I almost tossed aside Bernhard Schlink’s latest novel.  Even now, having finished it, I’m not sure whether my persistence was a good thing or not.  It is, for the most part, a dull book.  The prose is generally flat and lifeless.  I felt nothing for its unnamed narrator, a buttoned-up, somewhat smug German lawyer, who finds himself embroiled in an unconvincing ménage à quatre with a celebrated painter, his muse, and the muse’s wealthy husband. But here’s something strange.  The final fifty or so pages – the denouement – are poignant and moving.  I can’t say they rescue the book.  They don’t, but I would have been sorry to have missed them.

An attitude worth fighting against as one gets older is underestimating the young.  Every generation, as it ages, should resist the temptation to think it understands what motivates young people and confront the tendency to simplify and generalize what matters to them.  Looking back today at the 1960s as the counterculture gathered momentum in places such as London and San Francisco, it’s hilarious to see how the middle-aged and elderly of the time missed the zeitgeist, misjudging completely the extraordinary creativity, energy, and commitment of the emerging generation.  The same risk is present right now: the lazy generalization that nothing more than consumerism, celebrity, and computer games motivate the young.

These thoughts were in part provoked by watching my own children react to political developments such as the Trump presidency and Brexit, but they intensified after spending a few days this month in Santiago de Compostela.  This small, beautiful city was crowded, as it often is, with those completing the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage (it dates from the 9th century) that ends at the resting place of St. James the Great in the cathedral.  It’s estimated that as many as 300,000 people each year complete the Camino on foot or by bicycle, traveling hundreds of miles from their homes or from one of the traditional starting points in France, Portugal, or Spain.

I’ve known for years about the Camino, but this was my first time visiting Santiago and seeing it for myself.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was very surprised and impressed by the huge number of young people in their teens and twenties among the peregrinos.  What motivated them?  For some of them it must have been tied to a religious or more widely spiritual impulse.  Perhaps for others it was the opportunity to be part of something ancient, to test their own endurance, or simply strenuous exercise in a beautiful setting.  Whatever it is that explains why so many young people walked or cycled hundreds of miles and to join in this ancient tradition, it was impossible not to impressed by them, by their commitment, energy, and sense of purpose.

The tiny town of Urueña (population 200) stands on a hill in the province of Castile and Léon, a couple of hours drive north of Madrid and a little way off the main highway.  Although it’s a pretty, picturesque place with its medieval walls, stone houses, and narrow streets, Urueña has one particular and very special distinction.  It’s a Villa del Libro, a town with an unusually high concentration of bookshops.  To be exact, Urueña has twelve – one bookshop for every sixteen inhabitants.

“Book towns” – magnets for bibliophiles like me – are nothing new.  You can find them in many countries around the world, though most are in Europe. They even have their own international organization.  Few are as charming as Urueña.  I loved my short stop there recently.

I spent my birthday on one of the Cíes Islands, Monteagudo.  The islands – three in total –  lie off the coast of Galicia in northwest Spain.  They’re celebrated for the beauty of their beaches and it’s not difficult to see why.  The main beach on Monteagudo has fine, white sand and stretches in a picturesque arc from the harbor.  Only the waters of the Atlantic, freezing cold even on a hot August day, spoil the idyll.

I usually get bored quickly on beaches, but I enjoyed my birthday on the Cíes Islands:  hanging out with the family, reading, and having tapas in a simple café overlooking the gorgeous beach.  An improvised birthday cake – a slice of tarta de Santiago – was the delicious finishing touch.