The War of the Poor

by Éric Vuillard, Mark Polizzotti (Translator)

Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2021

The fight for equality begins in the streets.

From the internationally bestselling author of The Order of the Day: Éric Vuillard once again takes us behind the scenes at a moment when history was being written.

The history of inequality is a long and terrible one. And it’s not over yet. Short, sharp and devastating, The War of the Poor tells the story of a brutal episode from history, not as well known as tales of other popular uprisings, but one that deserves to be told.

Sixteenth-century Europe: the Protestant Reformation takes on the powerful and the privileged. Peasants, the poor living in towns, who are still being promised that equality will be granted to them in heaven, begin to ask themselves: and why not equality now, here on earth?

There follows a violent struggle. Out of this chaos steps Thomas Müntzer: a complex and controversial figure, who sided with neither Martin Luther, nor the Roman Catholic Church. Müntzer addressed the poor directly, encouraging them to ask why a God who apparently loved the poor seemed to be on the side of the rich.

Éric Vuillard tells the story of one man whose terrible and novelesque life casts light on the times in which he lived – a moment when Europe was in flux. As in his blistering look at the build-up to World War II, The Order of the Day, Vuillard 'leaves nothing sleeping in the shadows' (L'OBS).

Genres: History, Nonfiction, France, Historical, Religion, French Literature, Novella

69 pages, Hardcover

First published January 4, 2019

About the author

Born in Lyons in 1968, Éric Vuillard is a French author and film director. His books include Conquistadors (winner of the Ignatius J. Reilly prize 2010), and La Bataille de l'occident and Congo, for both of which he was awarded the 2012 Franz-Hessel prize and the 2013 Valery-Larbaud prize. Sorrow of the Earth is the first of his titles to be translated into English.

Reviews

[Adina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shortlisted for Booker International Prize 2021, it beats me why?!

The War of the Poor was for me like a longer, nicer written, fictionalised Wikipedia entry. It is too short to consider it a novel although it was nominated for Booker International which celebrates “work of long-form fiction or collection of short stories”. It was too short and superficial to say something important and to say it well. It looks like a very off choice of the Booker judges who stretched their eligibility conditions to the limits with their longlist this year.

The short story/novelette/essay is the novelistic biography of Thomas Müntzer, a 15th century German radical reformer and preacher. I did not know anything about the guy and the period so it was interesting to learn some information but I do not think the “book” was particularly well structured and written. I listened to it because I found it on Scribd, otherwise I would have been pretty disappointed if I had bought it.

[Henk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2021
An essay on the religious reform roots of ideas of equality and freedom that we more commonly associate with the French Revolution
We are poverty, buffeted between desire and disgust

From the lollards in England to Jan Hus, Luther and Müntzer, The War of the Poor brings a bird’s eye view on the bloody fights fought over concepts that we now find most basic and fundamental (and funnily enough here in the Netherlands call based on the Jewish-Christian tradition).
The church in the story of Éric Vuillard is an upholder of entrenched priviliges, keeping the scripture from being translated into the languages of the people and keeping a tight lid on any kind of direct relationship with God. But as much as religious schisms play a role, the revolts were truly fuelled by inequality in the material world. The Jezus of the bible seemed to favour the poor but in the real world the rich get richer and richer. There are harrowing examples of tax inspectors raping daughter to earn their "due", serfdom and people dying of hunger being the powder in the keg of religious insurrection.

Even though this is a very brief work, you end up rooting for the suppressed, the common man, despite knowing that the powers that be aren't easily, and for a long time, dislodged.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

And this wasn't the end of the story. It's never the end.

Friend after Goodreads friend has slated this book but me, I like it. I mean, yes, it's only 56 pages long in the edition I read but Vuillard has compressed a larger narrative within that small space. He uses the religious wars of the late medieval and early Renaissance period to carry the ongoing struggles for social justice and against widening inequalities. Along the way, the text also provides a meditation on 'history' and who gets to tell it, perpetuate it and canonise it, as well as the way that 'history' may be more subjective than is frequently claimed.

