RobF -> RE: Why do you love flamenco? (Oct. 7 2022 15:10:41)
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That's amazing! I love Donn Pohren's books, and found A Way of Life fascinating! Any good stories to share?! Ethan, I agree with silddx. Could you post some stories of your adventures in Andalusia as a youth? Morante, too, could probably write a book about his life in Cádiz. Just a quick aside and following on that…I’ve been reading “The Flamencos of Cádiz Bay” by Gerald Howson this summer and highly recommend it. I had been looking for the book for years but any time I found it it was stratospherically priced. Then one day on a whim I checked Amazon and there was a first Ed. copy available from the UK, priced at a normal price of about $20 with low shipping. I leapt at the chance. The book is such an enjoyable read that I’ve been slowly playing it out over the summer, savouring it a chapter at a time. I’ve thought of Ethan more than once when reading this, also of Morante. I visited Cádiz last fall, so that provides a touch of geographical context to me while reading. Cádiz is a jewel of a town, although I fear the current day sensibilities means it can be best appreciated by the wealthy, as I found lodgings are very costly there, which isn’t surprising considering the beauty of the place. I’m finding “The Flamencos of Cádiz Bay” to be almost therapeutic, coming out of the disastrous couple of years the pandemic provided to most of us. This book is so good it really should be reprinted by someone. It’s got all the hallmarks of a classic. I took the time to copy a passage…hopefully the book is long enough out of print that I can be permitted to reproduce it here. The setting is Gerald has been invited to his friend Efrén’s house for a (typically) chaotic lunch. Efrén himself, who is Gerald’s guitar teacher and a very popular guitarist in Cádiz, is also referred to as being “ una desgracia” by many of his peers… So…lunch is done and Gerald and Efrén have just had some serious words about why Efrén should not have disciplined his dog for something it had done the week before… *spoiler alert* …“Efrén looked very serious and shook his head. ‘You’re right, you know. She’s just a poor animal, and has no memory. Just a poor animal.’ He shouted for the rest of his family, and when they were all in the room, addressed them: ‘I don’t want to see any of you hitting the dog anymore. She’s just a poor animal; got no memory. She doesn’t remember why you’re hitting her. Understand?’ He was his old self again, shouting in his hoarse voice. The two girls came up and kissed him, darted out and came back with Paqui. At the sight of her master she wagged the whole rear half of her body, jumped on his lap and licked all over his face. ‘There you see’ he said, ‘She still loves me….Ah, yes. I have a present for you. I’ve fixed up for you to play on the radio next week. First with me, then solo. How’s that for a present, eh? Of course, they don’t pay anything. And here’s another.’ He produced a cigar. I expressed my gratitude. He chuckled and kissed me on the cheek and patted my back. Then he caught my other cheek between his thumb and forefinger and squeezed hard until I was forced to pull away. ‘You show them how to play the guitar! And then I can be proud of my best pupil!’ I began to realize that they obviously did pay and that he was going to keep the money for himself. I said nothing. Guitars were bought out, brothers came in and sang and the women and girls danced, snapping their fingers and stamping their feet. I lit my cigar, and after a few minutes the thing exploded in my face, and it stayed there in my hand looking like a palm-tree. Everybody laughed until the tears ran down their cheeks. It was time to go, anyway, and I could still hear their laughter when I reached the street. And then I remembered I had forgotten all about García Lorca.” P.S. before anyone gets upset about stereotyping, Efrén is but one of the characters found in the book. He’s a bit of a scoundrel, true, but is a far more nuanced and complex person when taken in the context of the entire story.
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