Read this in fits and starts over the course of more than 6 months. Unlike most books of this kind of formidable length, the episodic nature makes it easy to take a break every few hundred pages or so.

I’ve seen some reviews online complaining about the long-winded digressive nature of the book. I’ve always happenened to like digression, and Rebecca West is such a consumate writer that any departure from the travelogue that ostensibly makes up the backbone of the book feels like a necessary and essential piece of insight and background. West demonstrates the best kind of travel, one that in our increasingly commodified world is harder and harder to accomplish. It’s true that the kind of journey that West takes in this book is not only difficult but also not economically feasible for most of us; it’s also harder to find destinations genuinely different from a growing global monoculture. That said, West uses every experience during her travel through the Balkans as a jumping off point for the keenest observations on history, culture, and politics that show just how valuable traveling to a foreign land can be. Reading this book reminds me of the feeling of hyper-observance and attention to every aspect of visiting a place far away from home - I remember my first trip abroad, and the feeling that I could simply sit and fill up notebook after notebook with the insights, thrills, and insecurities of being in an alien environment. What makes Black Lamb and Grey Falcon different from some backpackers scribblings is that Rebecca West truly is one of the best to ever do it. It’s astounding the amount of research that must have gone into this book and the way it is seamlessly integrated into a narrative filled with striking detail and beautiful language. Some may claim that West’s viewpoint is dated, but I found her confidence in her assessment of cultures other than her own, even when clearly being views through her own ‘western’ biases, really refreshing and forthright. Her thoughts and feelings about her subjects are never predictable, always nuanced, so much so that I sometimes had to read a passage again just to try and figure out how she actually felt, only realize that maybe she didn’t clearly know either.

You will learn a lot from this book if you pay attention, and though it might seem meandering in the thick of it, the epilogue perfectly lays out the essential and important message of the book. The fact that it comes right at the end indicates that West was feeling out her ideas and searching for the central message of her experience in the Balkans right along with us. To be able to spend so much time with a genius, following their trains of thought as they work towards a brilliant insight is a big part of what makes this book a masterpiece. ( )

‘Cordero negro y halcón gris’, de Rebecca West: un libro que ninguna persona culta debe ignorar, Babelia 13.02.2024: https://elpais.com/babelia/2024-02-13/cordero-negro-y-halcon-gris-de-rebecca-wes...

I finally finished this mother. It was given to me as a gift and I was intimidated by the heft. However, it was one of the finest books I have ever read. It is part travelog, part history, and part literature. It is one of the great books of the 20th century, a magnum opus.

A detailed history of the now Balkanized Yugoslavia up to WWII. It also features some of the finest prose ever put to paper in English. In addition it gives a delightful look into West's Easter holiday in Yugoslavia in the 1930s. By turns humorous and tragic, West also imbues it with her own idiosyncratic thoughts on history, literature, and life. She obviously loves the country and its people even as she recounts the often tragic and bloody history of the Balkans that continues even today. West has one of the great voices.

The book features a fine essay/introduction by the unsurpassable Christopher Hitchens that is a pleasure by itself. It is the worthiest introduction to the book I can think of. ( )

Another book not for the faint of heart, 1100 + pages. An account of Ms. West's travels through then Yugoslavia before the Second World War. Combines the history and architecture and the people very well. The darkening shadows of the War is hinted at too. ( )

While I learned a lot about the various Slav cultures & history, I didn't much care for West's own philosophical thoughts. Even when I agreed with her, something about the way she phrased them rubbed me the wrong way. I found it a struggle to read 50-100 pages at a time, which with a book of over 1000 pages is a great inconvenience! ( )