War, So Much War

by Mercè Rodoreda, Maruxa Relaño (Translator), Martha Tennent (Translator)

Despite its title, there is little of war and much of the fantastic in this coming-of-age story, which was the last novel Mercè Rodoreda published during her lifetime.

We first meet its young protagonist, Adrià Guinart, as he is leaving Barcelona out of boredom and a thirst for freedom, embarking on a long journey through the backwaters of a rural land that one can only suppose is Catalonia, accompanied by the interminable, distant rumblings of an indefinable war. In vignette-like chapters and with a narrative style imbued with the fantastic, Guinart meets with numerous adventures and peculiar characters who offer him a composite, if surrealistic, view of an impoverished, war-ravaged society and shape his perception of his place in the world.

As in Rodoreda's Death in Spring, nature and death play an fundamental role in a narrative that often takes on a phantasmagoric quality and seems to be a meditation on the consequences of moral degradation and the inescapable presence of evil.

Mercè Rodoreda (1908–1983) is widely regarded as the most important Catalan writer of the twentieth century. Exiled in France and Switzerland following the Spanish Civil War, Rodoreda began writing the novels and short stories—Twenty-Two Short Stories, The Time of the Doves, Camellia Street, Garden by the Sea—that would eventually make her internationally famous.

Genres: Fiction, Spain, Spanish Literature, Literary Fiction, Literature, Adult, 20th Century

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Mercè Rodoreda i Gurguí was a Catalan novelist.

She is considered by many to be the most important Catalan novelist of the postwar period. Her novel "La plaça del diamant" ('The diamond square', translated as 'The Time of the Doves', 1962) has become the most acclaimed Catalan novel of all time and since the year it was published for the first time, it has been translated into over 20 languages. It's also considered by many to be best novel dealing with the Spanish Civil War.

Reviews

[L.S. Popovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

War, Not Much War.
The War in this book is there, but it doesn't take center stage. Instead, it provides a backdrop and an excuse for commentary and tension. While I found the scenarios making up the wild and inventive vignettes of this novel intriguing and beautifully composed, they were so disconnected and random at times, that my interest wavered. It was only possible to get a sense of place and time when the protagonist was not in the midst of surreal cruelty and all-too-human suffering. Indifference, pathos, wandering, those seemed to be the prevailing moods.

It is certainly important and riveting in sections, but I wonder if the author's other works might follow more memorable modes of storytelling. Perhaps after multiple readings this book would sink in more, but I have to dig around to grasp at any of the disparate images left in my mind after reading it. For instance, when the protagonist explains the significance of their own shadow, blows it out of proportion, acquires a phobia of it, and then retreats back into self-contemplation, I am not sure I understand the significance of the interlude. There are many such unique musings to be found among the playful tricks of children and the unexplainable weirdness to be found here, all of which contains traces of Marquez, Kafka, and Kobo Abe. We are players in a game, the rules of which we do not fully understand, Rodoreda seems to say.

This is certainly a colorful and somber novel, quick to finish but not easy to encapsulate or explain. I am left with mixed impressions, and a desire to check out her other works.

[jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

even if we win this war it'll be as though we've lost it, the way a war is set up, everyone loses.

published a few years before she passed away in 1980 of liver cancer, mercè rodoreda's war, so much war (quanta, quanta guerra...) is a picaresque bildungsroman of great sorrow. set in catalonia, the author's home region, war, so much war follows young adrià and his itinerant wanderings through war-scarred towns, villages, and countryside, encountering a surfeit of horrors tempered by the occasional kindness.

some kind of animal drew near me. i turned over with a moan. the animal didn't budge. i stretched out my arm to touch it and felt an icy hand: i was lying next to a dead soldier. my bones ached, but i made an effort to overcome the pain and attempted to roll farther down the bank. the reeds stopped me. it was drizzling. i was starting to fall asleep, i couldn't understand why everything that was good in this world had abandoned me.

the brutality of adrià's experiences, despite being mostly removed from the actual fighting itself, convey the torments and forced indifferences of war quite well, and with her evocative and unabashed imagery, rodoreda lays bare the wasteland that is war – all the while foregoing even a whiff of moralizing. with fantastical elements interplaying with the abundant barbarity and atrocities aplenty, war, so much war paints a stark picture of a conflict destined to conclude with, indeed, everyone losing. war is hell, as the old saying goes, yet rodoreda is able to amply portray the pockets of beauty, hope, and generosity which thrive amidst scenes otherwise dominated by bloodshed and belligerence.

i would return bearing mountains of memories of all the people i had met, people who had been born and had lived so that i might know them, and they would accompany me for the rest of my journey... so many sweet eyes, so many sad eyes, so many surprised eyes, so many desperate eyes... would the remembrance of evil dissipate or would i carry it with me always, like a malady of the soul?

