Rating: 
Summary: Life&Death in the plazas of Spain and a balcony in Scotland
Review: The Scotswoman Kennedy taps into a sense of the mystical in her contribution to the field of literature surrounding extra-cultural understandings of the Spanish bullfight. In this interesting and at times obscure account, the author contniues along the same lines of storytelling-on-the-side present in Hemingway's "Death in the Afternoon"."On Bullfighting" is based upon approximately 2 weeks spent watching bull fights in Spain (the author does not specifically state the amount of time she spends in Spain). Throughout the book, Kennedy draws parallels between her own life and the proceedings of the bullfight in a very personal and even intimate way. Her acceptance of the assignment to write the book, having given her a reason not to commit suicide, offers her a new window on death and a new (mortally viable) way to explore it. She explains the meaning of death in both her own prsonal life and as a theme in Spanish culture, with special reference to the poet Garcia Lorca. This gives the book more cultural variety than others available on the subject. Although the result of the book is a little aimless and self indulgent, it is based on sound and interesting details of the history of the cult of the bull in the mediterranean and includes some very provocative and true to life descriptions of what one can expect to see at an actual corrida of the present time. Her description of the preceedings of a typical 20th century bullfight are true to life and, in my opinion, the closest that you could get to watching a fight on the television or sitting in the barreras yourself! A short, easy read, and a book about the size of a hand, "On Bullfighting" is an enjoyable and factual read. I imagine that it would be especially suitable for travellers of Spain or anyone with a curiosity for Spanish culture.
Rating: 
Summary: Real insights on bullfighting
Review: There is very little taurine literature worth reading, specially in English. There is the dysfunctional American hotdog of the Hemingway type, busting with alcoholised mysticism, or else the false aficionado of the Barnaby Conrad sort, trading in stale myth-making and half-digested pseudosociology. Books of this kind proliferated in the 50s.
A L Kennedy writes instead an extended essay, full of real insights, in which she relates bullfighting to mankind's [sometimes unconscious, often not] preocupation with death. She does this without grandiosity or bombastic sententiousness, or even that tiresome female one-upmanship. The fact that she is very obviously an Anglo-saxon woman may grate on some readers; then again, the freshness of her point of view would not be the same if she were a classically-educated, conservative Spaniard speaking of a long-cherished, unquestioned value. It is this freshness that makes her contribution interesting.
The volume is perhaps poorly edited, but make no mistake: it is one of the few books on bullfighting worth reading. A minor classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Overwrought (but informative)
Review: This book is written in language that some might mistake for fluid, inventive prose - but it's labored and overwrought. It doesn't help that the subject matter continually returns to the author's health and ill-spirit, or that every problem in her life can be conveniently and neatly tied to bullfighting. A typical passage will open with her problems, then segue with something like "...but I won't think about my aching back, instead I'll distract myself with the story of xyz bullfighter who I just saw some film of..." and will then return to her issues with life. The suicide thing is, frankly, a cliche. Ending with the positive - she does a good job of delineating the history and the terminology as it would naturally become accessible to the first-timer.
Rating:
Summary: Overwrought (but informative)
Review: This book is written in language that some might mistake for fluid, inventive prose - but it's labored and overwrought. It doesn't help that the subject matter continually returns to the author's health and ill-spirit, or that every problem in her life can be conveniently and neatly tied to bullfighting. A typical passage will open with her problems, then segue with something like "...but I won't think about my aching back, instead I'll distract myself with the story of xyz bullfighter who I just saw some film of..." and will then return to her issues with life. The suicide thing is, frankly, a cliche. Ending with the positive - she does a good job of delineating the history and the terminology as it would naturally become accessible to the first-timer.
Rating:
Summary: A modern look at an ancient spectacle
Review: This book offers a refreshingly new slant on a subject that has been discussed at length by those who love and those who abhore the corrida de toros. At a time when animal rights enthusiasts would have us blush with shame over the systematic torture of an innocent animal, it takes courage and honest objectivity to bypass the emotional rhetoric in an effort to understand the history and the implications inherent in this unique dance of death. What can a contemporary Scottish woman in considerable physical and psychic pain tell us about this peculiarly Spanish drama? Surprisingly much. Kennedy covers a lot of ground very concisely and touches on artistic, moral, and philosophical implications that reverberate far beyond the immediate subject matter. Whether you have strong feelings for or against the ritual killing of bulls, you will find much that is thoughtprovoking in this cleardiscussion of the beauty and horror of bullfighting.
Rating: 
Summary: News about danger
Review: This is a riveting examination of suicidality and danger in both the toreros and the afficiandos. It was difficult not to consume the whole tour de force at one sitting: entertaining and distressing at the same time.
| 
