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Books Burn Badly
A masterpiece of unusual beauty by one of Europe's greatest living writers—a brilliant evocation of the Spanish Civil War
On August 19, 1936 Hercules the boxer stands on the quayside at Coruña and watches Fascist soldiers piling up books and setting them alight. With this moment a young, carefree group of friends are transformed into a broken generation. Out of this incident during the early months of Spain's tragic civil war, Manuel Rivas weaves a colorful tapestry of stories and unforgettable characters to create a panorama of 20th-century Spanish history—for it is not only the lives of Hercules the boxer and his friends that are tainted by the unending conflict, but also those of a young washerwoman who sees souls in the clouded river water and the stammering son of a judge who uncovers his father's hidden library. As the singed pages fly away on the breeze, their stories live on in the minds of their readers.
On August 19, 1936 Hercules the boxer stands on the quayside at Coruña and watches Fascist soldiers piling up books and setting them alight. With this moment a young, carefree group of friends are transformed into a broken generation. Out of this incident during the early months of Spain's tragic civil war, Manuel Rivas weaves a colorful tapestry of stories and unforgettable characters to create a panorama of 20th-century Spanish history—for it is not only the lives of Hercules the boxer and his friends that are tainted by the unending conflict, but also those of a young washerwoman who sees souls in the clouded river water and the stammering son of a judge who uncovers his father's hidden library. As the singed pages fly away on the breeze, their stories live on in the minds of their readers.
550 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2006
34 people are currently reading
781 people want to read
About the author
Manuel Rivas
109 books239 followersManuel Rivas Barrós (born 24 October 1957 in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain) is a Galician writer, poet and journalist.
Manuel Rivas Barrós began his writing career at the age of 15. He has written articles and literature essays for Spanish newspapers and television stations like Televisión de Galicia, El Ideal Gallego, La Voz de Galicia, El País, and was the sub-editor of Diario 16 in Galicia. He was a founding member of Greenpeace Spain, and played an important role during the 2002 Prestige oil spill near the Galician coast.
As of 2017, Rivas has published 9 anthologies of poetry, 14 novels and several literature essays. He is considered a revolutionary in contemporary Galician literature. His 1996 book "Que me queres, amor?", a series of sixteen short stories, was adapted by director José Luis Cuerda for his film "A lingua das bolboretas" ("Butterfly's Tongue"). His 1998 novel "O lápis do carpinteiro" ("The Carpenter's Pencil") has been published in nine countries and it is the most widely translated work in the history of Galician literature. It also was adapted to cinema as "O Lápis do Carpinteiro".
Manuel Rivas Barrós began his writing career at the age of 15. He has written articles and literature essays for Spanish newspapers and television stations like Televisión de Galicia, El Ideal Gallego, La Voz de Galicia, El País, and was the sub-editor of Diario 16 in Galicia. He was a founding member of Greenpeace Spain, and played an important role during the 2002 Prestige oil spill near the Galician coast.
As of 2017, Rivas has published 9 anthologies of poetry, 14 novels and several literature essays. He is considered a revolutionary in contemporary Galician literature. His 1996 book "Que me queres, amor?", a series of sixteen short stories, was adapted by director José Luis Cuerda for his film "A lingua das bolboretas" ("Butterfly's Tongue"). His 1998 novel "O lápis do carpinteiro" ("The Carpenter's Pencil") has been published in nine countries and it is the most widely translated work in the history of Galician literature. It also was adapted to cinema as "O Lápis do Carpinteiro".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
December 28, 2019
Rivas's story spans over a century of Spanish history, but centres on a single day in Coruña when the fascists burned a large number of books. From the cinders of that day rose the ashes of the novel; Hercules the boxer, the acerbic anarchist Polka, the asinine and dilettante censor Dez, the lives of all of these characters centre around that fateful day where the day embers of republican Spain where engulfed in the inferno of fascism. Rivas's novel isn't so much an grandiose exploration of the wrongs of fascism, but more its essential banality, as well as the small-minded and parochial acts of cruelty and insecurity which define it. So some soldiers decide on a whim to murder a gypsy family because they feel gypsies have gotten off lightly so far, so the soldiers gleefully confine works of genius and works of trash to the flames as they are unable to differentiate between the two outside the fact that they contravene the narrow confines of acceptable art in fascist Spain.
