No comments about The Basque Country: A Cultural History (Landscapes of the Imagination).

5 comments about The Ice Museum: In Search of the Lost Land of Thule.

1. This book is kind of cool. It's quite a bizarre book, and I wasn't sure when I started. But it's really moving in the end. It starts in Scotland and then moves around the North, traveling up to Iceland, Norway, Spitzbergen and Greneland. The bits about Greenland are just amazing - the author really describes it all so you feel you;re looking at a series of pictures. I thought the story she tells is very tragic indeed, about the wrecking of the north, the way it was destroyed in wars, by nuclear accidents, mass tourism, and now global warming. There aren't enough books about global warming that really take you to the places and show you what we stand to lose. I was left feeling very sad and as if we have left things too late. But at the end she says, don't give up, we have to keep on going, and there are people who are trying, adn there's a history of dreams. Like, we mustn't stop dreaming just because everything is getting so dark and shattered. It's such a good, unusual book. Highly recommended



2. To the ancients Thule was considered a lost icy Eden of strange beauty, fueling the imagination of poets, explorers and now writer Joanna Kavenna, whose journey in search of the legendary Thule is documented in THE ICE MUSEUM: IN SEARCH OF THE LOST LAND OF THULE. Kavenna's journey brought her in touch with others under the same spell, from past evidence of prior seekers to contemporaries. Her journey also uncovered a host of frozen relics of the cold war - and it reads with all the 'you are there' drama of a diary and an investigative research piece. Any interested in true adventure will find her odyssey hard to put down.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



3. In the fourth century BC, the Greek merchant and explorer Pytheas (~380-~310 BC) traveled north through the North Sea, and finally ended up at a distant island, which he called Thule. Thule lies far to the north, on the edge of the Arctic ice, where the sun never set during midsummer. Many centuries later, Joanna Kavenna, a native of London, found herself dreaming of an untouched northern landscape, glittering in its perpetual ice. And so, she set out to find Thule...this is the story of her search.
   
   In this interesting book, the author does a good job of combining two different stories into one narrative. First and foremost, it is the story of Ms. Kavenna's visits to the northern lands that could have been Thule - the Shetland Islands, Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Svalbard. Secondly, this is the story of the idea of Thule, from Pytheas's history and its ancient detractors, through the Romantics, the Victorians and even the Nazis.
   
   Overall, I found this to be quite an interesting book. The author is not an archaeologist, so you will not find any startling information on the ancient north. And she is also not an environmentalist, so while the tale of pollution of the north is described, it is far from being an important part of the book. Instead, what you have is the story of Thule, Thule as it was dreamed of in the past, and Thule as it exists today.



4. I'll admit I was resistant to this book at first - I guess I expected a more scholarly, weighty approach, rather than Kavenna's very personal picaresque - but she won me over quickly with her elegant, lyric prose, her disarming, understated persona, and her expert blending of travel narrative and history of ideas, literature and exploration. She begins by visiting all the places that have been considered possible locations of Thule, the Shetland Islands, Iceland, Norway, Estonia, advancing northward, capturing what she sees as she smoothly explicates what other travelers have said about those places as Thule, and also examining the turbulent history of Arctic exploration at large.
   
   To me, the strongest section of the book is when Kavenna grapples with the most hateful mannifestation of the Thule ideal - its expropriation by the Nazis as pristine mythico-historical homeland where snow white Aryan purity reigned. The Thule Society was one of many esoteric/political organizations that flourished in Europe, and one of the handful that served as an early focus and gathering place for what was to become the Nazi party. This confluence of modernist and fascist elements is as troubling as it is seemingly inevitable, and Kavenna approaches this treacherous territory with the proper measure of fascination and abhorrence.
   
