Grove Press, 1966, 407 p. Translated from the Spanish, La ciudad y los perros, (Editorial Seix Barral, S A, Barcelona, 1962) by Lysander Kemp

(I don’t usually remember exactly where I bought a book but with this one I do. It was in the Netherlands; in a charity shop/warehouse which had a large selection of books, one case of which were publications in English. I think it cost me one Euro, though it might have been €1.50.)

This was Llosa’s first novel and it is set in the Leoncio Prada Military Academy, among the cadets/pupils there, not all of whom are destined to join the army.

It depicts the everyday lives of the inmates, their raggings, joshings and bullying, their constant efforts to evade the rules – such as smoking, gambling, going over the wall at night, or even during the day – and to keep things secret from the officers. Some scenes are set in the surrounding city; illustrating memories of the inmates’ pasts or the intricacies of their love lives.

The plot revolves around the stealing of the text of a Chemistry exam the night before it is due to be taken. The designated cadet, Cava, makes a mistake and a window pane is broken. All passes are cancelled. In order to receive a pass to see his girlfriend a cadet nicknamed the Slave reports Cava to the officers. Later, the Slave is shot during a military exercise. The officers are at pains to insist it was an accident and ignore evidence and testimony to the contrary.

This is almost entirely a male environment; the dialogue often displays the prejudices of its time and place – especially with regard to the casual use of racist terms and to misogyny.

In their encounter the Slave’s father says to Alberto, “‘When you have a son, keep him away from his mother, There’s nothing like a woman to ruin a boy for life.’”

In the main we have here is an examination of the perennial battle of youth against authority, of the pressure to conform and of the constant tendency of institutions to cover up unfortunate happenings so as not to be shown in a bad light.

Pedant’s corner:- Translated into USian. I note La ciudad y los perros actually translates as The City and the Dogs. Otherwise; “tooth paste” (toothpaste,) “brief case” (briefcase,) “girl friend” (girlfriend,) “boy friend (boyfriend,) “on the double” (this military term is usually rendered as ‘at the double’,) “Montes’ bunk” (Montes’s.)

Jelle Dam was a socialist activist who helped illuminate the living conditions of agricultural workers in rural Friesland.

This replica of his last house is the final exhibit as you go round De Spitkeet anti-clockwise:-

Jelle Dam fared reasonably out of his writing. The interior is well appointed:-

Like many such houses one of the rooms was given over to being a shop selling produce grown on the land (plus some other.) These shops were usually tended to by the wife:-

After the Second World War housing was so scarce in the Friesland area that chicken coops were converted to housing. De Spitkeet contains an example of this. It looked fairly substantial to me and homely enough:-

Goats at De Spitkeet. This type of goat is particular to the area:-

Another building at De Spitkeet (see previous posts) was called the Jehannes-Hinke Hus:-

Side view:-

Entrance (and bikes):-

Entrance from inside:-

View from entrance:-

Looking back:-

Living room:-

Oven/cooker:-

Box bed:-

Another doll’s hosue:-

Thatched roof and tools:-

The cemetery at De Spitkeet has a wooden belfry. This was because it was believed bells frightened away evil spirits. No-one was buried there for nine years until the belfry was erected.

Part of cemetery with spitkeet earth house:-

Belfry and spitkeet house:-

There are several examples at De Spitkeet of the types of houses people lived in in the area in times gone by.

Below is a typical Spitkeet turf house:-

Reverse view:-

Entrance:-

Information about. In the Mallemolen museum part there was a photograph from the 1930 with children sleeping on the floor:-

Interior:-

Clogs:-

Fire layout and cooking pot:-

Parents’ bed:-

De Spitkeet is an open air rural museum near Harkema, Friesland, The Netherlands. A spitkeet was  akind of Earth-house.

The first exhibit you come to is a building called the Mallemolen:-

The Mallemolen acted as a poorhouse. The coldest room, on the northeast, was given to the latest arrivals and when others became available they would move into those:-

The rooms look not too bad though:-

Box beds:-

Near the Mallemolen was a stork’s nest:-

Niebert is a village in Groningen Province, The Netherlands. Its windmill also had an open day while were were there last June.

Windmill:-

Sketch of how a windmill works:-

I spotted these in a display case inside the  Windmill. At first I thought they might be cigarette cards but no. They are matchbox cards:-

Interior:-

Gearing wheel:-

Stairs. These were quite scary to ascend:-

And to descend!:-

Upper floor:-

Like similar country houses in the UK there wereexhibits of domestic life in Coendersborg.

Box bed + nightshirt:-

and bed pan:-

Wall tiles:-

Coendersborg basement:-

There was a museumy bit at the back of the house with exposed wooden beams:-

Poster of Squirrel. In Dutch a squirrel is an eekhorn. We spotted a red one from the house’s front window:-

Poster of flowers to be found in Coendersborg’s garden:-

Back of house:-

Coendersborg is a country estate in the village of Nuis in the Dutch province of Groningen.

Estate house:-

The hall:-

Painting in above photo:-

Fireplace in another room:-

Latin motto on a wall:-

Painting of house:-