a land of fascinating paradoxes and enigmas. Home to one of Europe's oldest people and most mysterious languages, with a living folklore rich in archaic rituals and dances, it also boasts a dynamic post-modern energy, with the reinvention of Bilbao creating a model for the twenty-first-century city of cultural services and information technologies. Hugging the elbow of the Bay of Biscay on both the French and Spanish sides of the Pyrenees, this small territory abounds in big contrasts, ranging from moist green valleys to semi-desert badlands, from snowy sierras to sandy beaches, from harsh industrial landscapes to bucolic beech woods. This often idyllic scenery is the stage for fierce political passions. Almost every aspect of the Basque Country generates passionate disagreement, even its precise location. Spanish and French centralism, often authoritarian and sometimes brutal, has met with resistance for two centuries. Most recently and notoriously ETA, a terrorist group with deep popular support, has engaged in a bloody 45-year conflict.But, many Basques consider themselves full French or Spanish citizens, and fear political and linguistic exclusion under Basque nationalist rule. Land of ancient and modern culture: Basque is a land of ancient and modern culture: Basque poets still compose spontaneous stanzas in public contests, but the region has also produced novelists like Pio Baroja and Bernardo Atxaga, sculptors like Chillida, painters like Zuluoaga, and cineastes like Julio Medem. Strange sports and fiestas: Rock-lifting, grass-scything, goose-decapitation - ancient agricultural practices generate a host of contests still common at fiestas, which also feature dancers costumed as horses, witches, and ancient deities. The guggenheim and gastronomy: It also boasts of the guggenheim and gastronomy: Bilbao's flagship museum may be the best building of the last century; its restaurant is one of thousands which produces some of the best meals in the world.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Cousin Jack
Format:Paperback
This very readable book surveys aspects of the present culture of the Basque Country on both sides of the Pyrenees, and examines how they've evolved, and how they might progress in the future. Cooking, sport, language, and music are among the subjects considered. All the personal anecdotes and accounts of festivities are relevant to the topic under discussion, lending more light on the bigger picture. Though not a travel guide as such, the book's narrative traverses the Basque Country, keying cultural observations to places (though the maps are fairly basic). In all, well presented and very thoroughly researched (with a 30 year gestation), it's a sound introduction.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everything you wanted to know about the Basques but were scared of asking.
19 Nov 2010
By R
Format:Paperback
Very good book. As the title above says, this is a very comprehensive guide to the Basques, setting todays country against a very complex historical past. It treads a careful path to portray as politically neutral observation of a people who (on every side of the equation) take an avid interest in their politics. Quite a feat.
Interwoven with this is a detailed knowledge of the place and the characters that have made the place what it is today. It is thus mostly not too heavy and has many interesting little sub-stories and character profiles. Having said this, towards the middle of the book you'll need to take the odd break to let your brain recover from the information overload of unbelievable political intricacies during and since the Franco period.
If you want a light read to take on holiday, this probably isn't it. It's what I bought it for (actually a holiday to the Basque country - also highly recommended!). Realistically, this is a tomb of information that will take quite a while to read and digest. So if you're buying it to research a potential holiday there, make sure you get it well in advance!
Hope this review's been of use to you.
Interwoven with this is a detailed knowledge of the place and the characters that have made the place what it is today. It is thus mostly not too heavy and has many interesting little sub-stories and character profiles. Having said this, towards the middle of the book you'll need to take the odd break to let your brain recover from the information overload of unbelievable political intricacies during and since the Franco period.
If you want a light read to take on holiday, this probably isn't it. It's what I bought it for (actually a holiday to the Basque country - also highly recommended!). Realistically, this is a tomb of information that will take quite a while to read and digest. So if you're buying it to research a potential holiday there, make sure you get it well in advance!
Hope this review's been of use to you.
By Blinky1104
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
After developing an interest in the Barque region through reading other fictional books I was keen to learn more about the history of the Basque region and its people. Aware that many books could be a little too heavy with facts, dates and people of historical note, I was looking for a book that would offer an introduction, to check if my interest went any further than that of the adventures of characters in other books. This book had mixed reviews with some saying offered everything they wnated to know and others suggesting that it was a touch flipent and at times direspectful to the true history of the region and people it was discussing. Having read it I can agree with both sides, the style in which it is written keeps the reading fairly light whilst still managing to touch on all topics I wanted to learn about. It is an enjoyable book to read and some of the recipes dotted throughout the book help to break it up. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the Basque region, but if your interest is at a level similar to mine you may find yourself soon reaching for something with a bit more depth to back up what you have read and learnt in this book.
By Snow Bear
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Somewhat meandering book that promises much, but I didn't care for the authors style and also felt that some crucial details particularly around the formation and mobilisation of the basque people was a shallow viewpoint. I also felt that he was far too disparaging of other authors works such as those of Kurlansky.
He successfully created the image of the basques as a strange curiosity rather than framing them within the appropriate historical context that they deserve.
He successfully created the image of the basques as a strange curiosity rather than framing them within the appropriate historical context that they deserve.
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