5 comments about Encore Provence.

1. Peter Mayle effectivately takes us once again to beautiful Provence through his second book. His writing is witty yet very unassuming and laid back. He gives the reader vivid and often funny accounts of the land and its people. He has an uncanny ability to observe the smallest details in the Provencal locals that he meets and to express it in a very entertaining way through his books.



2. Food, the air, water, the land and the people in the South of France. The book beautifully took me thru life in this person move to this area.



3. The book was everything I expected...but y'all sent it in paperback. I never buy a book that I do not want to keep....and I never buy and keep paperback books.



4. For an unexplained reason, Peter Mayle and his unnamed wife (presumably the "Jennie" of the dedication) left paradise in Provence for Long Island. In Encore Provence, he returns to the south of France, where the food, wine, and slow pace of life again absorb his attention.
   
   Even less structured than Toujours Provence, Encore Provence covers familiar territory from new angles. "The Unsolved Murder of the Handsome Butcher" and "Recipe for a Village" address both the insularity and charms of village life ("Recipe" much less successfully), while "How to Be a Nose," "Discovering Oil," and "Friday Morning in Carpentras" provide insights into the perfume, olive oil, and truffle industries, respectively. In one of the best chapters, "Restaurant Critic Makes Astonishing Discovery," Mayle effectively and humorously discredits Ruth Reichl's flippant dismissal of Provence. How could a serious critic, after only a month's visit, write, "I had been dreaming of a Provence that never existed"? To help the reader find ripe tomatoes--which Reichl could not manage to do--and other products of Provence, Mayle provides the names and places for markets, vineyards, restaurants, bakeries, and producers of goods like olive oil and honey. It becomes clear that Reichl could not find Provence because she actively avoided it; perhaps she thought that deflating the expectations that Mayle helped to create was a better story than simply reinforcing them.
   
   Several chapters, like "Curious Reasons for Liking Provence" and "Eight Ways to Spend a Summer's Afternoon," reveal one of the problems with Encore Provence--the lack of significant new material. More filler than substance, they are more like random personal essays than integral parts of a cohesive work, as though Mayle could not think of a better way to frame his random observations. These chapters are forced, splintered, and almost unnecessary.
   
   Surprisingly, there is a less of a sense of place. In the previous Provence books, Mayle's stone house, with its location abutting public forest, its isolation from traffic, its drawn-out renovations, its pool that attracts thirsty sangliers, and its quirky neighbors like Faustin and Massot, gives the reader a strong sense of a place with personality. The house is at the heart of A Year in Provence. In Encore Provence, it is not clear that Mayle and his wife return to the same house or what their neighbors are like. Even the dogs are mostly absent. Without structure and intimacy, Encore Provence is nothing more than a series of disconnected travelogue stories. Perhaps weary of intrusions into his privacy, or perhaps unclear about the reasons for the first book's success, Mayle distances himself from his reader.
   
   There may not be much left for Mayle to say about Provence. He writes that, due to building restrictions, not much has changed. Yet he notes that "the garage and the geese are gone, and the farmhouse has sprouted wings and annexes . . . the vines have been groomed" and "the refugees' urge for rapid [gardening] results has spawned an industry: instant gardens, shipped in and set up with astonishing speed." These are only a couple of small changes, to be sure, but in time there will be more, and Provence will alter slowly and subtly. Mayle should know that that is the nature of change in the countryside and that, with enough demand, pressure, and money, change can accelerate, transforming a village into a resort town or farmland into suburbia.
   
   Even if you cannot visit Provence, much of the lifestyle that Mayle describes--with food and drink of varying type and quality--is still available in many places outside France. The slow pace, the fatalistic viewpoint, the elderly gossips and moralists, the close-knit relationships, the helpfulness, and the beauty and quirks of the countryside are found in many regions. If you are as observant and open as Mayle, you may be able to find your version of Provence closer to home.



5. If you have ever visited Provence, reading "Encore Provence" will ensure a flood of pleasant memories. Homesick for Provence, Peter Mayle leaves his home in America (he is originally from England) and returns to his true love, France.
   