Strikingly, History is figured as Philomela 'and they raped her, or so they say, and cut out her tongue, and she whistles at night from deep in the woods'. It's an interesting reception of Ovid's Philomela where the girl may have been silenced but she still finds a 'voice' through weaving her story; and of Shakespeare's rewriting of her as Lavinia (Titus Andronicus) where her rapists, having read their Ovid, also cut off her hands, and she still takes a pen in her mouth and points to a copy of the original tale in the Metamorphoses to articulate her own story of violation. So History, this book suggests, may be 'raped' and manipulated but can also fight back allowing alternative voices to challenge the monolithic narrative that belongs to those with authority and power.

The brevity of the text allows a kind of pass-the-baton image of social revolutionaries; but there are also some lovely set pieces: the description of the advent of European movable type printing, for example, is wonderful:

Fifty years earlier, a molten substance had flowed, flowed from Mainz over the rest of Europe, flowed between the hills of every town, between the letters of every name, in the gutters, between every twist and turn of thought; and every letter, every fragment of an idea, every punctuation mark had found itself cast in a bit of metal.

The conjunctions of 'molten...metal' with the the way thought and radical ideas are made up from the individual letters which will carry them and circulate them globally is cleverly done with a writerly panache that pleased me.

So an extremely short narrative but one with a careful eye on our present and a nicely sardonic turn of phrase: 'And John Ball ranted, preached human equality'. And though the abbreviated history ends with martyrdom, 'they challenged the social order... It wasn't over yet.'

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Now inexplicably shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize a book for which it should not have even been considered eligible.

I read this book due to its longlisting for that prize – a prize looking for newly UK published translated works of long-form fiction (or collection of short stories) - and which looks (like the main Booker) to find the "finest fiction" of the year.

The judges this year have rather stretched the definition of eligibility in a few cases.

But no more so than in this case, which is a lot closer to non-fiction than fiction, and at just over 60 small pages (with generous font size) is not something anyone would I think call “long-form”.

Unfortunately they have also stretched the definition of "finest fiction"

In practice this is much closer to an lengthy history essay, and not even a good one.

The essay has a biographical and thematical nature – the biography of the 15th/16th century German preacher, religious reformer turned peasant leader Thomas Müntzer, and the theme is of popular uprisings originating with a rediscovery of the Bible’s actual teaching and preaching of a radical Gospel following the widespread distribution of a vernacular translation – with the emphasis ultimately more on the social than religious aspects of that interaction.

Müntzer’s story is then rooted both in his family history (or at least a common but mainly discredited version of it) and in the story of Thomas Wycliffe/John Ball/Wat Tyler and then Jack Cade and Jan Hus.

It is certainly an interesting topic – but I do not think it is particularly well done (even putting aside the essay’s strange prize eligibility and rather poor value for money).

The part of the story I am familiar with is the English part – and even from my limited knowledge (which appears more than the author’s) I felt that the story missed some obvious resonances.

He conflates Wat and John Tyler using the simplified versions of later Centuries - which might be OK I suppose if this is meant to be a novelistic account rather than a "contemporary sources say" historical account; but he seems to miss the point of the "assault" on Tyler's daughter (rendering it simply as a rape): my understanding was that the poll tax collectors were empowered to investigate who was eligible to pay the tax which included checking young girls for whether they had reached puberty - with rather obvious parallels with things like police stop and search powers in the UK and US – where the very law encourages its own abuse by enforcements.

In the London riots he misses how attacks took place on Flemish immigrants (and how over the years – even to today – such riots have a distinct xenophobic element).

In fact to take it further he misses the historical resonance of protests against Belgium by non-Londoners lead by a populist leader from Kent - 600+ years before Farage and Brussels.