Rivas's novel paradoxically acts as a whirlwind dervish tour of 20th century Spanish history where nothing of any real notes. Instead Rivas explores the gradual disintegration of a generation beneath the oppressive weight of the Spanish government; the novel frequently meanders into tangents, from the search for a apocryphal Bible to the allegorical stories of John Black Eye which confound the censor or the juvenile indiscretions of Korea on the dockside. There is something disorganisation and dizzying about Rivas's style, as he constantly jumps between timelines, characters and narratives and at times this can be discombobulating for the reader, however there is no escaping the verve and originality of Rivas's style.
Rivas's novel paradoxically acts as a whirlwind dervish tour of 20th century Spanish history where nothing of any real notes. Instead Rivas explores the gradual disintegration of a generation beneath the oppressive weight of the Spanish government; the novel frequently meanders into tangents, from the search for a apocryphal Bible to the allegorical stories of John Black Eye which confound the censor or the juvenile indiscretions of Korea on the dockside. There is something disorganisation and dizzying about Rivas's style, as he constantly jumps between timelines, characters and narratives and at times this can be discombobulating for the reader, however there is no escaping the verve and originality of Rivas's style.
March 7, 2016
A día de hoy, la novela que más me ha gustado de Rivas es ésta. Totalmente cautivadora.
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November 15, 2012
I can count the number of books I have started reading and not finished on the fingers of one hand. This book is one of them. I got to page 218 of 545 and realised that I just wasn't enjoying it. Normally when I'm reading a book I hate to put it down and can't wait to pick it up again. Not with this one - I hated picking it up.
I think at times the book suffers from poor translation. Although I don't speak Galician, I do speak Spanish and Portuguese and I could often read the Galician wording below the English translation. As a translator, I do understand that this can give a text an 'exotic' or 'foreignised' flavour but for me it didn't work in this book.
The thing I found most frustrating was not being able to keep track of which character the narrative was referring to. A chapter would start with one male character then a few pages later I would realise that the pronoun 'he' was now referring to a different male character and I would have to go back to work out who.
This is a difficult book to read, with many unusual metaphors. I liked that they and one or two of them were very effective but very often they didn't work for me.
I think at times the book suffers from poor translation. Although I don't speak Galician, I do speak Spanish and Portuguese and I could often read the Galician wording below the English translation. As a translator, I do understand that this can give a text an 'exotic' or 'foreignised' flavour but for me it didn't work in this book.
The thing I found most frustrating was not being able to keep track of which character the narrative was referring to. A chapter would start with one male character then a few pages later I would realise that the pronoun 'he' was now referring to a different male character and I would have to go back to work out who.
This is a difficult book to read, with many unusual metaphors. I liked that they and one or two of them were very effective but very often they didn't work for me.
June 2, 2023
I struggled with this book - because of the length and sheer beauty of the writing. I kept re-reading passages. I feel in love with the characters - Olinda, Polka, Hercules,Gabriel, and O. And the rest, such a melange of supporting characters that at times I found it hard going. But the sheer beauty of the prose - as a poet i found it quite intoxicating. I was sad when it ended, the author had transported me into another world that felt so real. Just like my first experience of Bolano, in fact. I'd like to read something else by Rivas - but it'd have to be shorter.
December 29, 2015
El espíritu de libertad creativa de la II República, encarnada especialmente en una pandilla de jóvenes deportistas y literatos de A Coruña, sobrevive la insurreción militar, las masacres, y la pretendida extirpación de su memoria por el régimen franquista, para la enorme frustración de los represores obsesionados con ese proyecto. Es una gran novela, no sólo por su grueso (610 folios) sino por su complejidad y sus logros en presentar las maneras de pensar (y de amar y odiar, temer y esperar) de gente tan diversa como Polca, el jardinero-enterrador-gaitero; Ricardo Samos, el católico literato que quema libros y después llega a ser juez en el franquismo; Chelo Vidal, la bella mujer del juez y pintora reconocida, que resulta tener otra vida oculta, arriesgada y noble; Dez, el censor franquista gay que se fantasea poeta; Curtis, apodado "Hércules hijo de puta", grandísimo y fortísimo aspirante a electricista que se convierte en fotógrafo ambulante -- y los de las próximas generaciones, especialmente Gabriel, hijo de Ricardo Samos y Chelo Vidal, y Ó, hija de Polca. Y decenas de personajes más.