   Although Kavenna is very astute in her explication of the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun's big botch, his championing of the Germans, her brief precis of his work is the one place where I found The Ice Museum demonstrably off the mark:
   
   "He became nostalgic and impatient; he lurched away from the city, writing nothing but rustic romances laced with sentimentality, tales of robust hunting men of few words, clumsy in elegant company, chasing the daughters of the local merchants through the vibrant forests. They lived in huts like mine, they wore big boots, they knew nothing of manners and conventions; they were tormented brutes, aware that society judged them. They were good a whittling wood, and occasionally sheer frustration at their failure to ensnare a local beauty led them to a melodramatic act. One of the rustic hut-dwellers shot himself in the foot one morning because the beautiful daughter of the local businessman wouldn't talk to him."
   
   It's hard to believe that Kavenna is old enough to have actually read the books and then forgotten so much about them. Anyone who has looked at Pan, the book she references, knows that it was in fact an early work and that its protagonist/narrator Lieutenant Glahn is no child of the land but, obviously an ex-army officer, which indicates social status, an extremely educated and articulate gentleman who chooses to live in a hut out of love of nature and a rejection of human society. And to say he shoots himself in the foot because Edvarda won't talk to him is criminal reductionism. Even August the old wandering protagonist of several of Hamsun's later works, although he does work odd jobs and pine over various beautiful daughters, is not an inarticulate brute, but an drop out from civilization, intent on living a life without ambition. There are a few books like Growth of the Soil which revolve around plain folk without the addition of a neurotic dreamer but they are very few, and Hamsun never loses the complexity of his vision.
   
   I only wish she had at least glanced at Hamsun again before she wrote those words, but the "brute" idea fits so neatly with her arguments about the lure of fascism that she no doubt wanted it to be true. The other sad thing is that so few people are familiar with Hamsun that no editor called her on it before publication and so few people will know that it is utter bunk.
   
   BUT otherwise I enjoyed the book. I worried as I neared the end because, like most picaresques, there's no natural ending that isn't an anti-climax. Unlike William Broad's The Oracle, Kavenna isn't going to "solve the mystery." But she accomplishes closure elegantly, describing her visit to the island of Svalbard, a place nobody thought was Thule, but which is icy and cold enough to be truly Thulean. Here she finds scientists charting the climate changes which have already meant great changes to the arctic regions and may yet be the end of Thule, if not all of mankind.
   
   Throughout Kavenna is able to give a provocative depth to her breezy travel narrative, and I highly recommend it as an entertaining, informative read - perfect for the coming winter.



5. This is not an adventure, travelogue or history, but at one time or other it is all three or some combination of the three. In the 4th century BCE Greek explorer Pytheas claimed to found "Thule" (pronounced Two-Lay), a land 'where the sun goes to sleep and the ocean turns viscous'. He did so by sailing northeast from Scotland for six days. From his account, since lost, it was a land of short winter days and long nights, came an entire mythology of a magical, northern realm hidden beyond the edges of civilization.
   
   Kavenna's book is a recollection of anecdotes and brief historical explanation of the search for the Mythical Thule from the time of Pytheas up to the present. She travels to the most logical places such as the Shetland Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Estonia (don't ask just read) and Svarlbard (aka Spitzbergen). What is strange is that she passes on the Faroe Islands who sit in a perfect spot. Interspersed throughout the book are poems that relate to Thule.
   
   She does a grand detour and ends up in Germany, discussing the origin of the National Socialist (Nazi) under the name of the "Thule Society". They were the first group in post WWI Germany to avow that the ancient Germanic tribes (Aryan) came from "Thule" and that this group was the most 'pure' of all Germans. Some of the founding members of The National Socialist Party (which later merged with the German Workers Party to become the National Socialist German Workers Party, i.e. Nazi Party) were claimed as having been participants in this group.
   
   Mostly, we learn that the 'North' is in trouble and that there is a major affect on the snow- and icescape by global warming. Especially poignant is her description of the way the Greenland Inuit have descended into a life of boredom, welfare, paternalism and alcoholism at the hands of the Danes. Her visit to Iceland is more of a travelogue and seems to miss the affect of alcoholism and drugs on that culture.
   