He also misses John Ball’s most famous speech "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then a gentleman?" – one that was quoted again and again down the centuries even to the modern day and which precisely fits the theme of the essay.

And how seriously can one take an essay that tells us that Wycliffe translated the bible into “British” or has a line "At the time, three popes were laying claim to Peter's throne: the Pope of Rome, the Pope of Pisa, and the Pope of Avignon. Gregory XII, John XXIII, and Benedict XIII. That's a lot of names and numbers to keep straight; it was complicated".

So on the part I know something about it is clear to me that Vuillard has either through ignorance or incompetence not really understood how it fits his theme.

Which hardly encourages me on the parts with which I am less familiar - although even there as I said he seems to completely misrepresent the importance of religious beliefs.

The title at least fits - I cannot work out what is most poor - the clear ineligibility for the prize, the terrible value for money or the paucity of understanding in the writing.

It is almost like a war between them.

[Shaq Attack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Τυπικά ο Ερίκ Βυγιάρ δεν κάνει ιστορία, κάνει ιστορική μυθοπλασία. Παρόλ' αυτά, ψηλαφώντας τα γεγονότα, επιχειρεί να καταρτίσει ένα πορτρέτο αυτού που αποκαλούμε «Σύγχρονη Εποχή», μια περίοδο κατά την οποία η Δύση κατέκτησε ευρείες εδαφικές εκτάσεις, υποδούλωσε πολλούς λαούς, επινόησε τη Βιομηχανική Επανάσταση και ενώ η κυριαρχία της επεκτεινόταν, ανοίχτηκε ένα άλλο μέτωπο, αντίθετο από το πρώτο, μια έντονη τάση χειραφέτησης.

Τα βιβλία του αφηγούνται την αντιπαράθεση αυτών των δύο ρευμάτων, την επίμονα περιπλεγμένη ιστορία τους που δεν έχει ακόμα τελειώσει. Και αυτό είναι ένα από τα χαρακτηριστικά των βιβλίων του: Μιλούν για το παρελθόν, στο όνομα όμως μιας προϊούσης εξέλιξης, μιας ανολοκλήρωτης κίνησης, την οποία μαρτυρά η γραφή με την υποκειμενική της τονικότητα. Αλλά, πηγαίνει πολύ πιο πέρα απ’ αυτόν τον όρο, που έτσι κι αλλιώς δεν παύει να είναι μια γραμματολογική σύμβαση. Εκείνο που τον ενδιαφέρει περισσότερο είναι να χρησιμοποιήσει τη γλώσσα του σήμερα, τη ζωντανή γλώσσα της λογοτεχνίας, για να κάνει σύγχρονη την ιστορία και να μας οδηγήσει, πέρα από τα ιστορικά γεγονότα, στην καρδιά των ανθρώπινων συναισθημάτων και των μοντέρνων ιδεών.

Το διεκδικεί αυτό και το λέει ξεκάθαρα μέσα στην αφήγησή του. Τι μένει σ’ εμάς, ρωτάει, απ’ όλον αυτόν τον πόλεμο των χωρικών: «Μένουν οι λέξεις, που είναι ένας άλλος σπασμός των πραγμάτων». Ο Βυγιάρ μας βάζει βαθιά στο μυστικό της ισότητας, των αισθημάτων και των ριζοσπαστικών ιδεών. Και το κάνει με λέξεις. Γιατί, όπως γράφει, «αν δεν αφήσεις πίσω σου ούτε μια λέξη, πέφτεις για πάντα στην αφάνεια. Σε τρώει η μαρμάγκα».

[Daniela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something that continuously surprises me when reading History is how reasonable the demands of the downtrodden were. Most oppressed people throughout the centuries did not want to kill their masters or burn down buildings. At least not initially. A majority of workers in the 19th century did not want the abolition of property or the end of the State. Most wanted very simple things: decent wages, 8 hour workdays, the abolition of child labour, pensions for those who could not work, free healthcare and education. Today these are the ABC of democratic social security. When reasonableness is refused people descent into even more radical positions. They don’t think, “well if the master won’t give me this then I’ll ask for less” because less is what they already have and they are only asking for marginal improvements. There is no point compromising on what is already a reformist position. If you do, you’re left exactly with what you started.

