Most James Michener books take a real commitment to finish and this one is no exception. The Trade paperback version is 920 pages. Iberia is the first Michener book I have read, that has photographs throughout the book, though I must confess, for me, they didn’t add to the story in any significant way. Other very long Michener books I have read: Hawaii, Caribbean, Mexico, The Covenant, were all told in a historical fiction format, starting 10,000 years ago up through the time he wrote the book.
That format worked well because there was a logical flow of history up until the book was done being written, and so even if very significant things happened after the book was written it didn’t necessarily affect the book.
Iberia deviates from this format and is broken into 13 chapters that are mostly geographical, there is a chapter on bulls and bullfighting, but the problem is that each chapter is part history lesson and part travelogue, based on multiple visits to Spain by the author starting in 1931 and ending presumably in 1967- the book was published in 1968. The problem with this is 2 fold.
The first problem is much of what he describes is no longer accurate or still existing.
The second problem is what he chooses to describe and cover as it relates to his visits is completely random.
As usual the writing is superb and the history is facilitating, but the format doesn’t age well ( )

Interesting travel book, but quite long. I skimmed the last quarter of it.
All things about Spain. Learned some interesting details. ( )

4/7/22

Whew! It only took me 7 years to finish this book. It is solely my fault, I set it down and didn't pick it up for years, and when I did start it again, it didn't matter that I hadn't read it for a while. Now that I've finished, I feel like reading chunks of it again. It is not a novel, nor is it simply a travel memoir. It is Michener's paean to the country, culture and people of Spain. Michener had travelled in Spain in the 30s, before the Spanish Civil War and then returned 30 years later to explore it again. He delves into everything that makes Spain what it is, and he loves it, every bit of it: the food, the music, the architecture, the legends, the history, the bullfights, the romance and the reality of it. Even though this book is now 50 years old, I couldn't recommend a better introduction to both Michener and to the puzzle that is Spain. Though I could have done with a little less about the bulls, he did get me to appreciate that there is a kind of beauty to the barbaric practice. ( )

Spain through its history and current condition as of 1968 ( )