tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061009.post4877667788646809966..comments2023-08-19T14:12:52.220+02:00Comments on Reflection & Inquiries: Farewell to Franco?Geoffrey Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04041450398780043453noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061009.post-74915857038760675332007-10-21T16:24:00.000+02:002007-10-21T16:24:00.000+02:00Thanks for the literary reminders. I'll put Sephar...Thanks for the literary reminders. I'll put <I>Sepharad</I> on my "to read" list. Also, before writing a future essay on Catalonia's present-day issues, internally & with what Catalan nationalists call "Spain" (meaning the rest of the country but especially Madrid), I should re-read Orwell, to how well he spotted enduring conflicts.Geoffrey Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04041450398780043453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061009.post-56859588912867568962007-10-20T19:36:00.000+02:002007-10-20T19:36:00.000+02:00Since this is a about literature and society let m...Since this is a about literature and society let me remind us the spanish civil war is very well served in literature. To English reading readers probably the best known is Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, a pretty good description of guerilla military action from the viewpoint of one participant in Hemingway's usual minimal, macho style. Another account with lots of detailed action of many kinds, is André Malraux’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_Malraux) L’espoir (Called Man’s Hope in English). It gives a moving account the internecine strife among the republicans, particularly between the CP and other elements. Malraux was a pilot for the republicans and there is a lot of stuff about air warfare of the time, although a pilot friend of mine read it recently and was skeptical of its verisimilitude in places. George Orwell gives a lucid, journalist account in Homage to Catalonia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage_to_Catalonia). My current favorite is Antonio Muñoz Molina’s recent novel Sepharad (http://www.ralphmag.org/CR/sepharad.html). Like Geoff’s essay it deals with the current repercussions in Spanish society and by extension all of the suffering in Europe arising from the displacements of war and of totalitarianisms. It is a reflective novel, somewhat in the manner of W. G. Sebald (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Sebald), and long on dark meditation and short on overall plot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061009.post-82845610745460772262007-10-20T02:49:00.000+02:002007-10-20T02:49:00.000+02:00Excellent Essay!Excellent Essay!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com