The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard is partly about this escalation. If you start entertaining the notion that you don’t need an intermediary to talk to God, that there is no point to a Church hierarchy, it isn’t difficult to make the jump to the temporal world. Luther didn’t, but he was afraid, and probably rightly so. One thing was to defy the Pope from the relative safety of Germany. Another thing was to defy the Prince next door, who had armies and weapons at his disposal. Thomas Müntzer didn’t have this sense of self-preservation. And yet all he did was take the Reformation to its logical conclusion. If we do away with masters in the spiritual world, why should we be oppressed in the temporal? Protestantism could have led – and did in some cases – to questioning the fabric and organization of society itself. Yet the force of arms and the might of Kings imposed only a spiritual reformation in which you could read the Bible and talk to God by yourself, but you still had to obey a Prince.

There was no possible leeway, so Müntzer became violent. He did and thought what was logical and his initial demands make sense to us. For centuries now humanity has believed that serfdom is akin to slavery. Historians will tell me that radicalism must be put in context - and they are right. Serfdom is unacceptable now, but it wasn’t in the 15th century. We see child labour as immoral, but it was more or less acceptable in the 19th. Nevertheless, there were people in the Medieval and Early Modern Age who thought serfdom was cruel and unfair. There were people who always thought child labour was indefensible. Radicalism isn’t defined by the absence of radical views or even by the originality of radical thought, but rather by the power of the opposition. Although historians are right about the dangers of anachronism, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that there were people – visionaries if you will – who five centuries ago remarked upon the injustices of their world. What they lacked was the erosion of the powers that later centuries benefited from. To topple the Ancient Regime in 1789 was a difficult thing, but it was possible, so much so that it happened. Müntzer was a sansculotte who, unfortunately for him, was born 400 hundred years before his time.

[Hugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2021

Like others in the Mookse group, I may be rather harsh on this book purely because it is so short (a mere 66 pages, in large type with generous margins and line spacing, and several blank pages to allow chapters to start on right hand pages). So it can be read in less than an hour. Some of the history is interesting, but there must surely be a lot more that could be said. Vuillard's subject is mediaeval peasant rebellions, and its main subject is Thomas Müntzer, whose story was unfamiliar to me, and even that only accounts for about half of the book - there is a lengthy digression on earlier peasant rebellions including the Peasants' Revolt in England, and this could also be much longer and more detailed. So for history it is rather unsatisfactory, and as a creative work it is insubstantial, though what there is is an enjoyable read.

[Φώτης Καραμπεσίνης · Rating 3 out of 5]

Μάλλον το καλύτερό του από όσα έχω διαβάσει. Εντούτοις, πάσχει από τη γνωστή «γαλλική κατάρα» της δήθεν έκφρασης, η οποία επισήμως χαρακτηρίζεται ως «ποιητική». Ευτυχώς ήταν μικρό σε μέγεθος και αυτό το χρεώνω στα θετικά. Επαναστατικό πάθος έχει αρκετό, αλλά στην ηλικία μου δεν ψάχνω εύκολα εκφερόμενα πάθη στα κείμενα που διαβάζω. Οι νεότεροι θα ενθουσιαστούν ίσως.

[Prerna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, 2021.

I suppose I would have liked this better had it not been shortlisted for the International Booker. The writing is beautiful and the message fairly clear, although I found it difficult to understand the book as a whole because of unexplained gaps in the parts. But as it stands, I don't understand the circumstances or the reasoning behind the decision by the judging panel to include this in the shortlist, or even the longlist for that matter.