   The book is really a voyage of discovery for Kavenna, and this is like a diary from which we are invited to read...some of it reminds me of the writings of Jack Kerouac in that it steam-of-thought and run on. It's an interesting read.

2 comments about Monet's House: An Impressionist Interior.

1. The impressionist master,Monet's home represents a palette of vibrant color harmonies, and light fused into a radiant home of personal warmth and beauty. A perfect setting for the lush gardens flourishing outside. A full view of the rooms, that made Monet's house truly an artists abode with its elegant, yet simple furnishings.



2. I ordered the copy of Monets house and inadvertently entered the wrong address. The shipper kept me updated and sent me the book as soon as the post office returned it to them. I was very impressed with the service of the bookseller.

5 comments about On Foot to the Golden Horn: A Walk to Istanbul.

1. The tale of three (and later just two) British friends who walk from Gdansk, Poland, to Istanbul, Turkey, Goodwin's writing is crisp and vivid with detail and excellent metaphors; his sense of humor and self-deprecation also shine through. This book shines best in its description of the people and places Goodwin meets on the road; you feel as though you are there. His descriptions of the failings of Eastern European cigarettes are reason enough to read the book.

   The book is also fascinating in Goodwin's capture of a pivotal period (just after the fall of the Iron Curtain), and he reveals a fascinating landscape that goes beyond the "now you've got democracy, eveything's better" to show people who are scared by the West, unfamiliar with democracy, and cynical about change.

   The momentum Goodwin builds in his masterful narrative of adventures with strangers, friendships made and broken, towns described, etc., is regularly hobbled by his lengthy discussions of local history; though informative and well-written, these historical essays seem ponderous when injected in the middle of his intriguing road stories, and therefore, seem out-of-place.

   And those looking for a book on adventures in Turkey and Istanbul should be warned that very little of the book occurs on the Golden Horn; most of the book is dedicated to Poland and Transylvania. This was my only other disappointment; after thousands of miles across Eastern Europe, filled with vivid description, Goodwin steps into Turkey and then the book is over, giving you the impression that he was anxious to get the manuscript to the editor.

   But overall, this is an excellent road book, and Goodwin is a real talent. I found him very endearing, and I am wondering if he and his co-walker/girlfriend, Kate, are still together! I'd love to get in touch with Goodwin.




2. While reading this book I had three major difficulties: author's disturbing attitude towards Romanians, his way of treating history, and his unnecassarily sophisticated vocabulary.

   According to the author, Romanians do not deserve to be called humans while all Hungarians are, without exception, angels. When you finish reading the chapter on Romania you are filled with a desire to take the country from their hands and give it back to its rightful owners. But then, you remember how history was made in 18th thru 20th centuries and you appreciate that Romanians can also have aspirations. They just don't have the means to realize them.

   Second hurdle was author's way of treating history as a combination of hearsay and oversimplifications. Simplifying history might be a good idea to instill curiosity in a little kid but when it comes to us grown-ups, we need a little more than that. Let me give you an example. On page 243, it is said that Khazars were divided into two groups: black and white. So far so good. But there is a big problem with the interpretation. You are made to believe that these two colors were used to differentiate between people's skin color. Wrong! Anyone who knows a little about ancient Turkish history knows that Turks used colors to designate geographical locations. For instance, they called the Mediterranean as 'Akdeniz' (White Sea). Because 'ak' (white) stands for west and Mediterranean lies to the west of where Turks used to live. Likewise, The Black Sea is called Karadeniz because 'kara' (black) designates north of Anatolia and Caucasia where Turks were living when they named the sea. So Jason [I am Turkish and can you read my last name?], you miserably failed!

   Last but not least of all, the author uses an annoyingly sophisticated language. At times this breaks your concentration and turns your reading experience into a torture.

   To summarize: I made a mistake and wasted my time and money; you don't have to repeat the same mistake.




