REVIEWS : : Walking Spain
International Book Excellence Award Winner
George Venn’s, Walking Spain is a passionate adventure memoir with hints at a personal search for purpose. The self-reflective, chronological narrative shares Venn’s personal journal entries from 1965-1966, covering his time in Salamanca, walking and hitchhiking the towns and roads and highways of Spain, Portugal, and England, and finally, returning home to Spokane, Washington to start a new life. In approachable and magnetic prose, it provides snapshots of every aspect of Venn’s travels – from the people he met, to the places he visited, to the cultural differences he experienced – offering compelling anecdotes that highlight both the enlightening and mundane aspects of travel. Enriched by collages to start each chapter, the book features memorabilia including postcards and personal photographs, which offer a visual record, further enhancing the overall reading experience.
The book’s enthusiasm for exploration is contagious. The prose is raw and direct, and illuminates a clear trajectory of Venn’s growth, from a virginal 21-year-old Idaho kid to a cultured, empowered international man of the world. In down-to-earth,
human moments, the book ably imparts a sense of the universality of the human condition, capturing the quest for love, justice, truth and a strong appreciation for multiculturalism, in time with Venn’s poignant, ongoing search for his sense of self.
Although Venn’s story is unique, the themes highlighted in the experiences that shaped him are universal. His reflection of them is deeply sympathetic, but also leaves you with something to think about. While both his character and journey are compelling enough as it is, Venn’s storytelling takes it a step further and immerses you in a depth of emotion that is truly moving, often while maintaining a surprising air of levity. The memoir sometimes reads like fiction and, here and there, you have to remind yourself that you’re reading a real-life account of his experiences. When you do, it makes the experience that much more profound. The fact that Venn was able to tell his story with such clarity and thoughtfulness at such a young age is an even greater testament to his tender insightfulness.
Powerful and poetic, Walking Spain traverses and sits with the history, land, people, and culture to share one man’s extraordinary coming of age adventure.
George Venn’s, Walking Spain is a passionate adventure memoir with hints at a personal search for purpose. The self-reflective, chronological narrative shares Venn’s personal journal entries from 1965-1966, covering his time in Salamanca, walking and hitchhiking the towns and roads and highways of Spain, Portugal, and England, and finally, returning home to Spokane, Washington to start a new life. In approachable and magnetic prose, it provides snapshots of every aspect of Venn’s travels – from the people he met, to the places he visited, to the cultural differences he experienced – offering compelling anecdotes that highlight both the enlightening and mundane aspects of travel. Enriched by collages to start each chapter, the book features memorabilia including postcards and personal photographs, which offer a visual record, further enhancing the overall reading experience.
The book’s enthusiasm for exploration is contagious. The prose is raw and direct, and illuminates a clear trajectory of Venn’s growth, from a virginal 21-year-old Idaho kid to a cultured, empowered international man of the world. In down-to-earth,
human moments, the book ably imparts a sense of the universality of the human condition, capturing the quest for love, justice, truth and a strong appreciation for multiculturalism, in time with Venn’s poignant, ongoing search for his sense of self.
Although Venn’s story is unique, the themes highlighted in the experiences that shaped him are universal. His reflection of them is deeply sympathetic, but also leaves you with something to think about. While both his character and journey are compelling enough as it is, Venn’s storytelling takes it a step further and immerses you in a depth of emotion that is truly moving, often while maintaining a surprising air of levity. The memoir sometimes reads like fiction and, here and there, you have to remind yourself that you’re reading a real-life account of his experiences. When you do, it makes the experience that much more profound. The fact that Venn was able to tell his story with such clarity and thoughtfulness at such a young age is an even greater testament to his tender insightfulness.
Powerful and poetic, Walking Spain traverses and sits with the history, land, people, and culture to share one man’s extraordinary coming of age adventure.
— Reviewed by Christian of Book Excellence, Niagara Falls, New York/Canada