A Winter in Majorca

by George Sand

Book Overview

From the foreword by the Majorcan writer Maria Fca. Vidal: "Decidedly Mme. Sand and the Majorcans did not understand one another. Yet, in her book...some of the most beautiful and ardent descriptions of nature are to be found."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 8475354149
• ISBN13: 9788475354149
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Palma de Mallorca
• Length: 207 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.8" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

A remarkable book by a remarkable woman (I only believe in Art)

George Sand traveled with widely open eyes and saw the human face behind the scenery. She analyzes and depicts remarkably the essential characteristics of Mallorca (and Spain) in the 19th century, its economy, its social structure, the mentality and beliefs of its population and the hidden truth behind its historical monuments. She also exposes the astonishing modernity of her vision on politics, religion and mankind. Economics Mallorca's economy was based on almonds, oranges and pigs. The breeding of cattle was forbidden because a small clique of businessmen monopolized the import of meat into the island and blocked legally home production. Social The real masters were the financiers, who owned as collateral for their loans big chunks of land and businesses. Mentality The population killed time with their guitars and rosaries. `The Spaniard is weighed down by taxes. Suffering breeds fear, mistrust, deceit and every sort of conflict.' The Monastery of the Inquisition with its cells, where `men have been left to die slowly. They dared to have ideas that differed from those of the Inquisition.' But more importantly, `the Spanish people had built up the pyres of the Inquisition. They had been accomplices and informers in atrocious persecutions against entire races, whom they wished to eradicate from their midst. [Now] they suffered bent beneath the yoke of their own making.' Vision on religion Never has the conspiracy between the first estate (wealth, nobility) and the second estate (clergy) against the third estate (the many) better been expressed: `I am so tired of hearing these common views: that it is criminal and dangerous to attack a false and corrupt faith because there is nothing to put in its place; that only people who are not infested with poisonous philosophical debate and revolutionary frenzy are moral, hospitable and sincere.' For her, religion is superstitious terror and brutal restriction. `It is impossible to have true faith in the Roman Church less one is completely devoid of intelligence.' Vision on politics For George Sand, we should `decree a law of equality to all men and of independence to all nations. Otherwise, the law of the strongest army will rule the world.' This book with its excellent graphic material is a rare find. It is a text written by a self-assured, sharp intellect, by a superb free mind. A must read.

A Bit Less Than Expected

The book is advertised as a non-fiction description of George Sand (Aurore Dupin, Baroness Dudevant) and Frederick Chopin on a holiday on the island of Mallorca over the winter of 1838 and 1839. George Sand writes the account. It is a medium length book containg a good set of photographs of some of the buildings on the island along with some photographs of a piano used by Chopin. Perhaps I missed it, but after the promotion and book jacket cover which has pictures of Chopin, there is nothing in here on Chopin, and not much about George Sand. In compensation to that, we do see her creative writing at work and her lovely long sentences. The book is more of state of the island description. She describes how the people live, their homes, the commerce, what crops are grown, the history of the island, famous families such as the Bonapartes, the culture, the laws, and the music. She outlines many problems on the island such as poor roads. She does not like the people of the island and the book was very controversial in its day. The book is not that good, and is not recommended.

A Classic of Its Kind: A Season in Hell

Sand's chronicle of a wretched season spent on the Balearic island of Mallorca is the archetype for the "bad-trip" school of travel writing. Caustic, spiteful and utterly devoid of sentimentality or remorse, Sand (who was visiting with her beastly young daughter, Solange, and an ailing Frederic Chopin) trashes everything Mallorcan, from the olive oil, to the weather, to the landscape, to the moral character of the islanders. (If only the British and German package tourists who have colonized and defaced Mallorca in the 20th century had read Sand beforehand!)An added pleasure in this edition is the sniping and meticulous footnoting by Mallorcan expat Robert Graves. He gainsays and qualifies nearly every contentious little gripe of Sand's, providing the reader with an interesting cross-generational literary (and personal) cat/dog-fight.My guess is, if you enjoy the withering observations of Paul Theroux and his disciples, you will enjoy Sand's nasty little book. If, however, you like your travel books in soft-focus and heavy on the ambience and schmaltz, look elsewhere.