Booker nominated books share certain qualities, and I found none of them here. The obvious complaint is that this is not even a story, it's a passionate account of the life of Thomas Muntzer - the German reformer who famously opposed the Roman Catholic Church and the feudal authorities.

Given my interest in revolutions (especially those involving anti-authority peasant uprisings), I also suspect I would have liked this better had I been more familiar with the historical setting, which, if you're going to learn solely from this book, is difficult to extract from the metaphors and the flowery prose.

[Paul Fulcher · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize

But by what treasure of distance and delegation, by what twists and turns of the soul are the great sophisms of power maintained? One could write a history– nuanced, subtle, wildly improbable; but also shameful, with a thousand doses of poison, of lies proffered, fabricated, admitted, believed, repeated; of sincere prejudices, secret, half- avowed guilty consciences, and all the contortions of which the soul is capable.

Translated by Mark Polizzotti from Éric Vuillard's original La Guerre des pauvres, The War of the Poor is an odd inclusion on the 2021 International Booker Prize longlist and an even odder choice for the shortlist - except given it's the same jury, it's a pretty reliable rule of prizes that the books that others see as least worth their longlist place tend to make the shortlist.

For a prize that requires "a work of long-form fiction or collection of short stories", this is barely a novella.

And is it fiction? Well, this year’s judges have certainly stretched the boundaries of that definition generally towards “novels without fiction”. The book itself responds:

We want stories; we say they illuminate; and the truer the story, the better we like it. But no one knows how to tell true stories. And yet, we’re made of stories, we’ve been captivated by them since childhood: ‘Listen! Read! Look!’– our truth be done, may it draw us near and send us far with pictures and words.

It is based around the life of the reforming preacher and radical reformer Thomas Müntzer (c.1489-1525), and begins his father had been hanged, which rather goes against the verifiable historical record (at one point Vuillard essentially tells us the overall story is too complicated to go into) and takes us into the realm of fiction and legend. But ultimately the book slides more into a polemical and hagiographical essay than a novel, one that situates Müntzer in a long-line of radical social reformers from Wat Tyler onwards (and I’ve seen suggestions the novel was inspired by the Gilet Jaunes).

Wikipedia makes the, it must be said unattributed, comment that "Modern researchers agree that Müntzer was deeply read and that it was his theology, and not any socio-political dogma, which drove him to stand up to feudal authority," which certainly isn’t the position Vuillard takes:

‘It is not the peasants who arose against you masters, but God himself!’ Luther reportedly said at first, in an admiring but horrified cry. But it wasn’t God. It was indeed the peasants rising up. Unless you want to define God as hunger, disease, humiliation, rags. It wasn’t God rising up, it was taxes, tithes, land rights, ground rents, tariffs, travel dues, hay harvests, droit de seigneur, cutting of noses, gouging of eyes, pinching with burning tongs, bodies broken on the wheel.

In reality, quarrels about the Beyond have to do with the world here- below. That’s all the influence that those aggressive theologies still exert over us. The only reason for understanding their verbiage. Their impetuousness is a violent expression of poverty. The plebeians rebel. Hay for the peasants! Coal for the labourers! Dust for the road- workers! Coins for the beggars! And words for us! Words, which are another convulsion of things.
...
Müntzer rejected the debates among learned theologians; esotericism made him sick. He appealed to public opinion. It’s one aspect of his greatness. The most profound theses demand to be known by everyone.

The author’s sympathies with his socially radical subject are obvious, although, whether accidentally or deliberately on the author's behalf, this reader couldn’t help but feel the story illustrates how populists on either side of the political spectrum, particularly those embracing force, can be hard to distinguish (the aforementioned Gilets Jaunes a classic case that appeared to embrace both ends.)

But this reader was also left feeling that the history could be better, and certainly more accurately, read elsewhere, and the most interesting part for me, the theological debate at the time, was left out almost entirely.