3. There is no doubt that Goodwin's walk must have been an interesting. Walking the length of Eastern Europe in early 1990 must have been a daring and exhillarating experience.

   However, it is perhaps because of the high expectations that I had for this book that I was so thoroughly dissapointed by it. Having read much about the Balkans in particular, and having lived and traveled extensively throughout the region, I was rather dissapointed in Goodwin's approach. Very early in the book, one notices how Goodwin sees all the countries he walks through with a very Northern European viewpoint.

   Despite his implicit acknowledgement that he really has not spent much time with Romanians, Goodwin is quick to denounce the nation's claims to Transylvania and everything else. Goodwin makes it clear that in his view, Romanians are the scum of the earth -- a people without culture, class, or civilization. Staying throughout with Hungarians and Saxons, Goodwin makes very little effort to interact with Romanians, and thus shows the prejudices of his hosts in his writing. Even in the titles of his chapters, he uses Hungarian and German names -- names not commonly used anymore -- instead of Romanian names for various towns he visits. Most disturbing is Goodwin's complete disregard for Romania's third great region, Moldavia -- a region many consider to be the cultural heart of Romania; a land of immesnse beauty, world-class wine, and hospitable -- Romanian -- people. While Goodwin understandably did not make a detour in this region, his utter contempt for Romanians -- blaming the people themselves for the brutality of Ceausescu -- is reprehensible.

   This book had a lot of potential, and could have been a wonderful read. However, it is clear from reading it that Goodwin made his journey with a closed and prejudiced mind -- something that denied both him and the reader a true picture of a very rich and beautiful region. The one reedeeming factor is that despite all his biases, Goodwin's descriptive powers are immense. Many of the spots where both he and I stood are depicted with great authenticity in the book. All in all, a book worth reading -- albeit with a large grain of salt.




4. In this day and age when everything has been discovered, and every person on this small world has been touched by the conquests of another country or the speed of technology, there comes a long the travel log of Jason Goodwin.

   The written details are enough to put you on the path with Goodwin and his two close friends. From the lands they visit, to the hardships they encounter, you really feel as if you're on the path to Instanbul with them! And yet somehow, he still has room to focus on the people of these regions, during a hard and confusing time in eastern Europe. While people struggle to find their identites and find the freedoms they may have missed, these three British travelers are welcomed in to their homes and barns, as if they were long lost friends. Goodwin notes all aspects of these people they visit, and doesn't sugar coat a thing!

   The sheer amazement of walking from Poland to Turkey, in a time when they could easily fly over it without so much of a glance or concern, truely opens the history of the iron curtain to all of us.

   Again, these countries Goodwin and his companions walked through, no longer exsist as he saw them. But with this novel, the split second time of change for the Eastern Block, is immortalized.




5. Jason Goodwin has produced a wonderfully inventive travel book, one in which Istanbul is the ultimate goal. Wanting to have some sort of experience of what was it was like to visit such a distant goal in the past, as well as to tour Central Europe, he and two friends walk there! They journey on foot (only very rarely accepting short rides) from the northern Polish port city of Gdansk all the way through the rest of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria into Turkey. An incredible journey, he describes it vividly, with worries about bandits, wolves, bears, the weather, hostile customs officials, dogs, and most of all finding food and a place to sleep at night. They meet an interesting and diverse group of people along the road, many of whom befriend them, taking them into their homes, sharing part of their lives with the travelers.

   Perhaps somewhat dated, published as it was in the early 1990s, Goodwin does provide an interesting portrait of Central Europe. The book spends quite a bit of time in Poland, a land shaped by the rise and fall of empires, shaped by the northern crusades of the Teutonic Knights, the Hanseatic League, of various powers that had over the centuries coveted and eventually gobbled sections or all of Poland, the broad flat plains of the country providing little obstacle to invading armies. Indeed Goodwin finds that the Poles often go to great pains to make it clear that they are distinctly Polish; though often that is simply making it clear that they are not German. As part of the country was once part of Germany, their concern is perhaps understandable.

