Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging and beautiful! 4.5/5 stars, September 12, 2008
This review is from: Guernica: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I have read a lot of Spanish Civil War literature because I have a Ph.D in contemporary Spanish literature. (20th century). From Ramón Sender, to Hemingway, I have studied how this event has been portrayed in literature through the perception of many different authors. I say this not to boast, but to hopefully add a bit of weight to my opinion about this novel. Dave Boling has written a nearly-perfect book with so many positives that I would recommend it to anyone interested in reading it. What he does so well is characterization. These Basque people come to life and from the pages of this book, the reader can see, smell and practically taste their culture and how it completely defines them. The dialogue between them is playful when it needs to be, poignant when it needs to be and yet seems so natural, as if you, the reader, were eavesdropping on actual conversations. I personally enjoyed the variety of characters (both historical and fictional) and how eventually people from all different nations came together to fight against evil. Reviewers have complained that Picasso wasn't "real" enough and that his character was flat. I wouldn't expect otherwise. Boling uses Picasso as a reference to his painting, and like his masterpiece "Guernica", he is an abstract observer of the fully-developed Basque characters, who are the true center of this novel. Some have called the novel's conclusion "contrived". Perhaps, but I cared so much about the characters by that point, that I felt the emotional impact of that conclusion. Great books make us feel and think, and this book made me do both. I don't really want to explain why this book isn't perfect other than by saying that the historical/political context of the novel, in my opinion, could have been handled slightly better. There are a few vignettes that are a bit too random. But, that doesn't matter. The story is beautiful, educational and delivers a memorable message about life. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Would Make a Great Opera or Big Musical!, September 10, 2008
This review is from: Guernica: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
"Guernica", a historical saga by Dave Boling, is the kind of novel I enjoy most; it's entertaining and compelling to read and it is also educational. I confess to knowing very little about the Spanish Civil War and even less about Basques and the Basque capitol of Guernica when I began. I know more now. Boling skillfully unwraps the tale of Justo Ansotegui and his family. Justo is a well-respected farmer and a staunchly Basque. He is a man drawn larger than life, a pillar of his community and a loving husband and father. Justo must call upon all his strength to survive what happens in historic Guernica. Now here is what I propose: this novel would make a TERRIFIC opera/musical! Along the lines of "Les Miz", "Miss Saigon" and "Evita". It's got all the right ingredients - big themes, history, ethos, pathos, larger than life characters, love, heartbreak, redemption, war, national pride and Nazis for villains! If I wrote opera/musicals I'd be all over this one. Helpful hint: I went to the internet to see Picasso's famous mural called "Guernica" and it helped me to visualize the painting as described in the novel and added to my reading enjoyment and edification.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A study of the despair and hope found in humanity's darkest hours.., September 6, 2008
This review is from: Guernica: A Novel (Hardcover)
On April 26th, 1937 the Nazis bombed the Basque town of Guernica on its market day. Modern scholars estimate about three hundred people were killed (the Basque government put the death toll at over 1600) and the slaughter has come to symbolize civilian suffering during war. The event inspired one of Pablo Picasso's most famous paintings (named for the town) a copy of which hangs on a wall in the United Nations building. Dave Boling takes a single family, the Ansoteguis, and follows their lineage through the closing years of the 19th century, the rise of Fascism in Spain, and the Spanish Civil War as their people, the Basque, are systematically repressed. Yet this is not a depressing novel. Humor and love manifest in the Ansotegui family, headed by Justo, a larger-than-life Superman known throughout the town for his great strength and tall tales. When asked to confirm that he once carried an ox on his shoulders from his family's farm to town and then celebrated the feat by throwing the animal across the Oka River, Justo admits that it was only a small ox, his path was downhill most of the way, and the wind was with him when he threw the beast. His wife and daughter are both dancers and cheerful, spirited women. Even as war strips the Basque people of food and supplies, the people remain vibrant and united. Pablo Picasso makes several cameo appearances as he works on his Guernica painting. Truthfully, I felt his appearances were an intrusion on the story of the Ansotegui family, and wish he wasn't included. While most of the characters are fully realized, living people, Picasso - the one "real" person in the bunch! - comes off as flat and two-dimensional. But overall it's a beautiful story that highlights both the despair and the hope that comes in humanity's darkest hours.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
