There have been many books written by English-speakers living in Spain, France and Italy, full of amusing anecdotes and insights into the so-called Mediterranean culture. However, very few have been written about Catalonia. In today's Catalan newspaper, El Punt, they interview Jonathan Stark, a "Kiwi" (New Zealander), who lives here and has just published A Kiwi on the Costa Brava. Most on-line bookshops stock it if anyone wants to know more about the life of Catalans (from a different point of view).Here's the publicity blurb describing the book:
"Why is 9/11 more important to Catalans? Who was Wilfred the Hairy? When is a wolf’s fart edible? Why are bumper stickers of donkeys ubiquitous in Catalonia? What explains the ambivalence of many Catalans to their war generation? Why does Football Club Barcelona have the English flag on its emblem? Does black rice taste better than it sounds?
The answers to these and many other pertinent questions are revealed in A Kiwi on the Costa Brava, Jonathan Stark’s sympathetic account of a typical summer on Catalonia’s most famous coast. It begins with him and his Catalan wife returning to the Costa Brava to discover their summer business in crisis just as the season is about to begin. Finding solace in Mediterranean cuisine, breezy terraces and historic landscapes, they witness the yearly transformation that the Costa Brava undergoes with the arrival of millions of foreign and domestic holidaymakers. Simultaneously the author successfully solves a local mystery, experiences ups and downs as he attempts to improve his Catalan and works on a novel set on the Costa Brava.
Anecdotal, entertaining and humorous but also informative and thoughtful, A Kiwi on the Costa Brava allows readers to gain a better insight into a region of Europe that is both fashionable and well visited, but often poorly known and frequently misunderstood."
The answers to these and many other pertinent questions are revealed in A Kiwi on the Costa Brava, Jonathan Stark’s sympathetic account of a typical summer on Catalonia’s most famous coast. It begins with him and his Catalan wife returning to the Costa Brava to discover their summer business in crisis just as the season is about to begin. Finding solace in Mediterranean cuisine, breezy terraces and historic landscapes, they witness the yearly transformation that the Costa Brava undergoes with the arrival of millions of foreign and domestic holidaymakers. Simultaneously the author successfully solves a local mystery, experiences ups and downs as he attempts to improve his Catalan and works on a novel set on the Costa Brava.
Anecdotal, entertaining and humorous but also informative and thoughtful, A Kiwi on the Costa Brava allows readers to gain a better insight into a region of Europe that is both fashionable and well visited, but often poorly known and frequently misunderstood."
Oooo. Sounds something to which I would relate!
ResponEliminaDid you notice in that last sentence that I took care to embed my preposition, because I know that a preposition is a bad thing to end a sentence with?
Don't worry, I'm more than happy with prepositions at the end of sentences or splitting infinitives and other things which old fuddy duddies don't go for!
ResponEliminaYep, it sounds like a good read, I'm on the lookout for the book and if I get/read it, we'll post a review.