   Though Goodwin's journey never takes him into Germany, he often encountered German cultural influence and odd outposts of Germans, even well into Romania. German settlers had been invited by many rulers in Central Europe, and for centuries German merchants, craftsmen, and guilds dominated town life, the towns in essence becoming German, the main language in Gdansk or Cracow or Buda German. Many of these Germans though Goodwin finds have left, those few remaining either thinking of leaving, stubbornly clinging to old ways in isolated Saxon settlements, or slowly assimilating with the larger majority.

   Hungary Goodwin finds is seemingly more stable and prosperous than the others he went through on his trip, particularly when contrasted with Romania. Though a third the size of Poland, its people took pride in regional names and differences, making the country seem larger than it was. One area that was interesting was Silvasvarod, noted for the famed Lippizaner horses it supplies to the Viennese Riding School.
   
   Much of the book is spent in Romania, particularly in the region of Transylvania, an area once part of Hungary, its loss still keenly felt by many in Hungary as well as the substantial Hungarian minority in Transylvania itself. Goodwin found a number of people who held strong opinions on the matter, and it appears to remain a bone of contention with many. The only undisputed inhabitants of Transylvania are the once nomadic Szekely, Hungarian speakers, though not Hungarian. Famed for fighting on horseback, noted for their light cavalry even after they ended their nomadic ways, once proudly cherished by the Hungarians as defenders of the realm, they are still found in eastern Transylvania, a region known as Szekelyfold, where Goodwin observed their nearly pagan "totem poles" that marked graves and the massive palisade gates they erect at the entrance to their farms.

   Gypsies Goodwin found played a major role in the life and economy of Central Europe, particularly in Romania. Sometimes feared (many warned Goodwin that they were thieves and cutthroats), sometimes hated (they were very poorly treated by Ceausescu in Romania), sometimes even admired (Goodwin did find some who pointed out that they fulfilled a vital economic function in many areas), he found them more diverse and interesting than he imagined, a people who are not tied down to cities and have more in common with their ancestral Indian homeland than Europe.

   Goodwin did not like Romania, feeling it more like the Third World than Europe. He found it a land that had suffered greatly under Ceausescu, his legacy still looming large in everyday life. Romania seemed alone in Central Europe in lagging behind economically and in pursuing democracy, even in basic services. Goodwin visited an orphanage in Romania, making for heartbreaking reading, children barely cared for, virtually unable to speak as they haven't had enough human contact, having to be shown how to play with toys! What disgusted Goodwin the most though was the "gang mentality of ordinary Romanians," how the days of mob rule from the past still existed, present everywhere from the unfriendly "leering beer-garden swillers" that were present in many Romanian bars to the rioting peasant farmers that had recently fought ugly street battles in Tirgu Mures. When leaving Romania, Goodwin suffers from food poisoning, the poison of which he compares to his trip through the country, which had been administered "from the moment we crossed its border," beginning in the border town of Oradea, where the "first black depression" settled upon him, abating only upon leaving.

   Goodwin was glad to enter Bulgaria, a land he found far different, a land perhaps of opposites. Country homes he found were often surrounded by trash, rather than extremely clean as they were often elsewhere in Central Europe, a holdover from traditions of not displaying wealth to Turkish overlords. In Bulgaria they nodded to show no, shook their heads to say yes, again legacies of confusing Ottoman rule perhaps. Drier and emptier than any of the previous lands, Goodwin was glad to enter it; clearly feeling his next stop was in Istanbul.

   If I had any complaint to offer about the book, it was that we never get to see Istanbul; the book is all about the journey, and really about Central Europe. Having said that though, it was still great to read.

5 comments about Chasing Churchill: The Travels of Winston Churchill.