   What really keeps the French trim and healthy? What prevents olive oil from quickly turning rancid? How can you ease a sore throat with lavender essential oil?
   
   Peter Mayle answers these questions and more. His writing has a rare warmth and his descriptions of restaurants makes you want to experience every nuance. Whether he is visiting a distillery or explaining the process of buying a house, he tells the story with a sense of adventure.
   
   Since Peter Mayle loves to watch people more than TV he provides some interesting descriptions of village inhabitants. He tells his stories with a sense of relish and he even made Marseille sound more exciting. This book made me wish for another bottle of olive oil I found in Cassis on a weekend trip I made to Provence. It also reminded me to buy another bag of Fleur de Sel.
   
   I can also recommend: A Year in Provence
   
   ~The Rebecca Review

No comments about Arctic Spectacles: The Frozen North in Visual Culture, 1818-1875.

1 comments about The Way That I Went.

1. I'm ordering an extra copy of this book for my Irish house; it walks away with visitors, I think. It's a wonderful wander through a colorful land which, in a way, persists behind the modern clutter, the wide roads and narrow minds that have replaced the old ways. I'll carry it with me as I drive down to Roundstone, up to Sligo, amethyst mining on Achill ... the stones, plants, birds and other charms of Ireland are merrily visited, and it gives another dimension to one's explorations.

No comments about Daniel O'Donnell's Ireland: Songs and Scenes from My Homeland.

No comments about Belfast & North of Ireland (Footprint - Pocket Guides).

3 comments about Frommer's Portable Dublin (Frommer's Portable).

1. I find the Frommer's guides to be very helpful for my trips to Ireland especially. This one is perfect if you plan on visiting Dublin. As in other Frommer guides this book starts with the "Best Of" in Dublin, how to get there and what you'll need when planning your trip. It then goes on to getting to know Dublin, places to stay, places to eat and drink, attractions, shopping and night life. Additionally, this guide includes places that you can easily visit just outside of Dublin City in Counties Wicklow and Kildare. The review continues with hours and dates places are open as well as prices for attractions, for accommodations and for dining. For each category there are phone numbers, web sites, if available, and general maps of the area. A newer version of the is book is due to come out any day now but probably has similar information only with updated prices. If you only have time for Dublin, or want to spend your time doing nothing else but Dublin, this little pocket guide is the only one you'll need!



2. This is a great book if you're planning a trip to Dublin and the surrounding country side. The maps are very helpful, and the schedule for the bus and DART (metro train) are great. Well worth the money.
   A couple of items it doesn't cover - no refills on drinks except water, Temple Bar area is quite pricey as are most restaurants or Pubs. Convenience stores make a great sandwich on a long panini bread - if you're traveling around consider buying one in the A.M. and munching on it at lunch. You can get virtually anywhere in town, and even the greater metro area by DART or bus. Just ask around - but beware, Dublin is an international city, friendly people, but I sense they are growing tired of answering the same question for the 100th time today. P.S. face cloths/wash rags must be asked for at the front desk.



3. EXCELLENT GUIDE.COULD HAVE MORE HOTELS.MISSING A SECTION ON
   TYPICAL IRISH CUISINE

No comments about Mr & Mrs Smith Hotel Collection: UK/Ireland Volume 2 (Mr & Mrs Smith Hotel Collection).

2 comments about Going to Ireland: A Genealogical Researcher's Guide.

1. I just want to point out that the authors of the book are Sherry Irvine AND Nora M. Hickey. The book is erroneously listed as being written bu one person named "Nora Hickey Irvine". Maybe this can be corrected to make it easier to find.



2. This is a fantastic, thorough and (most importantly) readable guide to the daunting ask of attempting family history research in Ireland. It is obvious that the authors have plenty of experience with the subject, and offer some unexpected and well thought out advice. I found it very helpful.

5 comments about Round Ireland in Low Gear.

