The Fool On The Hill

A new writer has stepped into my life, and one that is seemingly quite well-known.

First of all my excuses for ignoring his book for so long which has been in my procession for a good 5 years. Writing in one's own name obviously has its drawbacks especially when you're called Cees Nooteboom - with my atrocious memory it's taken me several days to finally get it into my head. He's Dutch and into his sixties and there's nothing in the name to tell you that a book by him should be worth reading. Added to this is the picture of a rather miserable looking man ( not the photo above) which doesn't do him any favours at all.

Thinking back now, the hardcover book, I remember, was being sold at half-price which was not really encouraging for what was a recent title but with a name of "Roads to Santiago" buy it here , ( Santiago in North-Western Spain ), and always ready for a bargain I quickly passed over my plastic and took the book home. Back home however I began to regret my impulse purchase and found that the appeal of the bright yellow dustcover was not matched by its interior. Lots of black and white photos of churches and landscapes with not a person in sight. Compared to my paperbacks it felt heavy and dull and it soon lost its appeal and it has for the past 5 years languished on my bookshelves along with the other dozens of unread books being occasionally rearranged but most of the time slowly gathering a film of neglected dust and never revealing its treasures.

It was only on leaving the house in March on a journey back to Spain that its bright yellow dustcover once again caught my eye just as it did back in the bookshop and ignoring its weight I slipped it into the already bulging suitcase.

Back in Spain and considering what book to read next it occurred to me that it was about time once again to learn more about the country I live in. So after the recent efforts to educate myself in politics and biographies, bringing myself up-to-date with current affairs and indulging in fiction I looked again at the now faded yellow cover up there on the shelf. So I picked up Cees again and took a long and winding journey to Santiago de Compostela.

In contrast to 5 years ago it was finally the intriguing black and white photos that finally won me over. My recent interest in black and white photography was the reason and I began to admire the pictures and the words wove around them. The pictures themselves tell a story of a country of old churches, roman architecture, empty roads and barren landscapes - all subjects that anyone living in Spain can identify with and all things that the author has seen during several of his journeys across Spain. He calls it a love affair and says that any year without a sight of Spain a year lost.

But what really draws you into the book is the wonderful prose - so deep and meaningful that while the photos show you a world that you can recognize, the words take you into another world that your eyes have never seen before. On Page 46, for example, there is the story of a visit to Siguenza Cathedral to see the famous Condel "reclining on the tomb, reading a stone book, seemingly unaware of his own death".... and I soon settled down to an amazing book of insights and discoveries full of delightful prose.

His love of so many things Spanish such as the painter Zurbaran and the intricacies of Romanesque architecture draw you into a new world and give you more things to experience and appreciate. He sees a picture of the cloister in Santo Domingo de Silos with a twisted column and sets out to see it with his own eyes and his enthusiasm and joy of seeing things for himself is definitely infectious.

A week later we were on the same trip.