Journey to the Alcarria: Travels Through the Spanish Countryside

By Camilo José Cela and Camilo Jos

Book Overview

Awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize for Literature, Camilo Jos eacute; Cela has long been recognized as one of the preeminent Spanish writers of the twentieth century. Journey to the Alcarria is the best known of his vagabundajes, Cela's term for his books of travels, sketchbooks of regions or provinces. The Alcarria is a territory in New Castile, northeast of Madrid, surrounding most of the Guadalajara province. The region is high, rocky, and dry, and is famous for its honey.

Cela himself is "the traveler," an urban intellectual wandering from village to village, through farms and along country roads, in search of the Spanish character. Cela relishes his encounters with the simple, honest people of the Spanish countryside--the blushing maid in the tavern, the small-town shopkeeper with airs of grandeur lonely for companionship, the old peasant with his donkey who freely shares his bread and blanket with the stranger. These vignettes are narrated in a fresh, clear prose that is wonderfully evocative. As the New York Times wrote, Cela is "an outspoken observer of human life who built his reputation on portray-ing what he observed in a direct colloquial style."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B009C86BJU
• ISBN13: 9780871133793
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

How a true human being travelled through Spain

Light and airy in style, filled with memorable scenes and characters, an engaging narrator, and plenty of information about daily life in backroads Spain 50 years ago. I see why this author deserved a Nobel prize. However, skip the introduction, a heavy handed piece of academic existentialist skulduggery that almost persuaded me not to read the book.

An easy trip through the countryside

I needed a short, easy book to read while on my vacation with my sister. She happened to have this book along and lent it to me. I found myself travelling through the countryside of Spain with Camilo Cela and loving it. He included just enough information to let us share his experience without drowning us in too much detail. I'll never have his exact memories but I felt like I could recognize the places and feelings if I ever get to go there. I recommend this as an enjoyable, easy read.