Seven Red Sundays

by Ramón J. Sender, Peter Mitchell (Translator)

The time is 1932. The place is Madrid, a city beset by labor unrest which has raised fears―and among some, hopes―of revolution. At an overflow meeting of workingmen, the military intervenes and three of the workers' leaders and a member of the socialist party are killed. A public funeral ends in street fighting, sabotage, and the prospect of a general strike throughout Spain. From these events Ramón Sender has fashioned a novel of terror and beauty―one of the great unsung works of the 20th century. Behind the confused and conflicting theories of the revolutionaries who are the central characters of Seven Red Sundays, Mr. Sender discovers a sublime faith and a spirit of self-sacrifice. But whether these idealists with guns represent hope or despair is a haunting question which the reader must decide.

Genres: Fiction, Spain, Classics

287 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

Ramón José Sender Garcés fue un novelista español. De espíritu rebelde y autodidáctico, se sintió siempre atraído por la ideología del anarquismo, incluso cuando, avanzada la vida, se apartó de las actitudes izquierdistas de su juventud. Tras realizar el servicio militar en Marruecos, se inició en el periodismo y colaboró en publicaciones radicales y libertarias.

Sus primeras novelas son de testimonio social y propósito denunciatorio: el antimilitarismo de Imán (1930), sobre la guerra de Marruecos; su ataque al régimen policiaco en O.P.: orden público (1931); la lucha anarquista en Siete domingos rojos (1932) y el relato de la insurrección cantonal de Cartagena (1873) en Mr. Witt en el cantón (1935). Durante la guerra civil luchó en Sierra de Guadarrama y publicó el documental Contraataque (1937), sobre el cual se inspiró en parte Malraux para su novela L'Espoir.

Exiliado primero en México (1939-42), residió el resto de su vida en los Estados Unidos, con trabajos docentes en Alburquerque (1947-63) y en Los Ángeles (1965-71). Dejando a un lado su intensa actividad periodística (en la revista antifascista y anticomunista Cuadernos de París, por ejemplo), su copiosísima producción narrativa prosiguió por numerosas y variadas rutas.

Por un lado están sus novelas alegóricas de intención satírica o filosófica; entre ellas cabe citar El lugar del hombre (1939), La esfera (1947), El rey y la reina, de 1949, El verdugo afable (1952), Los cinco libros de Ariadna (1957) y Nocturno de los catorce (1971). Un sector aparte se halla constituido por sus novelas históricas: Bizancio (1956), Jubileo en el Zócalo (1964) y La aventura equinoccial de Lope de Aguirre (1964), entre otras. El marco geográfico latinoamericano le inspiró una gran novela, Epitalamio del prieto Trinidad (1942), historia de una rebelión en una isla-presidio, notable por la recreación de las pasiones humanas y la descripción de una atmósfera alucinante y de exótica sensualidad.

Pero el sector narrativo más importante de Sender procede de su memoria histórica. Junto a una obrita perfecta, Mosén Millán (1953), luego titulada Réquiem por un campesino español, publicada en 1960, conmovedora historia de un sacerdote que quiere salvar a un joven del pueblo en los inicios de la guerra civil, destaca la serie Crónica del alba, compuesta de nueve novelas aparecida entre 1942 y 1966, autobiografía de José Garcés, personaje bajo el cual se oculta de modo transparente el propio autor. Destaca, dentro de esta serie, el primer tomo, con la evocación del mundo infantil.

En general, la obra escrita en su vejez -incluso títulos tan difundidos como La tesis de Nancy (1962), En la vida de Ignacio Morell (1969), y Nocturno de los 14 (1969), El fugitivo (1972), La mirada inmóvil (1979)- muestra un descenso de su capacidad creativa y una tendencia incontrolada a manifestar a modo de prédica sus fobias ideológicas.

Reviews

[Carmilla Voiez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This extraordinary novel about the Spanish Civil War was recommended by Bookchin. I ordered it and was astounded to receive a yellowing but intact 1938 copy. The scent of the paper was as evocative as the prose they contained. It is a surprising modern-feeling novel, experimental in its time, and delightful to read.

The three main characters - Samar, Villacampa and Star are well developed, flawed idealists who have devoted their lives to bringing freedom to the Spanish people, and are in constant struggle with both the State powers and their communities.

I loved it!

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is mainly the story of four people during the Spanish revolution, and was written in 1936. It centres on Lucas Samar a journalist (28), the two women in his life Amparo (18) and Estrella Garcia ('Star', 16) and Leonia Villacampa (25).

They are all anti-republican, anti-bourgeoise. Each (plsu some others) have chapters all written in the first person explaining the uprising, their loves, justifying their actions, the impact of the deaths of 3 worker-activists (Germinal (Star's father), Progreso & Espartaco) over a period of 6 or 7 days or weeks depending how you interpret Villacampa finding his calendar has seven red Sundays in a row plus perhaps the seventh red Sunday as a prolonged aftermath?. Some complications arise as Amparo is a Colonel's daughter and isn't so prepared to give up her religion for the cause or for Samar. Star has a pet chicken which she carries around and appears to be a symbol for something (revolutionary ideal?) as the story progresses and is a rival to Amparo. Who gets the revolver and bullet and how will it be used?

We know the story isn't going to be a happy one with uprisings, civil unrest, security service imprisoning and killing. The narrative is a little confused as sometimes it's not immediately clear who's talking but does present a very personable approach to the situation. Overall a good revolutionary read as a prelude to any novel on the Spanish civil war.

A quote "Death did not require prayers and tears and black clothes, but only a wall and some strange men"

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, while short, was a challenge to read quickly because of its very direct translations from early 1900s Spanish, and its frequent shifting of narrators, sometimes paragraph to paragraph.

I did a lot of flipping back and forth between pages to simply orient myself, because things move fast when you’re alternating between literal celestial bodies speaking and scenes shifting from violence to introspective interludes, at one point featuring a conversation between a main character and a pair of pants. A pair of pants! You can’t make this up.

But, it was a fun challenge, if you’re up for it! This was a moving story, well-told and well-described, that definitely had all the vibes of a dramatic stage production, with a distinctly Shakespearean ending.

I’d recommend it, less for history buffs and more for those who enjoy historical fiction.

[Duncan McCurdie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confusing and chaotic. Hard to read and seemed like a bad translation.