The Land of My Fathers: A Son's Return to the Basque Country

by Robert Laxalt

Overview

In 1960, renowned Nevada writer Robert Laxalt moved himself and his family to a small Basque village in the French Pyrenees. The son of Basque emigrants, Laxalt wanted to learn as much as he could about the ancient and mysterious people from which he was descended and about the country from which his parents came. Thanks to his Basque surname and a wide network of family connections, Laxalt was able to penetrate the traditional reserve of the Basques in a way that outsiders rarely can. In the process, he gained rare insight into the nature of the Basques and the isolated, beautiful mountain world where they have lived for uncounted centuries. Based on Laxalt’s personal journals of this and a later sojourn in 1965, The Land of My Fathers is a moving record of a people and their homeland. Through Laxalt’s perceptive eyes and his wife Joyce’s photographs, we observe the Basques’ market days and festivals, join their dove hunts and harvests, share their humor and history, their deep sense of nationalism, their abiding pride in their culture and their homes, and discover the profound sources of the Basques’ strength and their endurance as a people. Photography by Joyce Laxalt.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874173956
Publisher:	University of Nevada Press
Publication date:	02/01/2012
Series:	The Basque Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	184
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Robert Laxalt grew up in Carson City, Nevada. He attended Santa Clara University in California and later graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno. He joined the staff of the University of Nevada in 1954, serving first as director of News and Publications and later as director of the University of Nevada Press, which he founded. He was named a Reynolds Distinguished Visiting Professor and was the first occupant of the Distinguished Nevada Author Chair. The author of seventeen books and many national magazine articles, his work has received international critical acclaim. He lived in Washoe Valley until his death in 2001.

Table of Contents

Cover Page Title Page Copyright Page Author's Note A Flight of Doves Words On Market Day Common Goal The Fishing Fleet Law Invaders Tree of Gernika Tragedy Weakness Fete Dieu in Iholdy Basque Troubadours Good and Evil Joust on a Wine Glass Contrabandiers Frills and Fancy High Mountain Chapel Curiosity The Pilgrimage A Mean Woman Open Doors High Country / Low Country The Priest at Arneguy An Auction Duty Sorgina Work The German Occupation Penance for a Collaborator The Street of the Americans Reputation A Lion Tamer The Village Gossip Let It Go By Pantasha Bohemes Arretalepho Drink The Brotherhood of Shepherds The Basque Character Fishwives The Wind and the Rain Dawn Station Marriage Winter Contraband: Matching Wits and Wiles Old Woman's Admonition Neither a Basque Heart Nor Song Old Woman with a Car A Diffusion of Light The Man at Aldudes The Land Is Their Life Equality A Complicated Transaction Village Churchyards A Bargain with the Devil Pace of Life A Bond of Blood Betrayal The Founding Father The Grand Chateau Trust Duty Poor and Proud Epilogue: Agur An Album of Photos from the Basque Country

Editorial Reviews

Short chapters, descriptive narration, and old sayings give the book the feel of a personal journal.” —France Today

From the Publisher