Two men, both with connections to militants in their past. Both trying to start new lives. Both pulled back into their past, altering their futures forever. That is about where the similarities between Delphine Pontvieux’s ETA — Estimated Time of Arrest and Bernardo Atxaga’s The Lone Man end. While The Lone Man is a psychologically […]
Obabakoak by Bernardo Atxaga is one of my favorite books. Certainly I have a little bias because it is by a Basque author, but it is simply a marvelous book, regardless of any personally leanings. I read it for the second time this summer as part of the New Mexico Euskal Etxea’s book club and […]
Delphine Pontvieux, a member of the forum, has just released her novel ETA: Estimated Time of Arrest… WRONG PLACE… After participating in a pro-separatist march that turned violent in January of 1992, 21-year-old Lorenzo Lartaun Izcoa is wrongly charged with the fatal bombing of a police station in his home town. Irun is a small […]
A historian’s greatest challenge is to convey the excitement and drama of history. This is especially true for more obscure subjects, as the reader doesn’t already come with some emotional attachment. But this is exactly where Christine Bender excels. By using fiction as her vehicle to explore historical events, Christine is able to delve into […]
You can tell the story of who people are by what they eat — stated Colleen Asumendi Fillmore, PhD, RD, LD All who know the Basques know that food is an immensely important aspect of their culture. Colleen Asumendi Fillmore knows this better than most, having studied the dietary culture of the Basques of Boise. […]
I just got this notice of a new book on Basque culture and was asked to spread the word. Reluctant Modernization: Plebeian Culture and Moral Economy in the Basque Country by Andreas Hess Publisher: Peter Lang, Oxford ISBN number: 978-3-03911-908-0 Three institutions that are of particular importance to Basque history and culture form the main […]
Having read Laurence Bergreen’s description of Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe, Over the Edge of the World (see this post), I was very interested in Christine Echeverria Bender’s take of the same voyage, Sails of Fortune, partially because I found Bergreen’s account so fascinating, but also because I knew Bender’s would cast a more favorable […]
I originally wrote these thoughts in August of 2005 and thought I’d posted them here, but just realized I hadn’t. In looking back, there are clearly some errors in what I wrote, which I’ve corrected. Over the Edge of the World, by Laurence Bergreen, tells the story of the first voyage around the world, the […]
My Euskara is very poor. I have a basic understanding of the grammar, but my vocabulary is very limited and I don’t have the declensions nor the conjugation of the verbs in my head. Even so, I’d like to pass what little I can on to my daughter, to at least give her an exposure […]
Finding nice overviews of the Basque Country — its history, culture, traditions, and language — is rare in English. There are, of course, The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky and The Basque Country: A Cultural History by Paddy Woodworth. But, both of those are rather lengthy and certainly have their authors’ respective […]