*translated from the catalan by maruxa relaño (imma monsó) and martha tennent (rodoreda's death in spring and the selected stories)

[Víctor Juan abelló · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un llibre estrany, en un context de guerra però on la guerra no hi apareix, només els seus efectes indirectes, un mosaic d'històries i personatges cosits per un Adrià que és més observador que personatge protagonista, i una aura de màgia, de màgia negra que sovint recorda els ambients de La mort i la primavera. Rodoreda és una de les millors escriptores de la literatura catalana i ho demostra amb obres inclassificables com aquesta.

[Tiago Aires · Rating 5 out of 5]

"a única coisa que tenho é a minha vida. Se a conto foge, perco-a." (p.198)

E, ainda assim, Adrià Guinart conta-nos um pouco da sua vida. E um pouco das muitas vidas que lhe são contadas enquanto caminha pelo mundo - um mundo devastado pela guerra (Civil Espanhola), mas onde há ainda espaço e tempo para o amor, a amizade, a solidariedade, a natureza e espanto das coisas novas. Poético, triste por vezes, crítico também. Gostei muito da escrita poética, da narração com elementos meio fantásticos de pendor medievalizante...

Segue-se "A Morte e a Primavera", o segundo que lerei dela. Estavam guardados na estante, à espera de vez. Posso agradecer a "A velocidade da luz" de Javier Cercas, onde a autora é referida, por me ter "lembrado" dela!

"Teria de falar do sol, mas tenho de terminar este prólogo depressa e não sei escrever com pressa." (p.17)

[ikersito · Rating 4 out of 5]

Llegué a este libro por varias recomendaciones por aqui por bookstagram y me dio muchísima curiosidad el título: "Cuánta, cuánta guerra". Fui a la biblioteca con pocas esperanzas y lo encontré. No lo habían prestado desde 1995. Treinta años ha pasado el libro en las estanterías sin que alguien lo leyera. Y, tras haberlo leído, me produce una tremenda tristeza que así haya sido.

La historia comienza con Adrià, un niño adolescente que, como todos a su edad, solamente busca nuevas experiencias y se aburre se su monótona vida. La guerra estalla en España y él decide alistarse en el ejército como quien queda con sus amigos para ir a la piscina. En una de los combates huye temiendo por su vida y acaba perdiéndose en medio de unos bosques.
Aquí empieza su viaje, recorriendo bosques, pueblos, explanadas y playas sin rumbo alguno pero siendo partícipe y testigo de los horrores de la guerra.

El valor del libro para mi reside en su forma, ya que tal y como está estructurado en pequeños capítulos parece más un compendio de relatos de la guerra que una novela como tal. El hilo conductor es el protagonista en su recorrido interminable, del que no es capaz de seguir huyendo. Al final el protagonista deja de ser un personaje que hace avanzar el relato y pasa a ser un mero espectador, un visitante o un receptor.

[emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Potser dels meus preferits. Gairebé un recull de contes, però amb un fil conductor: els ulls de l'Adrià. Diu que vol "veure cel, veure boscos, tenir por, mirar la nit i tenir-la per sostre". Un llibre molt precís en la seva narració, però deixant sempre espai per a la poesia. Jaume Coll Mariné al postfaci el descriu com "el relat de la guerra a partir d'algú que no hi anava a fer res, a la guerra" i, més endavant, "el món en moviment a través d'uns ulls que tot just el [comencen] a descobrir".
A la pàgina 38: "En cada home hi ha arrels profundes que el lliguen a la gran simfonia del món..." Aquest llibre és una simfonia de la guerra i de tot allò que és humà.

[Paula Mota]

DNF.
Demasiado onírico e desconexo para mim.

[Mer]

No sé què dir perquè no m’ha agradat gaire. Bastant avorrit i tampoc l’he entès del tot. A little decepcionada perquè m’encanta na Mercè Rodoreda però aquest llibre meh, not the best.

[p33€3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

una mica de llum dins la foscor de rodoreda tot i estar en guerra. juventut i innocència en explendor

"si les criatures ploren massa estona seguida acaben trencant-se"

[Rosemarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

No! Just no! Why did I finish this?