1 star (1.5 rounded down) and, to repeat myself, a bizarre inclusion on the longlist and shortlist.

[Eric Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

There have always been brutal inequities within society and numerous historic harrowing moments of revolt where there's a radical shift in power. One interesting figure is Thomas Muntzer, a German preacher and radical theologian of the early 16th century. Before reading Eric Vuillard's short 65-page novella I'd not heard of this figure who opposed both Martin Luther, a leading figure of the Reformation and the Roman Catholic Church. This book is primarily about this idealistic man's relatively rapid rise and fall in his quest to expose the hypocrisies and abuse of power by the church and royalty. It's a fascinating subject. The trouble is that it's a far too brief and shallow account. It doesn't provide enough information or dramatic flair to make it into a satisfying story. The overall tone is also quite muddled so I often wasn't sure if I was reading fiction, an essay, a poem or a biography. In the end this book felt like little more than an extended Wikipedia entry with a few personalized flourishes.

An interesting point Vuillard makes early on is how an increased ability to reproduce and distribute the Bible at this time made the text more accessible to the general population. It allowed Thomas Muntzer to read the text himself and find passages which he interpreted as contradicting the actions of the church. Of course, the way in which the leading religious figures hoarded wealth while demanding that the working classes surrender the little money they had to further enrich their treasury was scandalous and Muntzer was someone with enough conviction to call out this blatant injustice. He also inspired others to revolt. But the author doesn't creatively bring his character or the time period to life. Vuillard hints at interesting and complex disputes. For instance he writes, “At the time, three popes were laying claim to Peter's throne: the Pope of Rome, the Pope of Pisa, and the Pope of Avignon. Gregory XII, John XXIII, and Benedict XIII. That's a lot of names and numbers to keep straight; it was complicated.” Perhaps this is his humorous way of brushing over some of the intricacies of this historical period but it felt frustrating that he so quickly dismissed what sounds like a larger compelling story.

The great thing about historical novels is that the writer can imaginatively fill in the gaps when history books can't provide a definitive account. A writer of fiction often makes reasonable assumptions about how and why obscure events played out as they did. “The War of the Poor” feels more like an extended list with some general asides. Therefore I didn't feel in any way emotionally engaged by this book and little informed beyond the few facts I've stated here. Despite it's short length it was a slog to read. It's a shame and a missed opportunity so I hope someone one day writes a genuinely compelling novel about Muntzer.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thomas Muntzer was a 16th century German rabble-rouser who hated the Church and led an uprising against the upper classes, citing Jesus’ teachings for why the rich shouldn’t be, and so on. He knew what was up. What a scam organised religion really is. But it didn’t take and several centuries later Eric Vuillard wrote up the episode in this dinky book, The War of the Poor.

It’s certainly worth remembering the lesser-known struggles of our ancestors and I guess it’s sorta relevant today, although inequality and hypocrisy have never really gone out of vogue in humanity, either before or after. It’s also too brief and fairly indistinct given the sparsity of the facts to leave much of an impression and, despite a few compelling passages, fizzles out into vague fighting and a predictable finale.

The book is nonfiction but what makes it stand out, and more accessible too, is Vuillard’s very casual retelling of the facts. I suppose it might be to add a little flavour to what would otherwise be a dry and bare retelling - the story of peasant uprisings goes back even further to 14th century England (and of course much further back in history still but this is as far back as Vuillard goes here) when a chap called John Ball attempted to overthrow the wealthy religious, and record-keeping back then wasn’t too great.

The effect is a bit like listening to a slightly sloshed history professor monologuing at large. It’s interesting to hear about the likes of Wycliffe and Muntzer translating the Bible from its Latin - which few could understand, let alone read - into the “common” languages of English and German, and the uproar such “heresy” caused (the Church knew that by controlling knowledge, they could control the poor).

