As you know, there is a whole world of content out there in the Spanish language. We are focus here on some of our favourite Spanish TV shows and books, a few classics and some contemporary ones.
Lejos de ti/Lontano da te/Love, Inevitably
This television show, which airs on PBS and Apple TV, is about a free-spirited flamenco instructor from Seville and an uptight businessman from Rome. They meet in an airport in Prague and immediately dislike each other. Because of cancelled flights, they end up spending some time together in Prague before returning home. Once home, they realize they can’t stop thinking about each other. Indeed, they each have increasingly realistic visions of the other. Probably if this show was about a couple in Scranton/Winnipeg or Swindon/The Borders we wouldn’t have watched it. But the fact that it’s in Italian and Spanish, that the two stars (the Spanish one is Megan Montaner) are very winning (as is the supporting cast), and that the views of Seville and Rome are spectacular, pushes this Spanish TV show to the top.
La Otra Mirada
This Spanish television show is set in early 20th century Seville. Modern (trouser-wearing, smoking, jazz-listening) Teresa flees from a murder scene in Lisbon, with one clue, the name of a girl and her school in Seville. Teresa becomes a teacher at the school, and we are quickly drawn into the lives of the pupils and teachers. There is a good dynamic among the students themselves and between the students and teachers. In addition, many of the teachers lead complicated private lives. And a wealthy Sevillian family proves to be a baleful influence on the school and its inhabitants. Gorgeous filming, especially at the school (a local palacio).
Gran Hotel
This Spanish TV show is one of our long-time favourites, but it will take some effort on your part to track it down. The number of episodes depends on what platform you watch it on, but there are a LOT. Also set in the early 20th century, this one focuses on a wealthy, hotel-owning family and its employees. A handsome young man comes to the hotel to find out what happened to his sister who worked there as a maid but disappeared mysteriously. Surprise, surprise, he falls in love with the beautiful daughter of the owner, who is already engaged to the hotel manager. Scheming villains, period charm, beautiful people, and slow, clear Spanish make this one worth the investment. (There’s also a remake of it, Grand Hôtel, set on the French Riviera. But we don’t know anything about that one.)
Cervantes’ Exemplary Novels
In the signs you see around Seville, you note that Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra is called ‘the prince of Spanish writers’. His fame rests mainly on the amazing Don Quixote, which scholars generally recognize as the first modern novel. It’s a fantastic book, of course, but we also read his Exemplary Novels (Novelas ejemplares), published in 1613 between the first and second instalments of Don Quixote. Seville plays a role in some of them, especially in Rinconete y Cortadillo. Their length is more that of stories than novels. They are comical and sentimental, but also satirical and at times hard-hitting. Cervantes through his characters speaks out against the corruption and hypocrisy of his time, skewering rich and poor alike. One of the most entertaining of the stories is The Dialogue of the Dogs, wherein two dogs discuss society and human beings, to the discredit of both!
Javier Marías
We have been hearing about this author (and translator) for years. His most famous novel is probably A Heart So White or maybe The Infatuations; we’ve read Thus Bad Begins and All Souls (set in Oxford, UK). Marías is known for his innovative use of language, which must make him a beast to translate. (The English sentences are often rambling, whole paragraphs long.) Important influences are Cervantes and Laurence Sterne. These are two of our favourites, so we expected to love this dude. And we did. Plots are twisty and perhaps just a bit self-indulgent (especially Thus Bad Begins, which the critics did not love). But we found its glimpse into post-Franco Madrid fascinating. In spite of the very long sentences.
Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Zafón is by far the most famous of the authors here (except Cervantes), so if you’re a reader, chances are you know him. Indeed, he also cited Cervantes as an influence, and his intricate, rich plots are reminiscent of the English classics too. The Cemetery of Forgotten Books tetralogy contains The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel’s Game, The Prisoner of Heaven, and The Labyrinth of the Spirits. Set in Barcelona, they’re Gothic thrillers about books and publishing and authors (yes, we know: weird. But it works!). They are really fun to read: we devoured the first one when it came out, and have been keeping up ever since.
Arturo Pérez-Reverte
We have read this author’s The Seville Communion, a stand-alone thriller about a sexy priest and a ruined church. We loved the way it evokes the sights and smells of Seville! But he’s better known for his Alatriste novels, set in the Spanish age of exploration, and for his Falcó novels, set during the Spanish Civil War. Given how fun The Seville Communion was, we’re putting the rest of his books on our to-read list!
So there you have it, a round-up of our favourite Spanish TV shows and books. (We have also recently discovered Elvira Navarro, but not yet finished any of her novels.)
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