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From Amazon
A worthy travel book does not encourage a reader to follow in the author's footsteps in search of the "good spots" so much as it creates a sense of adventure and the desire to understand a place. In Roads to Santiago: Detours and Riddles in the Lands and History of Spain, Dutch author Cees Nooteboom seeks out the soul and spirit of Spain in a way that suggests a journey of self-discovery as much as an actual expedition. Although the stated goal is to reach Santiago de Compostela--a church in northwest Spain that was once the object of pilgrimages during the Middle Ages--Nooteboom doesn't follow a single or direct route to the village. The more serendipitous the journey, the better. Nooteboom followed many "detours," taking nearly every back road he found and making sure to avoid anything resembling a major thoroughfare or urban center. The result of his circuitous travels is this collection of moving essays on Spain's history, geography, architecture, and people.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
In this series of essays, Nooteboom (The Following Story, LJ 8/94), one of Holland's most popular and translated authors, ventures through what he calls his "adopted country," from Barcelona to Santiago. Detours are what Nooteboom delights in, and true to form he takes the reader through detours of monasteries; art galleries; La Mancha in search of Don Quixote and Dulcinea; the Prado museum in Madrid, where he waxes eloquently about Velazquez and Nooteboom's favorite, Zurburan; and churches and courtyards in cities and villages once protected by their geography and now isolated in the empty plains of the Meseta. The strength of Nooteboom's book is in his lyrical descriptions of Spain, a country he believes has never been quite a part of Europe. Some knowledge of European history is required to appreciate his work fully. Recommended for large public and academic libraries or where there is demand for literary travel books.?David Schau, Kanawha Cty. P.L., Charleston, W. Va.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PROVE and yet I believe it: there are some places in the world where one is mysteriously magnified on arrival or departure by the emotions of all those who have arrived and departed before. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PROVE and yet I believe it: there are some places in the world where one is mysteriously magnified on arrival or departure by the emotions of all those who have arrived and departed before. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great context if you're planning to take the pilgrimage,
By A Customer
This review is from: Roads To Santiago (Paperback)
This is a spectacular book, written by the best kind of travel writer. Mr. Nooteboom's passion for Spain, Spanish art, and Spanish architecture is infectious. I did the pilgrimage to Santiago in September of 2003, and understanding the Camino in the larger context of Spanish history (which Mr. Nooteboom limns so admirably) was invaluable. I don't believe I would have looked for, much less appreciated the Romanesque architecture I saw along the way. Coincidentally, his love of the great Spanish painters Zurbaran and Velazquez inspired me to visit New York for the Velazquez to Manet exhibit. I consider this one of the essential books to read before you set out for Santiago de Compostela. Guide books will get you from A to B. This book will help you understand the importance of A, B, and all the points in between.
5.0 out of 5 stars
EVER WONDERED HOW TO TRAVEL?,
By A Customer
This review is from: Roads To Santiago (Paperback)
first of all, cees nooteboom is a shining oasis in the arid intellectual desert of contemporary travel writing, and secondly, you should let go of everything that makes you unhappy, and set sail tomorrow. the sheer profundity and wit of nooteboom's observations left me, for one, in like total dumbstruck awe, and his seemingly divine ability to translate the most visceral of emotions into words (a medium of communication i had always, up till now, considered inferior) made me feel a little bit the same way i felt the first time i went skydiving. folks, this here is a man who knows how to travel, as well as being a freakin miracle of a writer--and anyone who is capable of firing a sincere philosophic-type synapse will LOVE HIM. also read "the following story," all you existential types out there--he's like a dreamy, colorful Camus, and his prose will make your eyes feel clean for the first time in years.
1.0 out of 5 stars
A silly babble-logue about Spain.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Roads to Santiago: Detours and Riddles in the Lands and History of Spain (Hardcover)
Spain becomes grist for the cracked mill wheel of Cees Nooteboom's mind. The book isn't really about Spain, it's about the author and his obsessive fixation with certain Spanish topics. He does this with painfully long rambling descriptions of various Spanish cultural icons that have caught his attention, drilling down to the time when they first caught his attention and the many times since then that he has pondered them. The topics themselves are interesting but almost irrelevant to the self indulgent dredging of the author's own mind. You would learn more hard facts about these topics from a museum brochure. The twin pillars of this tortuously slow moving narrative are the painter Zurban and Romanesque architecture. He drops and picks up these topics at random, throughout the book, and prattles on about them as if he is possessed with a reoccurring fever. He also slathers his book with an impressive amount of trite clichés about Spain, Spain the land of contrasts, Castille La Mancha the land of desolate panoramas, etc. He goes on ad nauseum. He also plays a little fast and loose with the few historical facts he deigns to use. He states that the aqueduct in Segovia was used until 1974; according to Segovia's municipal web site it is still in use. He states that Pizzaro left from Extremadura with an invasion force for Peru; Pizzaro left from Central America where he had been established for some years. Obviously no fact checker touched this book before publication. There are many wonderful books about Spain. This isn't one of them.
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