[Daniel Genís Mas · Rating 4 out of 5]

En l'estil es nota la maduresa de la gran autora, però a l'argument li falta el 'punch' de les seves obres mestres. Malgrat això, és un llibre farcit de reflexions potents, imatges colpidores i algunes flors. El tinc ben subratllat.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

here is a nice re-cap by a first time rodoreda reader https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

rodoreda sends a young man to war and he wanders away from the 'front' and records his journey, his starving, horror filled journey away, and people he meets, kind and cruel. towards the end he decides to just keep wandering and never 'go home' though all signs tell him, go home go home.
has nebulous but based-on-fact scenes from spanish civil war, the real last battle being the epitome of waste, horror, and fruitlessness in her novel. which it pretty much was... http://spanish-civil-war.org/ebro.shtml
and also, rodoreda seems to have horned in on pla's 'novel/autobio' of catalonian coast set in same war time , with her portrait of our boy being taken in by rich, haunted man into his sumptuous two story home on the short. The Gray Notebook


this rodoreda, as dreamy, surreal, and disturbing as it is, seems more 'realist' and character driven than her other open letter novel Death in Spring which really has a hard time keeping any grasp at all on reality. i love love love rodoreda's constant references to human wanting to be trees, or actually turning into trees, and her other uses of trees in her fiction. i was to be her when i grow up.

[Christopher Alonso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I'm a bit torn on this one. It didn't blow me away. It reminded me a lot of Silvina Ocampo if she wrote a novel. Psychological, fantastic, not sure if what's going on is actually going on. There are definitely unsettling parts and lots of talk about death. Death is kind of its own character here, in the background, there and not there until it makes itself known. I really liked it, and I recommend it if you're looking for odd, storytelling with that surreal twist.

[Røbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some nice writing, but it is one of those books which stumbles from one encounter to another, without them hanging together. This Alice in Wonderlnd style is not to my taste, I never really connected with the characters at all. Judging by the other reviews, perhaps not the best introduction to Mercè Rodoreda's work, and perhaps it makes more sense in the context of having read her other work?

[Kauzar Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,75 ⭐️.
“Tras cavar un hoyo muy hondo al pie del avellano, me metí dentro y me cubrí de tierra hasta las rodillas. Había llevado conmigo la regadera llena de agua y me regué. Quería que me salieran raíces: ser todo ramas y hojas.”

El libro está ambientado durante la Guerra Civil española. El protagonista, Adrià, se va a la guerra porque quiere experimentarla. Después, huye y emprende un largo camino sin destino donde se encontrará a personas afectadas por la guerra, cada una de manera distinta.

[Loreto Giralt Turón · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un dels millors llibres que he llegit aquest any. Descriu les conseqüències que té la guerra en les persones, com les canvia, tot i que no mai hagin agafat una arma. Com tota l'obra de la Rodoreda, és un text profundament trist, escrit amb gran delicadesa, que deixa poc marge per l'esperança. Encara no he trobat cap escriptor/a que ho faci millor.

[Txe Polon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Més que d'una novel·la, es tracta d'un recull de proses curtes amb un fil conductor que no és sinó aquest protagonista absent que respon al nom d'Adrià. Absent perquè en realitat la seva història encara està ha de ser contada, ell només es un conducte a través del qual els altres s'expressen i ens transmeten la seva experiència, ja que l'Adrià els lleva -amb l'apatia d'un observador desorientat- la seva propia veu, amb la qual s'acaben confonen les veus de tot un entramat de personatges que configuren un fons gris, uniforme i singular alhora. D'aquesta polifonia neix, precisament, la força d'aquesta pseudo-novel·la i gràcies a ella s'entén l'absència d'un personatge pretesament protagonista. Crec que es tracta d'una obra que sorprendrà tan els lectors de Rodoreda com els no lectors de Rodoreda, així com els lectors de novel·les i els lectors de reculls de relats. Per tant, és una obra que sorprendrà tothom que es vulgui deixar anar captivant per aquestes veus que narren des de l'aturdiment, la indolència, l'abúlia i, en definitiva, des de la desesperació que acaba desembocant en tot l'anterior. Així fins als darrers dos capítols, que són dues de les coses més ben escrites des del principi dels temps.
I per què no li poso la cinquena estrella? Doncs perquè aquella absència de protagonista que té tot el seu sentit dins l'obra no m'ha deixat acabar d'entrar-hi, fins ben bé cap al final.

[World Literature Today]

This book was featured in the Nota Benes section of the May/Aug 2016 issue of World Literature Today Magazine.

http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2...

[Carloesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo so. Non è questo il libro più rappresentativo di Mercé Rodoreda, ma a me piace spesso affrontare un autore o autrice che non conosco da una sua opera minore ( a detta di chi la conosce meglio altri sono i suoi capolavori). Ma questo è un ottimo libro, sarà poi così “minore”?
E’ un romanzo fatto di tante brevi storie raccontate da altrettanti narratori incontrati da un piccolo e ingenuo ragazzino che va in cerca della guerra, non per combattere, ma per girare il mondo, per vedere e per incontrare l’altro da lui, e soprattutto, come in un percorso iniziatico la donna da amare che non sia sua madre. Incontrerà Eva (la prima donna), giovanissima e bellissima e come lui desiderosa di libertà. Anche questo incontro, come molti altri, ha il tono della fiaba ma si sa, anche la fiaba a volte assume la forma di un incubo: boschi da affrontare, castelli dalle molte stanze buie e disabitate, paesi e piazze vuote nel buio della notte, come in un quadro surreale, inaspettati incontri con la strega o con l’orco, o con la banda di briganti ed assassini.
La guerra del titolo rimane sullo sfondo, non la si incontra che di rado , e di striscio, per quasi tutto il libro. Solo alla fine, e proprio quando la guerra è finita, il giovane Adrià si imbatte nell’orrore della vera catastrofe che la guerra ha lasciato come la bava di una lumaca: rovine e morti, cadaveri straziati e mutilati di soldati e di civili. E scoprirà anche l’amara verità su Eva.
Un finale che ci immerge pienamente nel gigantesco “Guernica” di Picasso, che indubbiamente Rodoreda ha nei suoi occhi quando scrive, e a cui si ispira ancora più che al film di Has tratto dal “Manoscritto trovato a Saragozza” come la stessa autrice dichiara nella sua stessa prefazione ( e più che ai libri-matrioska quali il libro di Potocki, le Mille e una Notte, il Decamerone.., mi ha fatto pensare a “La Terra rossa” di Hudson, il libro “felice” secondo Borges). Ne è un esempio lampante il fare da protagonista di uno di questi incontri finali la donna con il bambino morto in braccio che nel quadro è all’estrema sinistra della tela.
Ma a sapere ben guardare vi sono altri punti di incontro, altre allusioni a quel capolavoro della pittura moderna.
Se Picasso però sceglie per descrivere tanta disperazione e tanto orrore il formato del grande affresco, Rodoreda lo riduce a una miniatura, e trasforma l’urlo di Guernica in una sofferenza muta, tutta interiorizzata; ma non per questo ci stupisce di meno, lasciandoci ugualmente attoniti di fronte a tanta follia del mondo. E ci stupisce ancora la sua capacità, la sua maestria, di mescolare con tanta naturalezza sogni e realtà, la fiaba e l’incubo, e di farli sfociare in un affresco dalle dimensioni così strette ma così essenziali. E soprattutto quella di porci di fronte alla tragedia e al suo orrore in tutta la sua pienezza senza il bisogno di descrivercelo nei suoi minimi dettagli.
Un libro prezioso. Per ora quattro stelle è il minimo che possa assegnare. Potrei ripensarci a freddo e concederne anche 5. Anzi, lo faccio adesso.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pensava que era el meu moment per llegir-lo, però potser no l'ha estat. Igualment l'he gaudit i m'ha semblat molt bonic i trist, però no tant bonic ni tant trist com La mort i la primavera. Es veu que és l'últim llibre que va escriure. He intentat ser-hi mentre el llegia. El que no m'ha acabat de fer el pes és que a cada capítol es troba un personatge i tots els personatges són estranys. Potser no ho entenc perquè gràcies al cel no he viscut la guerra. Segurament sigui això. (He fet servir color vi per guixar-lo, penso que en això sí que ho he encertat).

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

M'ha fet un poc de llàstima este llibre perquè m'estava agradant molt: l'estil és fantàstic, la història és interessant, hi ha molta acció. No obstant això, cap al final del llibre, hi ha molta gordofòbia la qual em va llevar els ànims d'agarrar el llibre i llegir.

Mercè Rodoreda és fantàstica, però em costa molt llegir eixe tipus de cosa.

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

La mirada d'un adolescent, com a la mort i la primavera. Eva. Infern/jardí, palau.

[valeria]

jo estava enfonsat lluny dels vostres ulls. als vostres ulls no hi havia res més repugnant que jo

[Neus Nogué-Serrano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tinc la primera edició d'aquesta novel·la, però o sé si no l'havia llegida o no la recordava. El cas és que l'he (re)llegida com si fos la primera vegada. Tota la narració segueix un mateix to... fins que arriba el final.

Mercè Rodoreda és sempre un 10.

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recomanable el postfaci d'Antoni Mora, qui fa un anàlisis del llibre i explica l'engany que t'acabes de llegir i que no t'esperaves. Per mi ho ha sigut, perquè volia trobar-me amb altre contingut literari.

[Alicia Albertos · Rating 3 out of 5]

com és de xulo rellegir sempre aquest llibre què fort… a mi és que em dones un parell de relats crus im’has guanyat

[Joan Iglesias]

‘’Éramos un centenar de hombres, todos jóvenes, todos cansados, todos hartos.’’

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Guillem Balaguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10
No és el meu preferit de la Rodo però està bé nose

[leire · Rating 5 out of 5]

merce rodoreda escribe sobre el dolor y sobre cosas terribles pero lo hace con sinceridad y ternura. Nunca hace espectáculo del horror. Es simplicidad y verdad