The Tomb in Seville - European Travel Books

Hardcover - 09 February, 2005 - Carroll & Graf
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: Norman Lewis
ISBN: 0786714395

Buy this book from Amazon.com

List Price: ~~$20.00~~
Amazon.com Price: $13.60
You Save: $6.40

Other books you may find interesting

Reviews by readers

A precise eye

"The Tomb in Seville," is a real literary treat. Norman Lewis has the precise eye, the kind that reminds you of Hemingway's very effective "In Our Time" vignettes. Like Hemingway, Lewis couples finely drawn (and pregnant) images and events to a clear and understated prose. Such a combination recalls the best efforts of Rebecca West, Graham Greene and, going back, Turgenyev. To some extent I found "The Tomb in Seville" superior to Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia," though the comparison is somewhat uneven. I think, looking back, we now view Orwell's effort as part of his indictment of Communism. Lewis' effort, which precedes the events of Orwell's book, is more limited in scope (and better written).

Mention is made here of this being Lewis' final book. Perhaps so, but in the Introduction mention is made of an earlier Spanish effort. Considering the slightness of the book, I tend this think "Seville" is more or less notes and outtakes of that previous effort. If so, these are quality notes and outtakes, and further testament of a fine writer.

State of Alarm

A good way to be exposed to the work of the now deceased Norman Lewis. While I question if the vivid quotes and descriptions could have been so readily and clearly called to mind by the author, even if aided by contemporaneous notes, over sixty years after the events, it is wonderful writing.

"...we had come to the end of Portugal. Its colour, its mystery and its splendid wilderness were no more. Forests had become managed woodlands, rivers were bridged, villages were encircled by cabbage patches and advertisements for coffee were stenciled on walls."

A read-in-one-sitting travel journal

There's no agenda in this book, but the observations are so keen and the prose is so clear that you will find yourself connecting the episodes with themes of your own. The author's character is non-existant and you can substitute yourself easily enough. Never boring, I easily could have read a hundred pages more.

Top of page