I loved this slow unfolding of the history of a marriage. Nothing but Blue Sky is quiet and thoughtful and very moving. I listened to the audio versioI loved this slow unfolding of the history of a marriage. Nothing but Blue Sky is quiet and thoughtful and very moving. I listened to the audio version, beautifully narrated by the Irish actor, Stephen Hogan. In the slight present-day story David has returned to Aiguaclara, a small Catalonian resort where he has holidayed for the past twenty years with his wife Mary Rose. Except that Mary Rose died in a plane crash about a year ago, and David has decided to return to this place - so familiar and yet now, without her, so different. David remembers his marriage, examines his and Mary Rose's differences, what they each hoped for, and what they both loved. He recalls his own difficult childhood and Mary Rose's family. There is nothing here that is surprising or terribly shocking, and I loved it. ...more
Oh, how Laurie Lee could write. Nearly every sentence is worthy of underlining. He captures a place and its people beautifully. This is the second in Oh, how Laurie Lee could write. Nearly every sentence is worthy of underlining. He captures a place and its people beautifully. This is the second in the autobiographical trilogy that starts with Cider with Rosie, and here he walks from Gloucestershire to the south coast, then up to London, before travelling to Spain, and walking down over the mountains to the sea. His descriptions of the Spanish landscape and peasants in the 1930s just before war breaks out are vivid and evocative. Wonderful stuff....more
This book crept up on me, and it and I had a little wrestle: at first I was trying to chuck it off but it clung on and on, and wouldn't let go, until This book crept up on me, and it and I had a little wrestle: at first I was trying to chuck it off but it clung on and on, and wouldn't let go, until finally I calmed down and let it win me over. It's a simple (and very short) story of a Spanish olive farmer who stoically suffers through a terrible drought and blasting sunshine, and then torrential endless rain. The descriptions of the landscape and the weather are magnificent, as are the way Carrasco describes the actions of work whether that's kneading dough, or sharpening a knife and cutting leather. My tussles at the beginning were over some of the language and grammar choices. I'm not sure when it's set (they have cars and televisions), but the language can be very old fashioned, biblical even (and I'm sure that was deliberate and to do with the story), but each time 'upon' or 'unto' was used, it snapped me out. Carrasco is one of the few authors who is clever about not using speech marks - I was never lost with who was speaking when. But he has also decided to use as few commas as possible, and sometimes lines run on with so many uses of 'and', that they became nonsensical. (And finally a minor point - why didn't the man's wife get out there in the rain and help him!?) Highly recommended....more
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