1. Ah, for the travelling life of the famous! When you read this book by Churchill's granddaughter, you get an intimate portrait of what an entourage WSC had when he went anywhere. There were private planes or yachts, villas or really up-scale hotels provided to him gratis, and a tremendous retinue of extra people to care for him. This seemed to happen even before he became world famous, and continued until his death. I don't ever want to take away the tremendous contributions he made to the peace and security of the world, but he certainly travelled like an Oriental despot! The book details his travels all over the world, and his many trips to America, both before, during and after WWII. If only the rest of us mere mortals could live in this extravagant lifestyle! This is a side of the great man's life that one rarely comes across in the many biographies of him, but it does tend to round out the picture of his life. While there are no new and startling revelations in the book, it is written in a breezy, easy reading style, and was quite enjoyable. As a granddaughter, the author tends to overlook a lot of WSC's faults, but who can blame her? We would all do that for our own family members, given the chance.



2. Celia Sandys does a terrific job detailing and following in the wandering footsteps of her incredible grandad! Starting with a trip through the Mediterranean with Onassis, and the ever-complaining opera-singer Maria Callas, when the author was about 14, and witnessing luxury on an incredible scale, even for such a famous family (i.e the Churchills). Then she goes back to 1895 New York City, and Cuba. She tell of a cigar smoking contest in 1946 Cuba between her granddad and Hemingway, sponsored by the original "Old Man And the Sea", Mr. Fueuntes, who died in 2002 at the age of 104. As both a Churchill and Hemingway buff, this was a new story for me! And the travels continue through South Africe, World World 1 France, Egypt, and in all the other famous spots visited by her legendary granddad. Some new (to me anyway), black and white photes, plus some color photos of Winston's painting are included as a special bonus. All in all, a great ride, and thanks to Mrs. Sandys for this excellent effort!



3. If there were, in fact, such a thing as Churchillian beach reading, Chasing Churchill would be it. The book begins deliciously with an anecdote describing the author's trip with her grandfather on the world-famous Christina - a voyage that marked the beginning of the epic love affair between Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis. Wow! From the clothes to the food to the conversation, every detail drips with elegance.

   From there, though, the book loses steam, for the Christina story is by far the most interesting and well written. Perhaps because it's the only story related from the author's own memories. Other content comes in three forms: rehashing of accounts of Churchill's travels throughout his public life (most has been published elsewhere with more detail), descriptions of the author's retracing of many of those travels (not well or thoroughly described) and quotes from people Churchill met or influenced along the way (or, in many cases, their children or grandchildren relating their own family lore of encounters with the great man). Only the last of these is really worthwhile and there is so little of it that it could have made an excellent magazine article but as a book it feels sparse.

   With regards to the accounts of both the author's and her grandfather's travels, there doesn't seem to have been enough of a mandate for a full length book. As stated, most of the detail regarding Churchill's travels is rehashed from other sources (many of which were also written by Churchill descendents - what would they do without their famous relative? Seems they write lots of books about him). As for the Sandys' travels, she adds little new detail other than to impress upon the reader her ability to gain access to a series of dignitaries (Fidel Castro among them).

   The books acknowledgements thank several of Sandys' relatives for allowing quotation from their books as well as a series of corporatations for their sponsorship. The effect reinforces the idea that writing the book was more of an ego or money exercise than an attempt at further illuminating one of the last century's greatest men. It's a shame that a book that started so well ends up on such a poor note. Clearly, Celia Sandys would do better to rely on her own memories of her grandfather than on attempting new "research".




4. Churchill was a complex and enigmatic man, so it's not surprising that this book, written by his granddaughter, is itself enigmatic. It's hard to know what to make of many of the stories, because clearly the author had a prejudiced eye--she revered her grandfather. But there are stories and anecdotes and bon mots aplenty, many of them funny enough to make me burst out laughing. My particular favorite was an aging Churchill who, when upended by a large wave while bathing in the sea, made a V-for-victory sign with his legs. I think that anecdote brought home to me, maybe for the first time, just where the British sense of humor in something like Monty Python's Flying Circus came from. There's something deeply irreverent in the British psyche, and that irreverence positively glowed inside Churchill.
   
