The Carpenter's Pencil

Inbunden, 165 sidor

Publicerades av The Harvill Press.

ISBN:: 978-1-86046-743-1
OCLC-nummer:: 45405679

The Carpenter's Pencil (O lapis do carpinteiro in Galician) is a book written by the Galician author Manuel Rivas. The story revolves around a young couple, Daniel Da Barca and Marisa Mallo. Their happiness is destroyed when Galicia falls under a Falangist dictatorship. Set in the dark days of the Spanish Civil War, The Carpenter's Pencil charts the linked destinies of a remarkable cast of unique characters. All are bound by the events of the Civil War-the artists and the peasants alike-and all are brought to life, in Rivas's skillful hand, with the power of the carpenter's pencil, a pencil that draws both the measured line and the artist's dazzling vision.

4 utgåvor

Björn recenserade The Carpenter's Pencil av Manuel Rivas

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3 stjärnor

A story about two men - a Francoist jailer and a Republican prisoner-of-war - and one woman (and one ghost) set in and around the Spanish civil war. Avoids the obvious traps of either becoming a maudlin love triangle or an angry political novel, thanks both to Rivas' almost-too-poetic prose and the central idea: The story is, for the most part, narrated by the one who'd ordinarily be the bad guy - Herbal, the man who fought for Franco, who became a jailer and an executioner ridding the fascists of political prisoners, and who then becomes haunted by the soul of a painter kills. He takes the painter's pencil, puts it behind his ear, and cannot stop hearing his voice; empathy forced upon those who can't use it.

It's a great idea, and Rivas' prose is often stunningly beautiful. The problem, if there is such a thing because this is …

A story about two men - a Francoist jailer and a Republican prisoner-of-war - and one woman (and one ghost) set in and around the Spanish civil war. Avoids the obvious traps of either becoming a maudlin love triangle or an angry political novel, thanks both to Rivas' almost-too-poetic prose and the central idea: The story is, for the most part, narrated by the one who'd ordinarily be the bad guy - Herbal, the man who fought for Franco, who became a jailer and an executioner ridding the fascists of political prisoners, and who then becomes haunted by the soul of a painter kills. He takes the painter's pencil, puts it behind his ear, and cannot stop hearing his voice; empathy forced upon those who can't use it.

It's a great idea, and Rivas' prose is often stunningly beautiful. The problem, if there is such a thing because this is a quite good novel, is that its two strengths don't necessarily pull in the same direction. Rivas gets so busy shifting perspective, timelines and character focus that the novel gets a bit vaguer than I'd like, at least for a holiday read (which is my bad). In bits and pieces it's breathtaking, I just feel like the heart of it gets lost a bit at times. But very worthwhile nonetheless, and definitely marked for a re-read at some point.

Ämnen

Modern fiction
Fiction