Escaping the Cold
Jan. 29th, 2014 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mtvesselJun 2013
The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society - Chris Stewart - Sort Of Books, 2009
* * *
At time of writing Britain is enjoying the first prolonged bout of Mediterranean weather that we have had in seven years, but in general this country is much too chilly and grey for me (I hate and fear the cold because I know that it will get me in the end). This may be why I have a soft spot for Chris Stewart's books - after all, he has done what many of us only dream of doing and upped sticks to live a few hundred miles further south in a different culture but a warmer climate. I have to say, however, that this one didn't quite do it for me. It's still charming and enjoyable and there are some good stories in it, but it lacked a certain something.
I think this is mostly because the previous two books covered the early years of the farm, so there was a certain tension about whether he could manage the transition and resolve the inevitable cultural misunderstandings that bedevil anyone trying to live in a place in which they have not grown up. These stories come from later on. Stewart is now an established member of the community and a successful author, his daughter is a teenager and the farm is a viable concern without any threats to its existence. As a result, the stories lack tension. There are some nice ones - a frog-catching expedition as a father-daughter bonding moment and the time when Stewart has to bluff his way as a cultural tour guide to some distinguished Bostonians are two which stick in the mind for their emotional and comic qualities respectively. You won't look at olive oil in quite the same way after reading about its production, either. But it all felt a bit comfortable and smug, especially the story about the visit from the Spanish equivalent of "House and Garden" and the titular tale of walking in the mountains to see the almond blossom.
The most telling chapters - which form the nearest thing the book has to an ongoing narrative - concern an encounter with some Moroccan immigrants and a subsequent visit to their homeland to collect seed specimens from a rare tree. Stewart clearly admires the men who face hardship and deprivation in their attempt to escape the restrictions of their own culture, which is not surprising as they share his qualities of an unreasonable optimism and a go-getting attitude. Clearly these are the characteristics of a successful immigrant, which is bad news for those of us who lack them but dream of escaping to a warmer climate. Though as one of the chapters in this book covers the privations of a freezing winter, it seems that the cold can get you wherever you run. Maybe I'll just stick to wrapping up warm.
The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society - Chris Stewart - Sort Of Books, 2009
* * *
At time of writing Britain is enjoying the first prolonged bout of Mediterranean weather that we have had in seven years, but in general this country is much too chilly and grey for me (I hate and fear the cold because I know that it will get me in the end). This may be why I have a soft spot for Chris Stewart's books - after all, he has done what many of us only dream of doing and upped sticks to live a few hundred miles further south in a different culture but a warmer climate. I have to say, however, that this one didn't quite do it for me. It's still charming and enjoyable and there are some good stories in it, but it lacked a certain something.
I think this is mostly because the previous two books covered the early years of the farm, so there was a certain tension about whether he could manage the transition and resolve the inevitable cultural misunderstandings that bedevil anyone trying to live in a place in which they have not grown up. These stories come from later on. Stewart is now an established member of the community and a successful author, his daughter is a teenager and the farm is a viable concern without any threats to its existence. As a result, the stories lack tension. There are some nice ones - a frog-catching expedition as a father-daughter bonding moment and the time when Stewart has to bluff his way as a cultural tour guide to some distinguished Bostonians are two which stick in the mind for their emotional and comic qualities respectively. You won't look at olive oil in quite the same way after reading about its production, either. But it all felt a bit comfortable and smug, especially the story about the visit from the Spanish equivalent of "House and Garden" and the titular tale of walking in the mountains to see the almond blossom.
The most telling chapters - which form the nearest thing the book has to an ongoing narrative - concern an encounter with some Moroccan immigrants and a subsequent visit to their homeland to collect seed specimens from a rare tree. Stewart clearly admires the men who face hardship and deprivation in their attempt to escape the restrictions of their own culture, which is not surprising as they share his qualities of an unreasonable optimism and a go-getting attitude. Clearly these are the characteristics of a successful immigrant, which is bad news for those of us who lack them but dream of escaping to a warmer climate. Though as one of the chapters in this book covers the privations of a freezing winter, it seems that the cold can get you wherever you run. Maybe I'll just stick to wrapping up warm.