   The book is relatively short, and makes no great demands on the reader; you aren't required to bring extensive knowledge of British and world history from Churchill's history with you. (Of course, the more you know about history from 1895 or so through 1960, the better.) I did find a few spots where the author's shifts from Churchill and his world to her later travels were so abrupt that I was left confused. It took a few puzzled re-readings of some paragraphs to grasp this. A bit of editing would have been helpful in those spots.
   
   And a reader looking for historical insight is bound to be disappointed by this book. It doesn't offer any. It's more of an affectionate character portrait than a biography. So affectionate, in fact, that the harshest language the author can use to describe her grandfather (who, whatever his better qualities may have been, was far from sainthood) was to refer to him at one point as a "paternalistic Victorian."
   
   But I enjoyed the book all the same, and I'm sure I'll read it again.



5. So much of what is written about WSC...even what was written by him...is rather academic and at times difficult to get through. On the other hand this book is a joy to read. Well researched and many first hand accounts that give us a glimpse of WSC's persona against the backdrop of his fame and notoriety. Dozens of instances where you can almost see the resolve in his jaw, hear his sober voice and many times the twinkle in his eye. When I finished the book I felt a sense of warmth lacking in so many other WSC works.

5 comments about A Month of Sundays: Villa Life in the South of France.

1. "A Month of Sundays"is a joyous, witty and humorous read about the adventures of a busy American couple who spend four weeks each year in their "dream villa" in the South of France--sharing in what the French call "Farniente "--better known as "studying the inside of your eyelids". Each chapter is accompanied by by charming sketches which help tell the story. If you have been to the South of France --you will know that the Spectors are right on the "mark" or should I say "franc"--if you have never been there --the book will transport you --via your armchair-- to share in the wonderous adventures and misadventures of Americans on French turf. I liked this book so much, I gave copies to a number my friends and relatives who are now trying to "study the inside of their eyelids" to learn the Spector way to peace, tranquility and bliss.



2. Thanks for a delightful visit to the South of France...I`ve always wanted to go there...so glad that I did not have to pack. It`s easy to imagine this book as a comedic movie. I chuckled and smiled all the while reading this witty account of a American couple discovering Southern France. Hopefully looking forward to more adventures with this husband-wife writing team ...perhaps Italy next time.



3. Although I am only up to page 78 of this book, I felt compelled to share with any potential readers what a joy this is! So far I have laughed out loud, sighed in envy (it has always been my dream to relocate permanantly to the South of France) and eagerly savored each page. Peter Mayle first whet my appetite for happy tales from Provence, but Ira and Barbara Spector solidified my dream. One of the reviewers on the back of the copy said it all "Absolutely Charming From the Get-Go!" This is a Keeper! I'll recommend it to all my friends, but they have to buy their own copy!



4. Book was as described and in perfect condition - buy with confidence from this seller.



5. Having bought this book on the strength of the reviews on this page, I feel compelled to give another point of view. This book just proves that anyone can write and publish a book. It was insipid, self-absorbed and very simply written. At the same time I also bought Susie Kelly's "A Perfect Circle" which is a real gem. She is actually interested in the places she goes to and the people she meets.

1 comments about Italy - Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs and etiquette (Culture Smart!).

1. Unless you know absolutely nothing about Italy this book isn't that helpful. It says at nauseum that the Italians are loyal to their friends and family. The assumption is that if you are from an English speaking country you aren't. It is also biased against southern Italy. It assumes that the people buying the book are only going to Milan, and are married men with kids. I think for the money you can buy another book that is more thorough. It only took me two hours to read this book, and for what I got out of it it wasn't worth it. This book was written by a British author, I recommend buying a book by an American author if you are American because the British and American cultures are not identical.

No comments about Sardinia (Regional Guide).

