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Walka Kotów (2010)

by Eduardo Mendoza(Favorite Author)

3.35 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Znak Literanova

review 1: I don't quite know what to make of this book. Mendoza is a Spanish writer working in Spanish (and in this case, very well translated) but his hero is an Englishman, an art historian, and a not entirely likeable sort of fellow. He comes to Madrid as the country rumbles towards Civil War, to give advice to an aristocrat and collector of paintings about works in his collection. On his arrival, he becomes embroiled with not only this family, but with a Spaniard he meets in a bar and the prostitute he's introduced to. The British Embassy and the Spanish Police also take an interest in him, and before long there are so many characters waiting round every corner that it's hard to keep track. At first gripped by what seemed as if it would be an original story giving a fair bi... moret of insight into 1930s Spain, I soon became exasperated by the list of characters and the increasing implausibility of the crowded plot. I wondered at the British characters too: all intelligent, university educated types lacking in human warmth and common sense. Is that how Mendoza sees all Brits, or just the ones in this story? I read to the end, but closed the last page with a sense of relief.
review 2: Fantastic... a evocative portrait of a Spain on the edge of chaos and a most singular example of Boobus Britannicus who is thrust unprepared into the middle of it all and frequently wonders if he has become the focus for all political intrigue in the country. The story sometimes seems to be pure burlesque but that cannot be avoided given the uncertain times it portrays but the narrative is so skillfully constructed that the change in tone is seamless. The novel ends on an even note... but no such happy fate was in the offing for one of the real characters featured in the book - the younger Primo De Riveras faced a firing squad soon after the civil war broke out... less

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