La quema de libros sacados de bibliotecas privadas y públicas en A Coruña un mes después de la insurrección falangista, en agosto de 1936, es la imagen central y recurrente. La memoria de esos libros, y la supervivencia de algunos con sus cantos quemados, y la búsqueda desesperada de uno en particular por el juez Samos, son la imagen central.
Muchas veces es difícil saber hasta bien entrado en un capítulo cuál de estos personajes está hablando o siendo observado, y si estamos en julio o agosto de 1936, o en 1963, o algún año posterior -- que me obligaba a releer las primeras oraciones una vez que me había ubicado. Y algunas de las historias no están resueltas. Por ejemplo, nunca entendí exactamente quién era o por qué importa un joven (contemporáneo de Gabriel Samos) a que llaman "Zonzo", y varios otros misterios en ese mundo donde todos manejaban el secretismo siguen misteriosos o ambiguos al final. Pero vale la pena hacer el esfuerzo, porque te hace sentir (sin tener que sufrirlo en carne propia) ese terrible régimen de miedo que era el franquismo. 20080927
La quema de libros sacados de bibliotecas privadas y públicas en A Coruña un mes después de la insurrección falangista, en agosto de 1936, es la imagen central y recurrente. La memoria de esos libros, y la supervivencia de algunos con sus cantos quemados, y la búsqueda desesperada de uno en particular por el juez Samos, son la imagen central.
Muchas veces es difícil saber hasta bien entrado en un capítulo cuál de estos personajes está hablando o siendo observado, y si estamos en julio o agosto de 1936, o en 1963, o algún año posterior -- que me obligaba a releer las primeras oraciones una vez que me había ubicado. Y algunas de las historias no están resueltas. Por ejemplo, nunca entendí exactamente quién era o por qué importa un joven (contemporáneo de Gabriel Samos) a que llaman "Zonzo", y varios otros misterios en ese mundo donde todos manejaban el secretismo siguen misteriosos o ambiguos al final. Pero vale la pena hacer el esfuerzo, porque te hace sentir (sin tener que sufrirlo en carne propia) ese terrible régimen de miedo que era el franquismo. 20080927
May 20, 2012
A panic purchase and evidence perhaps that W.H. Smith's at Heathrow Airport might want to consider a more considered attitude toward supply chain management, this is far from a bad book but, at the risk of confirming people's opinion of me as a bit of a thicko, a really difficult one to get into.
Each sentence is lovingly crafted - in the translation at least, although I have no reason to believe that the original Galician is any less accomplished - but therein lies the problem - if the author wanted to write a book of poetry, he should have written a book of poetry. A beautiful use of metaphor and imagery punctuates every pages but the text is comprised of a series of allusions and impressions, with narrative clinging on all too desperately - I like a difficult book but this was ridiculous.
I blame Twitter for the diminishing of my attention span.
Each sentence is lovingly crafted - in the translation at least, although I have no reason to believe that the original Galician is any less accomplished - but therein lies the problem - if the author wanted to write a book of poetry, he should have written a book of poetry. A beautiful use of metaphor and imagery punctuates every pages but the text is comprised of a series of allusions and impressions, with narrative clinging on all too desperately - I like a difficult book but this was ridiculous.
I blame Twitter for the diminishing of my attention span.
