Spain is Different (Interact Series)

This is an older book about the Spanish culture in comparison to the United States culture. It quite outdated, it was written in the 1990's, however, it really does give accurate information about the Spanish culture, I would recommend this to anyone visiting Spain! Please let me know if this review was helpful!

well written, slightly pedestrian, useful to someone planning to live in Spain. Attitudes change rather rapidly today, how long will those statement be yrue?

Ordered this out of curiosity, as I've been married to a Spaniard for over twenty years and lived in Spain for eight. Wanted to see how much the book would jibe with my experience. It jibes just about perfectly. This lady knows her subject and knows how to communicate it.

This book was suggested to me by an American living in Spain before I began my study abroad. It is an easy, quick, and informative read. While I feel that it is targeted towards Americans working in Spain (I am a student) it was still valuable for me in gaining a deeper understanding of the culture. I suggest it for any American that will be moving to Spain.

Read this for a trip abroad to Madrid, made a lot of sense when I got there. Even though it may be a tad out dated, its possibly perfect for that very reason. It's only been in the last 10 years that Spain has opened up it self even more, so you get a sense of the tensions surrounding the "youth" generation and the older. In the US we've become fairly devoid of understanding how powerful Franco's regime truly was. Today there's an awkward, quiet, sense around new comers in Spain, and I don't blame them. They're often confused by Americans as being the same as our friends south of our border. Its quick, but not an empty read. Worth the knowledge when you visit for a week trip or longer. There is so much history there, its great to reveal in a culture more intriguingly different than most of us in the US think. And mind you, I'm an avid world traveler....

I bought this out of curiosity, since I am working my way to Japan and read the book 'With respect to the Japanese' from the same book series. I was surprised when I saw there was even one for Spain, so I decided to give it a try. As a native Spaniard, I felt myself identified at times only. However, I have lived out of Spain for 5 years now, in Germany, Lebanon and the USA, and the way I behave does not seem to match the way that is described in the book entirely. Maybe I am not a good example of what the Spanish culture is anymore. The author describes situations, with which I am not in total agreement. The first edition was published in 1992, and the second in 1999. There must have been a lot of change since then. And I believe it is changing at a rapid rate. The author may consider the publication of a third edition.

This is a very useful book for people with little knowledge of contemporary Spain. In keeping with the goals of the Interact Series, of which it is a volume, "Spain is Different" highlights basic cultural differences between Spain and the United States. (The title refers playfully to a much mocked tourist slogan from the 1960s.) This brief book is not a travel guide, nor does it offer much in terms of historical overview. Wattley-Ames does, however, explain in straight forward fashion basic dynamics of Spanish society that will be unfamiliar to many Americans. Her writing is clear and to the point. (After an introductory chapter that situates Spain in relationship to Europe, Latin America and the United States there follow chapters on Society and the Individual; Relationships; Language and Communication; Work; and, finally, Play.) For example, her four page summary of Spanish family relationships is, with one exception that I'll get to in a moment, right on target. Not only does she situate family life in a broad social context that will be helpful to Americans planning a visit or move to Spain, but she also points out common Spanish feelings about American families: "As for the American habit of moving to the other side of the country or the world without a backward glance, most Spaniards are both envious and dismayed." It's a perceptive and accurate observation. Now, for the exception: in the same section on the family, she has this to say about the thorny issue of child raising in an American-Spanish marriage: "The American is inevitably stricter than the Spaniard about mealtimes, snacks, treats, and naps. Spanish children typically enjoy large quantities of attention and few rules at home." This last sentence is true, but a Spanish parent, especially a mother, may find American eating habits and table manners decidedly lenient. (And as an American married to a Spaniard, well, maybe I'm the exception to Wattley-Ames' rule...) Wattley-Ames' text is judiciously sprinkled with Spanish words and expressions that serve to underscore observations. She is clearly knowledgeable of her subject matter and the book is free of significant errors, although I might quibble with some omissions. (Her discussion of regional languages and linguistic politics, for example, is a little misleading and too brief.) On the other hand, her observations on Spanish social life are particularly astute. Just as importantly, she is well aware of the dangers of generalization and stereotyping, and combats this intelligently by accompanying her observations with appropriate real life examples, proverbs, quotes from respected Spanish observers, etc. Of particular value are the chapter ending "encounters", which provide concrete examples of situations in which an American would benefit from having 'cultural literacy' regarding Spanish customs and behaviors. There is a brief bibliography that includes a valuable section on recent Spanish cinema.