5 comments about La Dolce Vita (the Sweet Life) in Cortona, Tuscany Italy.

1. Between misspelled words and losing me fairly quickly into the read I still dream of spending a year in Bella Italia.



2. I could not finish it. My wife could, and told me that I was right not to.
   
   This book prompts several questions.
   
   1. Did the author actually live in Cortona, or just read all of the other books?
   2. Don't vanity publishers have spell checkers?
   3. Did anybody proof the galleys of this book? Firenze (Florence) is spelled correctly, then incorrectly, IN THE SAME SENTENCE!
   4. Will Amazon refund my money?
   5. Is this woman the model for Belinda Smith in Tuscany for Beginners?
   6. Does the Portuguese government know that she's going there next?
   
   We are lucky enough to know what it's like to spend time in southern Tuscany. This author doesn't (or didn't do the time)
   
   I have great respect for writers; the blank page is an awesome adversary. To the list of Dario Castagno, Frances Mayes, Ferenc Mate, and Marlena Di Blasi, add Isabella Dusi, Tim Parks, Henry James and Goethe. But not this author.



3. I enjoyed Charlotte's book... not so much for her writing skills, but for the reminders of the Tuscan hill town that I fell in love with 6 years ago. While I don't live in Cortona, my heart lives there, with the people, places, sights, sounds and wonderful friends I've made there through the years. I've been traveling to Italy for more than 25 years and Cortona is my heart of hearts. Many of the people in her book are people that I personally know in Cortona. While some may criticize Charlotte's book, I applaud her for not wallowing in her divorce woes, instead she made a new life for herself.



4. Even though the publisher sent out the wrong book before editing, I overlooked it all and just enjoyed reading the humorous experiences that Ms Phillips had during her first stay in Cortona. I am also an expat living in Italy and I can appreciate all the problems she encountered and she certainly had a knack for adding humor to the most disasterous events. If you want to know what the inside of a church looks like, then you should consult a guide book. This was not a guide book nor was it meant to be-I think the author wrote like she was telling it to me over cappuccino, and I truly enjoyed journeying through her year in Cortona. It was a delightful read.



5. While there were some interesting passages in "La Dolce Vita," the grammar, spelling and typographical errors were so numerous that it was distracting and frustrating to read. The best parts could be found better written in a tour guide.

3 comments about Once Upon a Time in Great Britain: A Travel Guide to the Sights and Settings of Your Favorite Children's Stories.

1. Written by a teacher who spent a year in England and Scotland with her family visited the sights mentioned in various kids' books. Not being from that area it is fun to visit the England that you are looking for whether it is the old Roman Empire or Shakespeare. For kids this book carries you through the England and Scotland of fairytales and stories. Each site has a small blurb and a black and white sketch. There are a few monochrome photos but there is nothing consistent. It may be useful for a starting point.



2. This is a great book for anyone who wants to plan a trip around, or include in their trip, sights related to favorite children's books. She even includes some of the books that are not as well-known in the US such as The Borrowers, Green Knowe and Greyfriars Bobby. Double check the details before you go, however, as some things have changed since publication. For example, the exhibit of children's manuscripts at the British Library is no longer there, sadly.



3. The woods where C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien used to walk together, the coffee shop where J. K. Rowling began her work on the Harry Potter series, the house that inspired the Borrowers, the locations of The 101 Dalmatians...

   It is apparent from reading this book that the author spent a great deal of time researching the topics covered. The byline indicates that she spent a year with her family exploring England and Scotland.

   Fans of the books covered will enjoy the brief (1-2 page) biographies and the descriptions of the locations. This is what some call an "armchair travel" book: you can enjoy it without ever traveling to the locations.

   I can't comment on the accuracy, because I have not visited any of the locations described. This is not a slick travel book brimming with pictures; it's a soft-cover printed on relatively inexpensive paper. I enjoyed the biographies and site descriptions and I'm sure there are many others out there who will as well.