August 2, 2017
Quizás porque, como señala Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola, "los libros han ganado más batallas que las guerras", porque, parafraseando a Ricardo León, los libros hacen pensar y el pensamiento nos hace libres o porque "las guerras empiezan por las palabras", como afirma el escritor de la obra que reseño hoy, la quema de libros ha sido un acto recurrente a lo largo de la Historia. Tal vez por esto mismo, Manuel Rivas trueca Los libros arden mal en un homenaje a todos los libros quemados, destruidos, convirtiendo la quema de libros que se realizó en la Dársena y la plaza de María Pita de A Coruña el 19 de agosto de 1936 (tras el Golpe de Estado contra el Gobierno de la Segunda República y el mismo día que asesinaron a Federico García Lorca) en el eje central de la novela.
Opinión completa en http://estandocallada.blogspot.com.es...
Opinión completa en http://estandocallada.blogspot.com.es...
January 8, 2018
Máis por motivos extraliterarios que polos libros que lle tiña lido (uns millores e outros peores) non podo dicir que fose un admirador incondicional de Rivas, pero réndome á evidencia: un novelón cunha prosa belísima e narrando unha historia longa, con personaxes perfetamente debuxados (se acaso póñolle un pequeno reparo ó seu maniqueísmo: tan bos os bos, tan irremediablemente maus os maus) e unha trama moi traballada que -lamentablemente, por outra parte- segue de actualidade hoxe.
Un punto adicional para min é a ambientación nunha Coruña que xa só existe residualmente pero é tanto máis recoñecible canto máis perto da miña infancia van as miñas lembranzas. Se Pontevedra ten a 'Saga-fuga' e Ourense 'A Esmorga', para min a gran novela coruñesa é esta 'Os libros arden mal'.
Un punto adicional para min é a ambientación nunha Coruña que xa só existe residualmente pero é tanto máis recoñecible canto máis perto da miña infancia van as miñas lembranzas. Se Pontevedra ten a 'Saga-fuga' e Ourense 'A Esmorga', para min a gran novela coruñesa é esta 'Os libros arden mal'.
October 25, 2017
I love Manuel Rivas. This book is a bit of a puzzle, a poem and an obfuscated history. The story shifts characters so frequently (some of which are recurring and others just drop out-which may be toward the point) it is hard to know where to focus attention and I can see that it could be challenging if you are not already interested in the author or subject of the Spanish civil war. There is some patience required and a rough knowledge of the subject helps greatly. It is a history that is quiet, not talked about or even much written about but one that is still alive. Also his style of writing is a little abstract but I find he manages to say things in a very new and pertinent way. What a great author to discover. One of my favorites.
December 7, 2011
Most likely Books Burn Badly merits a higher rating. At times I found it riveting, but the majority of the effort was a flailing though endless noodles of dialogue and description which simmered without the benefit of elucidation.
October 12, 2016
Maravilloso dominio del lenguaje.
Manuel es el rey de la palabra: La mima, la rescata del olvido, la despierta del letargo y la eleva a un nivel de consciencia mundano.
No tenemos nada igual en España.
Manuel es el rey de la palabra: La mima, la rescata del olvido, la despierta del letargo y la eleva a un nivel de consciencia mundano.
No tenemos nada igual en España.
January 12, 2023
This was a big disappointment to me as the subject matter around the Spanish Civil War I find fascinating. Last year I read the phenomenal "Homeland" by Fernando Arumburu and was hoping this would be similarly rewarding.
The scene upon which the book is titled occurs at the beginning of the book and is quite well done in portraying the barbaric nihilism of the action in a Galacian harbour town at the start of the Civil War. The language used in the book is poetic in form throughout and there are some delightful passages but for me the problem lies in the structure.
Individuals present at or connected with the book burning are followed up as their lives progress (or come to an abrupt, sometimes violent end) in the years that follow. This is fine as a concept but the "updates" are fragmentary, often the reader is left unclear as to whom the update refers to, and the updates themselves can be as short as a couple of paragraphs before Rivas takes us somewhere else.
I contrasted this very unfavorably with Nadas' " Book of Memories" which I finished recently where Nadas does a similar thing, jumping backwards and forwards in time and between characters but the updates are substantial and meaningful so the reader can both identify, and identify with the subjects being described.
I see the book divides opinion and I now know why.
The scene upon which the book is titled occurs at the beginning of the book and is quite well done in portraying the barbaric nihilism of the action in a Galacian harbour town at the start of the Civil War. The language used in the book is poetic in form throughout and there are some delightful passages but for me the problem lies in the structure.
