IN SARA'S TENTS

by Walter Starkie ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 19, 1954

The author of this discerning and devoted account of gypsy life today, its history and philosophy, has travelled many roads with the Romanichals, among them the road to Camargue and the pilgrimage to St. Sara's Shrine. His book is divided into two journeys. The first is one forward in space, backward in time, as he tells gypsy history from the first migration to Europe in 1419 when gypsies were treated as pilgrims, on through the ages when distrust strengthened as the ""tradition of roguery"" became evident, to the present, when the gypsies try to fuse the mechanical civilization about them with their own nomadic and patriarchal life ways. Their music is a minstrelsy of perpetuation rather than creation, and is a part of their Shamanism but also a valuable cultural offering. The Second journey occurs from 1940 to 1951, as the author hears the Dawn Singers of Murcia, sees the Mystery Play at Elche, surely a precursor of opera, he says, and finally makes his pilgrimage with fascinating companions to St. Sara's Shrine. A deep intellectual interest in gypsy culture reveals itself here, especially in the area of music, the author's own specialty. As for the author, there is a touch of myth to him and his style as he lives under ""the tinker's curse"" and A.E.'s advice to follow the road his heart desires. Definitely a specialty market.

Pub Date: Feb. 19, 1954

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1954

Categories: NONFICTION