Winter in Majorca
Book review by Judy Reed
Original cover art by Judy Reed
Author: George Sand
Translated and annotated by Robert Graves, Valldemosa Edition, Mallorca, 1956
I’ve endeavored over the years to collect books written by or about George Sand and translated into English. I currently own 57. That may seem an impressive sum but pales in comparison to the number of books and short stories she penned. My introduction to her existence was through the 1991 film Impromptu about paramours George Sand and Frédéric Chopin. Judy Davis plays Sand and Hugh Grant takes on the role of Chopin.
Sand’s writing style is, of course, dated by today’s standards but conveys a rhythm comparable to the classical music composed by contemporaries such as Chopin, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Puccini, Dvořák, and others in the 19th Century. I literally hear their music in my head when I read Sand’s work. Take, for instance, these truncated passages from this book:
the “emptiness and stillness terrify me; symmetry and strict order overwhelm me with gloom” (something from Beethoven)
“whatever poet and painter might dream, nature has here created” (Mozart)
“roads are part river, part ditch, and part thicket” (Liszt)
Sand spent most of her time in her relationship with Chopin trying to improve his delicate health. Her son and daughter, Maurice and Solange, accompanied them to Majorca. Most everyone except Sand believed Chopin suffered from tuberculosis, even doctors. It was her idea to spend the winter of 1838-1839 in Majorca to improve Chopin’s bronchitis, as she put it. Majorca was known for its restorative climate but it may have inflamed Chopin’s symptoms. Nonetheless, he composed some of his best mazurkas and preludes in Majorca. He died ten years after their departure.
Sand wrote this book in 1855. She was extremely critical of the citizens of Majorca who, to her, seemed to be muscularly weaker than mainland Europeans, employed poor farming techniques, produced unappetizing meals, were inhospitable, and lacked industriousness. The “wildly different” scenery was its saving grace and the landscapes a mecca for artists. Although not a treatise (it’s only 174 pages), she offers a comprehensive treatment on the subjects of Majorcan history, Spanish Inquisition, the Moor’s occupation, Jewish merchants, architecture, artistic notables, as well as detailed descriptions of the scenery.
Sand’s novels usually have a morality theme and even though this is a journal written fifteen years after her winter in Majorca, she offers up this summary probably to counter the many criticisms she hurled at its citizenry:
“I have often dreamed of living in a deserted land, and every honest man will confess that he has done the same. But believe me, friends, our hearts are too affectionate to live alone, and the only alternative left us is to live in mutual tolerance.”
Judy Reed and her husband have contentedly lived in Wake Forest for ten years. She uses her time industriously in painting (walls and pictures), traveling, writing, researching, gardening, learning the violin, and a host of other wonderful things there are to attempt in this world. She retired from the National Park Service as an archeologist in 2006 which now allows her to do what she wants to do when she wants to do it although she absolutely loved her job with the NPS.