Confederates in the Attic

Who would have thought that I would enjoy reading a book about the Civil War and the people who love it as much as I did? I sure didn't. I love travel writing, and historical travel writing at that, but I often overlook books written in and about my own country. Tony Horwitz's book Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War was a tremendous eye-opener to some of the beliefs and passions of the lower-half of this country. I had heard of Civil War reenactors and knew that people were still attached to the Confederate flag - enough to stand screaming in the streets to protest it's removal from this or that state's capitol dome. However, I really hadn't given much more thought to them than that - until this book. Living in a liberal, urban city like Chicago, it is easy to forget that at least half of the population of this country is vastly opposed to my politics.

Horwitz is a clear Civil War and history buff, and his travels throughout the South and major landmarks of the Civil War are refreshingly eager and passionate. Even when he disagrees with the people he meets, Horwitz portrays them in an even and honest light, not allowing his personal views to influence the reader's experience, and not turning the people into caricatures. This book was not only an engaging historical overview of the Civil War and major battles, it was a great insight into the mentality of those who still remember and revere the Confederate States of America and men like Jefferson Davis and Robert E Lee.

On his tours throughout Alabama, Virginia, Georgia and other southern states, Horwitz befriends a hardcore Civil War reenactor and spends many a night in filthy, stinking period piece clothing, marching towards Gettysburg with other hardcore reenactors. He visits the last living widow of a Confederate soldier and sits in on many a Sons/Daughters of the Confederacy meeting. Horwitz visits a town in Kentucky torn apart by a recent murder of a white man (by a young black man) sparked by the flying of the Confederate flag. He discovers that certain cities in the south rebuilt themselves with little to no recognition of their divided racial history, while others still revel in their rebel status.

I most appreciated the historical lesson about the Civil War that this book provided. I remember covering it in middle school but don't remember much about the war, a problem that Horwitz discusses in the book. The staggering amount of blood shed and lives lost is almost unbelievable. Horwitz also clears up many myths and misconceptions about the war (on both sides) for the reader.

Definitely a good book and a recommendation from me...if you like this sort of stuff.

When in Rome

I can hardly believe that in a few weeks I'll be in Rome. Even though I'll only be in the Eternal City for a few days total (before and after my cruise), I still chose to read at least one book about the city for every day I'll be there. Two of my favorites were Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr and As the Romans Do by Alan Epstein. Written in very different styles and covering different topics, the books were a wonderful complement to one another.


The full title of Anthony Doerr's short travelogue is Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World. Anthony's wife gives birth to twin boys on the same day that he finds out he has been selected for a prestigious one-year fellowship in Rome. Talk about everything happening at once. Bravely, the new family decides to make the journey and they move to Rome (a place neither of the parents had been) with six-month old twins for a fantastic adventure. The book captures not only the chaos, awe, confusion and charm that the Doerr's face as American transplants in Italy, but the extra-added bonus of being sleep-deprived parents of infant twins (all the while, one, the author, is there to work on writing a novel). I found the book very poetic and charming. There were historical facts woven into the writing, but for the most part, it was a chronicle of the family's journey and experience of Rome. The author's attempt to experience and grapple with the distinct ways and charms of Italians. The family was living in Rome when Pope John Paul passed away and being able to witness the spectacle, the pilgrimage of millions to Vatican City and Rome must have been an amazing site. Doerr describes it, and everything, with care and love.

Favorite passage: "We came to Rome because we'd always regret it if we didn't, because every timidity eventually turns into regret. But the enormity of what I don't know about this place never ceases to amaze me...Rome is beautiful, Rome is ugly. Something about this city exacerbates contrasts, the incongruities and contradictions, a Levi's billboard ripping on the facade of a four-hundred-year-old church, a drunk sleeping on the tram in $300 shoes...It's like America before coffee was "to go," when a playground was a patch of gravel, some cigarette butts, and an uninspected swing set; when everybody smoked; when businesses in your neighborhood were owned by people who lived in your neighborhood; when children still stood on the front seats of moving cars and spread their fingers across the dash...It's a place where stoplights are open to interpretation, lattes should never be ordered after lunch, and a man is not considered a failure if he's forty years old and still spinning dough in a pizzeria...'Though you are a whole world, Rome,' Goethe wrote in 1790, 'still, without love, the world's not the world, Rome cannot be Rome.' A spring night is a power that sweeps through the crowded sheaves of blooming tulips and pours into your heart like a river."

Epstein's book As the Romans Do was as informative as Doerr's was poetic. Like Doerr, Epstein and his wife and their two sons decided to move to Rome - live the dream of so many other ex pats currently residing in the country. Granted, Epstein's sons weren't infants; it was still a move that took guts (and one that I admire, only because I would wish to one day do it). This book was both a decent piece of travel writing, but a very informative guide for someone about to visit the city. The pages I turned down in this book were notable, not for the lyrical content contained within, but for the helpful tips. Things I learned?

• You will pay more for your meal / drink if you sit down at a caffe, rather than order at the bar and stand like the locals do.

• Good luck making photocopies

• You better ALWAYS have the exact change - otherwise a simple purchase can turn into a three-hour, five-transaction affair

• Public drinking fountains are also called nasones and have some of the most delicious public water in the world (if you can figure out how to drink from them)

• Be prepared to eat late

• Be prepared to eat. Period.

These books were so helpful and really made me itch (even more than I already was) to get to Rome and experience it and its people. It seems like a fascinating cultural experience and I can't wait to try some of my very carefully practiced Italian phrases.

I only wish I had more time! There's always the next trip ;)

Barcelona

I have a new hobby that involves my two favorite things: reading and travelling. In preparation for my fall cruise to the Mediterranean, I have purchased four books on Italy and Barcelona to bone up on my knowledge of the land, the architecture, the people and the customs.

Up first was a 500+ page history of Barcelona. Sadly, I didn't realize that this history ended before Franco and did not really include any twentieth century focus. Anyway, it was still an eye-opener to realize how Barcelona's history is in some ways quite distinct from that of the rest of Spain. I really liked learning about the strong and defiant manner that the Catalans of Barcelona tried to separate and distinguish themselves from Castillian Spain. I was incorrect in my assumption that Catalan was simply a different dialect of Spanish - in fact it is an entirely different language, influenced by French and Latin.

The book made me even itchier to explore the fantastical architecture of Barcelona. And for the first time, I learned about Antoni Gaudi's life - his journey from a confident and ego-centric young architect to a penitent and lonely hermit. I've always dreamed of seeing his Sagrada Familia. It was begun in 1882 and slowly inched its way into the Barcelona sky over decades. In the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War, violent mobs turned their anger towards the Sagrada Familia. During this attack, the crypt was raided and bodies were dumped on the street. In addition, all of the plans, drawings and letters were burned. Gaudi, having passed away in 1926, was not around to share his vision. Construction continued, and continues to this day, but no one really knows what Gaudi's ultimate vision was for his church, nor how he would have finished it.

I'll have to find another source to round out my understanding of the city - I would really like to know more about the Civil War and Franco. I'm definitely getting more and more jazzed up for this trip. I wonder how many books I can bring with me on the boat...