1. I found this book very disappointing. It is neither a travel book or a history book. Eric Newby's positive approach to life and adventure seems to be missing in this book and I found his attitude towards the people, the weather, the condition of B&B's, the roads and the food very condescending. His complaints about his bicycle sounded to me like a bad workman blaming his tools. Even if you have 21 gears you still need the skills to use them. Why oh why does he complain about the weather when he chooses to cycle around the westernmost outpost of Europe in Winter? Want a good cycling book? Then try Miles from Nowhere with a sympathetic author who gets into more serious scrapes and comes out of them with better grace and humor than the Newbys.



2. The author and his wife, sexagenarians both, took four tours of Ireland in one year in the 1980s, mainly by bicycle. The author has no inclination to conceal his rather acerbic personality, so you may find yourself rooting for the trucks early on. But keep reading, there's many a worthwhile nugget awaiting, and it's easy enough to discard the refuse. By page 291, when the author or his editors or the Lonely Planet reprinters get the spelling of "fuchsia" right on the fourth attempt, you will feel that anything is possible. So when the author cuts short his description of the final leg, decides not to undertake a planned trip to Northern Ireland, and leaves the book in its present rather untrim state, you're apt to feel a considerable sadness.

   The maps provided by Lonely Planet add value to this edition.




3. can't help but agree with another reviewer and concur that this book neither inspires nor stimulates, an unexpected experience with Eric Newby's writing. The occasional and unwelcome slide into condescension displayed might well be a reflection of the author's mood. I suspect this might have resulted from an almost unbelievably bad choice of travel timing for a book of this nature. Ireland, in winter, on a bicycle? As gloomy a metereological prospect as the literary result. Try Tony Hawkes' 'Round Ireland with a Fridge' for an infinitely more enjoyable read.



4. I slogged my way through half of this book before I gave up. (My usual threshold is 50 pages) Eric & Wanda Newby cycle through Ireland in winter and are suprised/perturbed by the weather (?!!).

   Mr. Newby is stangely self-centered. The book is a catalog of their travails with little comment on anyone they meet. I assume that he thought this would be humorous and entertaining, but after awhile I wanted him to shut up about himself and go home or get on with describing Ireland. When he does touch on history the descriptive passages seem to be read wholesale out of various guidebooks, which Newby acknowledges and feel like an add on instead of woven into their narrative. There are a few wonderful pages of landscape description but only enough to rate two stars and far too few to justify 298 pages.

   I would not recommend this book. Instead read any of the late Thomas Flanagan's three novels about Ireland, The year of the French, The Tenants of Time or The End of the Hunt. Even Ray Bradbury's Green Shadows, White Whale (about living in Ireland while writing the screenplay for John Huston's film of Moby Dick.)




5. Those who have given this work low scores are doing it a serious injustice. It is definitely not an example of perky, predictably upbeat travel writing, but is instead a thoughtful, moody, highly literate and contemplative treatment of a deliberately oddball adventure -- to bicycle through Ireland, at the age of 66, in the chill of winter.
   
   It may be that those who have rated this work poorly are fans of Irish tourism who picked it up expecting it to validate their enthusiasm in a predictable way, and were blindsided when it turned out to be something completely different. But it is far above the norm for travel writing.
   
   The author and his wife both have a great, dry sense of humor, and Newby deftly captures the character of all kinds of amusing types they come in contact with. He is known for his thoughtful travel literature -- in the New York Review of Books recently, Larry McMurty revealed that he has been re-reading one of Newby's other travelogues, 'Slowly Down the Ganges', more or less continuously since it was published in 1964.

1 comments about Bed and Breakfast Guide 2008 (AA Lifestyle Guides).

1. The AA Guides are usually trustworthy and this guide is no exception. Although it does not list the B&Bs in the bottom range of prices, the B&Bs it does list are good quality for the money. They meet very specific standards which most travelers to Great Britain from the USA expect. I like the fact that they include pictures and list the criteria I was looking for (child friendly, area attractions, non-smoking). I like, too, that if your experience at one of the listed B&Bs differ from their description, you can notify the AA and they will review the property again. Other guides do not do this.