Book reviews by country: Spain

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

 To my shame, I have only archived three reviews from Spain. I loved Water-Blue Eyes by Domingo Villar (translator Martin Schifino) and At Close Quarters by Eugenio Fuentes (also translated by Martin Schifino), so I am going to have to do something about this sorry state of affairs.

Water-Blue Eyes: "You simply can’t beat this book for plot, character, atmosphere, a sense of place and poetry, and sheer readability." 

At Close Quarters: "I found this a wonderful book, both in its confident telling of the story with no need for over-complicated, violent solutions, and in the author's fantastic ability to write from the perspective of the teenager, the old man or woman, the widow or divorcee, the soldier, the businessman or the maid. And in the telling, the country and its people come alive before your eyes. Without a doubt, a five-star read."

My Spain reviews.

Comments

[Bernadette]

I think you would like Teresa Solana's work Maxine - I've only read one (I think that's all that has been translated to English) but it was funny and didn't really feel like a conventional book at all. I enjoyed it enough to pre-order the next one :)

[Maxine]

Thanks, Bernadette, O Evil One - I had already noted your review and Michelle's Euro Crime review so it's definitely on my list ;-)

[Packabook - Books Set in Spain]

Have you tried Robert Wilson's Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón series? They are set in Seville....

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What about the famous series about Pepe Carvalho by Montalban? Camilleri named Montalbano after him. Some friends love this series and character.

[Dorte H]

I haven´t even read *one* from Spain. But then I get most of my inspiration for new writers from the shelves of the library (where I don´t recall having seen any from Spain) - and to be fair to the librarians, I don´t think much Spanish literature is translated into Danish.

[Maxine]

I read one of the Montalban books (The Seven Seas) and the first Javier Falcon novel. I thought they were "OK" but was not inspired to read more....the former was just too misogynistic and the latter too long and drawn-out for the content (for my taste).

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Good to know about Montalban. The friends who like his books are men and perhaps they don't notice the misogyny so much which or can ignore it. So I'm glad to know of this as I would be taken aback by this, too.