Individuals present at or connected with the book burning are followed up as their lives progress (or come to an abrupt, sometimes violent end) in the years that follow. This is fine as a concept but the "updates" are fragmentary, often the reader is left unclear as to whom the update refers to, and the updates themselves can be as short as a couple of paragraphs before Rivas takes us somewhere else.
I contrasted this very unfavorably with Nadas' " Book of Memories" which I finished recently where Nadas does a similar thing, jumping backwards and forwards in time and between characters but the updates are substantial and meaningful so the reader can both identify, and identify with the subjects being described.
I see the book divides opinion and I now know why.
November 4, 2021
Rivas escribe muy bien, pero no, no llegué a conectar con el libro.
Una lástima. Una novela experimental que he acabado abandonando porqué no podía continuar.
Seguiré con el autor, pero con otros títulos.
Una lástima. Una novela experimental que he acabado abandonando porqué no podía continuar.
Seguiré con el autor, pero con otros títulos.
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September 16, 2013He aqu� la historia dram�tica de la cultura. La pesadilla que vive la ciudad no es una ficci�n. S�, es verdad. Est�n quemando las bibliotecas de los ateneos, del centro de estudios Germinal, del se�or Casares... El humo no levanta el vuelo. Es pegajoso. Huele a carne humana. En esta novela, las vidas de los libros, las personas y el lenguaje se cruzan y entrelazan en un intenso relato de suspense que transcurre desde el siglo XIX hasta nuestros d�as, entre la atrocidad autoritaria y la indomable libertad. La lavandera que ve pel�culas en el fluir del r�o, el boxeador anarquista, el bal�n del Diligent, el cantante de tangos, la cabeza de la mujer negra, la Rosa Taquigr�fica, la coccinella septempunctata, el coleccionista compulsivo de Biblias... Los libros arden mal es un universo poblado de voces ins�litas, de memorias que retumban o murmuran de forma inolvidable, verdadera literatura donde todo est� en vilo.
September 7, 2016
Translated from Galician, an account of teenage life during the Spanish War. Maybe it was the quality of the xlation (how many people speak Galician), but I gave up after 100pp, and I very rarely give up.
March 14, 2021
Cando este libro foi publicado orixinalmente chegou á miña casa unha copia en castelán que non quixen ler, coa idea de acabar mercandoo en galego. Xa choveu dende entón, é seica unha das razóns pola que tardei unha barbaridade en rematar este libro é porque a Memoria Histórica xa non está tan en voga ao meu parecer como daquela, canto menos na miña cabeza. Agora ben, dicir que o libro de Rivas xa non está de moda sería unha simplificación terribel. Precisamente porque un xa non vai con gomas do pelo no brazo a xeito de tricolor, este libro axuda a lembrar que “aquí non houbo guerra […] o que chaman guerra foi unha caza ….” Fronte ao “tan malos son uns extremos coma outros” que semella callado en boa parte, cómpre lembrar detalliños como o querer borrar da historia—literalmente—a xente como Casares Quiroga. Que non será o peor que se lle fixo a ninguén. Igual que a quema de libros sobre a que se vertebra o libro non será o peor que lle pasou a A Coruña en 40 anos de ditadura, pero é indicativo de algo.
Nisto da Memoria, Rivas merece un dez. E non (só) polos currantes de día, intelectuáis—boxeadores ou naturistas—de noite daquel derradeiro verán de Hespaña, senón (tamén) polo ben caracterizados que están os vencedores. Lonxe de ser unha panda de supervilans de comic, ou os asasinos que foron—para iso esta “Os Nomes do Terror”—Rivas introducenos a unha serie de persoaxes non libres de ideoloxia e certamente beneficiados polo Movimiento que de todos os xeitos podemos comprender, a pesares de estar nas antípodas deles. E coma case sempre, o mellor do autor é o seu humor. Frases que semella que lle escoitou a alguén nun bar, pero que probabelmente sexan completamente da súa autoría.