But there’s also very little to the stories. Muntzer goes a wee bit mental towards the end, using Biblical language to describe his rebellion, though ultimately technology puts the frighteners on the peasants and that’s that. Things go very quickly from crazy to calm in this narrative, and, as a result, it’s a tad forgettable.

Might be worth a look if you’re slightly intrigued by Middle Ages history but don’t expect to have your socks knocked off by The War of the Poor. “Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize” - HAHAHHAHA! Well, ‘twas 2021, the panel were probably all demented from the pandy…

[foteini_dl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Το λοιπόν, Ο πόλεμος των φτωχών. Αρχές 16ου αι., εποχή θρησκευτικής μεταρρύθμισης, μια σειρά από εξεγέρσεις εργατών και αγροτών ταράζουν τη γερμανική επαρχία. Η εξέγερση καταπνίγεται στο αίμα. Λίγα λόγια (και πολύ καλά) λέει ο συγγραφέας, λίγα θα πω και εγώ για την υπόθεση.

Τελικό πόρισμα: 5 ατόφιες ❤️, για δύο λόγους.
1) Ο Βυϊγιάρ κινείται στα πλαίσια της ιστορικής μυθοπλασίας και γράφει κείμενα που είναι λυρικά έχουν απίστευτη εικονοπλαστική δύναμη. Αφήνει τη φαντασία του αναγνώστη να φτιάξει τις δικές του εικόνες, τις δικές του μικρές ταινίες.
2) Ο πραγματικός πρωταγωνιστής είναι η γλώσσα. Χρησιμοποιεί μια *εξαιρετικά* ζωντανή γλώσσα για να κάνει σύγχρονη την ιστορία και να σε κάνει να δεις πέρα από τα καθαρά ιστορικά γεγονότα. Άλλωστε, αυτές είναι που μένουν.
"Μένουν μόνο οι λέξεις, που είναι ένας άλλος σπασμός των πραγμάτων", γράφει κάπου.

Ρισπέκτ στον Βυϊγιάρ, ρισπέκτ στον μεταφραστή Γιώργο Φαράκλα, ρισπέκτ στις εκδόσεις Πόλις.

[Eva Pliakou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Εξαιρετική και λυρική σύνοψη των εξεγέρσεων του 1524-1525, οι 80 σελίδες είναι πολύ λίγες, ευτυχώς υπάρχει ο Εκκλησιαστής των Luther Blisset με ακριβώς τα ίδια γεγονότα σε 850 σελίδες (σε μια συγλονιστική αφήγηση) για όσους ενθουσιαστούν με την εν πολλοίς άγνωστη αυτή ιστορία.

Όλο το βιβλίο είναι κανονικά για παράθεση, αλλά θα κρατήσω το εξής: «Η Ιστορία είναι η Φιλομήλα, που τη βίασαν, κατά πώς λένε, και της έκοψαν τη γλώσσα, και σφυρίζει τη νύχτα βαθιά μες στα δάση».

[Marc Lamot · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story (for the English translation see The War of the Poor) seems like a light snack of barely 60 pages, but looks can be deceiving. To begin with, Vuillard has turned it into a well thought-out historical treatise on one of the most severe peasant revolts in what now is Germany, in the early 16th century. The protagonist is Thomas Müntzer (1489-1525), who evolved from Protestant theologian to virulent rebel against the authority of the church and the nobility. Vuillard writes in a very elegant style (I read the French original), but the short, condensed sentences and the theological reasoning makes reading this novelette a bit tougher than you might expect. It's not obvious what you can get out of this, and that's a good sign, because I don't like ostentatious moralistic messages. But the link with today's 'gilets jaunes' movement is inescapable. And then it seems to me that the author wants to warn us against underestimating apparently irrational popular protests, and at the same time indicate that brute power by authorities always wins. This is a short and powerful book, but I wouldn't call it a full-blown story. So, yes, I have rather mixed feelings about this one.

[Libros Prestados · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 estrellas.