O problema deste libro non son as persoaxes, nin o trasfondo historico, nin a tradución—da que moitos angloparlantes se queixan, non sei se con razón ou sen ela— e simplemente que non ten trama—ou eu non lla din atopado. Non son dos que precisa dun asasinato ou unha misión encargada por un feiticeiro para seguir lendo, pero non teño claro porque non o deixei para ir na procura de algo máis entretido. Diría que cada capítulo está ben, ao seu xeito, pero ás veces un ten a impresión de estar a ler unha viñeta sobre A Coruña da (pre/post)Guerra, sen moita relación co lido ata entón, ou co que imos ler a continuación.
Gustariame animar a xente que o deixou a medias a que lle dera unha segunda oportunidade, pero se lichedes 100 páxinas e non vos convenceu, penso que facedes ben en ir buscar outro libro (de Rivas) que ler.
Nisto da Memoria, Rivas merece un dez. E non (só) polos currantes de día, intelectuáis—boxeadores ou naturistas—de noite daquel derradeiro verán de Hespaña, senón (tamén) polo ben caracterizados que están os vencedores. Lonxe de ser unha panda de supervilans de comic, ou os asasinos que foron—para iso esta “Os Nomes do Terror”—Rivas introducenos a unha serie de persoaxes non libres de ideoloxia e certamente beneficiados polo Movimiento que de todos os xeitos podemos comprender, a pesares de estar nas antípodas deles. E coma case sempre, o mellor do autor é o seu humor. Frases que semella que lle escoitou a alguén nun bar, pero que probabelmente sexan completamente da súa autoría.
O problema deste libro non son as persoaxes, nin o trasfondo historico, nin a tradución—da que moitos angloparlantes se queixan, non sei se con razón ou sen ela— e simplemente que non ten trama—ou eu non lla din atopado. Non son dos que precisa dun asasinato ou unha misión encargada por un feiticeiro para seguir lendo, pero non teño claro porque non o deixei para ir na procura de algo máis entretido. Diría que cada capítulo está ben, ao seu xeito, pero ás veces un ten a impresión de estar a ler unha viñeta sobre A Coruña da (pre/post)Guerra, sen moita relación co lido ata entón, ou co que imos ler a continuación.
Gustariame animar a xente que o deixou a medias a que lle dera unha segunda oportunidade, pero se lichedes 100 páxinas e non vos convenceu, penso que facedes ben en ir buscar outro libro (de Rivas) que ler.
August 18, 2022
Books Burn Badly spans twentieth century Spain, with the narrative of much of the start of the book based during the Spanish civil war, where the nationalists/fascists carried out ritual book burning. The majority of the rest of the novel is set during the time of the Franco dictatorship, with a few paragraphs at the end set in the post Franco era. There are a lot of characters, including some that recur. The boxer Hercules spans many eras, a man with democratic sympathies who was only allowed to fight once. Later on, much of the narrative focuses on Samos, a judge, and Ren, a censor, who form part of the power elite of the dictatorship.
The language was often beautiful and evocative, with many images that stick in the memory, such as the books that don't burn properly, including a treatise on electrical engineering, which has periodic significance thereafter. The sections that focus on specific characters were the ones that worked best in my view, particularly those around Samos, detailing his obsessions with trashy novels, and his worries that his son won't be accepted because of his stutter.
However, I found that the overall structure of the book was too diffuse. There were too many characters for them all to be easily recognizable, and in some chapters, it was not clear who was speaking. This also made some of the themes hard to follow; some of the events seemed anecdotes on first reading, although if copious notes had been taken, perhaps I would have taken a different view.
There is a grandness about the book, both in the scale of the story and the evocative of the language that mean I would recommend it (some pre-knowledge of Spanish history would help comprehension). It would likely benefit from re-reading, although that it not an exercise that everyone will undertake.
The language was often beautiful and evocative, with many images that stick in the memory, such as the books that don't burn properly, including a treatise on electrical engineering, which has periodic significance thereafter. The sections that focus on specific characters were the ones that worked best in my view, particularly those around Samos, detailing his obsessions with trashy novels, and his worries that his son won't be accepted because of his stutter.
However, I found that the overall structure of the book was too diffuse. There were too many characters for them all to be easily recognizable, and in some chapters, it was not clear who was speaking. This also made some of the themes hard to follow; some of the events seemed anecdotes on first reading, although if copious notes had been taken, perhaps I would have taken a different view.
There is a grandness about the book, both in the scale of the story and the evocative of the language that mean I would recommend it (some pre-knowledge of Spanish history would help comprehension). It would likely benefit from re-reading, although that it not an exercise that everyone will undertake.
September 23, 2017
Un libro fabuloso que no podré terminar de leer porque la vida sigue... pero lo recomiendo a los que tienen el tiempo y nunca han leído nada de Galicia. Es la mejor introducción a un imaginario único, que se sitúa en la Guerra Civil con la quema de libros (por los facistas) en La Coruña, pero que en realidad es ancestral y se lee en ecos de voces que resuenan en la historia. Voces de mujeres, la lavandera, la bruja, el niño y, de fondo, siempre el río, el mar, la relación interrumpida del pueblo con su tierra. Me parece una dedicatoria de amor profundo, con influencia marquesiana sin duda en el enfoque y en el lenguaje mágico de la memoria, pero como tal, una novela parte de la literatura global de este siglo.
February 11, 2018
I suspect a great many of the issues that I had with this book, which I really, really struggled to read, were simply due to the translation, which was....not good, really. You get the sense that it was translated word for word, rather than in the spirit of each sentence, and so has become quite laborious and torturous. It's a shame, but having to work so hard to understand what was going on rather spoiled everything else.
January 4, 2024
Multiple stories converging into a historic event where a pyre of printed matter was torched by soldiers in Spain on 19th August 1936. Animal magnetism, acetylsalicylic acid, women carrying things (sewing machines, washing or fish) on their heads, a judge who's son stammers, a boxer - with a tooth in his glove - a lighthouse, a photographer and a dancer along with many other interesting characters and characteristics formulate this complex tale.
May 18, 2024
Ojalá pudiera darle más puntuación, porque el tema es muy interesante y hay un par de momentos muy emotivos y muy interesantes. Sin embargo, dichos momentos estan en su mayoría en el primer 25% del libro, y el resto se me hizo innecesariamente denso, largo y aburrido (lo siento). Lo acabé por cabezonería y fuerza de voluntad pura, porque hace años lo intenté y no pude con él.
August 17, 2024
He disfrutado cuando estaba leyendo la novela. Pero es costosa de leer, porque aparecen distintos personajes, sin un orden, así como el fondo, que no es agradable. Aunque desees ponerte a leerla, no puedes estar toda la tarde porque va aumentando su densidad. Sus alegorías dan aire fresco a la novela, pero no el suficiente.
August 13, 2017
This is an unusual and uneven book but I couldn't get enough. The Spanish Civil War's impact on individuals in Coruna is told through short episodes, untidy narratives and it is the portraits of individuals which grip. Th
April 9, 2020
This was very challenging for me, but rewarding. I found an online dissertation by Ruth Deblaere very helpful.
February 26, 2021
Describe sucesos que ocurrieron en Galicia durante finales del siglo XIX y el tiempo de la guerra civil. Literatura y más literatura, personajes inusuales, sucesos verdaderos alrededor del ideario fascista y la quema sistemática de libros.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 18, 2025
The future is surely uncertain: who can say what will happen? But the past is also uncertain: who can say what happened? frontspiece
Riveting, hard to read, horrifying in its immediacy. An amazing acheivement
The darkness is also in pieces. Translucent, empty. p59
Riveting, hard to read, horrifying in its immediacy. An amazing acheivement
The darkness is also in pieces. Translucent, empty. p59
October 15, 2017
Review to follow
February 8, 2018
A very absorbing read set in the post Spanish Civil War period. I was very intrigued by the characters and the various stories being told in this quilt patch work novel.
May 22, 2018
Good writing, sometimes boring. Too many characters. Confusing. Good subject: politics.
May 5, 2020
Manuel Rivas escribe muy bien y tiene pasajes e información muy interesantes. Pero se hace pesado y aburrido en muchos momentos.
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