Este libro tiene el problema de que es demasiado corto. ¿Vuillard se centra más en la trama que desarrolla a diferencia de "La guerra de Occidente", por ejemplo? Sí. Pero sabe a poco.

Como siempre Vuillard está encolerizado y esa ira desciende sobre él como un rayo de los dioses y le hace escribir con brío y talento. Vuillard está enfadado... ¿con el mundo en general? Bueno, conlos poderosos siempre venciendo y los pobres, los desposeídos, los débiles, siempre perdiendo. Y cómo esto es así desde siempre. Pero cómo a pesar de ello la humanidad se ha rebelado siempre.

Y así lo hizo Thomas Müntzer en 1524, cuando dio un sermón contra los príncipes... y se armó la de dios en Alemania. Curioso, en los años 1520-1521 se produjo la revuelta de las Comunidades de Castilla. Un siglo revolucionario, el XVI.

Pero el libro se queda corto, porque querría saber más de Müntzer, de los poderosos de la época, de las gentes de esa Alemania en general, y este libro no me lo cuenta. Tal vez porque no es su intención.

La intención de este libro es encenderte como una cerilla con el fuego de la justa indignación. ¿Porque quién sabe? Esta vez puede que los de siempre no pierdan.

[Vesna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The heart and soul of the rising of the oppressed. The futility of martyrdom for the just cause... or not. Vuillard did it again (see his The Order of the Day), blending history and fiction, on a much smaller scale and reaching back to another distant period with a different issue. It nonetheless still speaks to our times as long as there are places where the hypocrisies of "money, influence, and power” perpetuate the desolate poor.

4.5 rounded up

[Tasos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το δεύτερο βιβλίο του Vuillard που διαβάζω, μετά την εξαιρετική Ημερήσια Διάταξη, χρησιμοποιεί πάλι την Ιστορία, όχι για κάποια εμβριθή ή διεξοδική μελέτη, αλλά περισσότερο ως εφαλτήριο για μια ακόμα αφαιρετική και ολιγοσέλιδη, ποιητική σχεδόν καταγραφή των άγνωστων εκείνων πτυχών και συμπτώσεων που καθορίζουν το ανθρώπινο πεπρωμένο μέσα στους αιώνες. O a priori καταδικασμένος στην αποτυχία αγώνας των φτωχών αγροτών κι εργατών στη μεσαιωνική Γερμανία και η μορφή του ιερέα ηγέτη του Τόμας Μίντσερ αποδίδονται ελλειπτικά (οι πηγές είναι ελάχιστες άλλωστε) και ο συγγραφέας αφήνει τις λέξεις και τις μοναδικές εικόνες που αυτές συνθέτουν, να καλύψουν τα κενά ανάμεσα στο θρύλο, τις δοξασίες και την (περιοριστική) επίσημη καταγραφή των γεγονότων. Αυτό που μένει από τον απόηχο των γεγονότων εκείνων σε μια εποχή που οι ταξικές και κοινωνικές ανισότητες έχουν μεν αμβλυνθεί, αλλά έχουν πάρει διαφορετική μορφή, είναι ότι οι αγώνες αναζητούν κι ενίοτε κατακτούν τη δικαίωση ακόμα και μέσα από τη συντριβή τους.

[Clif Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a biography of Thomas Müntzer (c. 1489–1525) told within the context of the history of peasant revolts beginning with John Wycliffe, John Ball, and Wat Tyler in the fourteenth century. It then skips to Jack Cade and Jan Hus the fifteenth century. It then follows that Thomas Müntzer at the time of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century was a continuation of this spirit of radical religious and secular revolution.

Müntzer was an up and coming priest who apparently had a gift for public speaking that attracted many who came to hear his sermons. He was quick to side with the reformers, but quickly took positions too radical for the governing princes. Ultimately, Müntzer was banished from Saxony at the urging of Martin Luther.

Subsequently Müntzer wandered the regions of south Germany and ultimately lead a poorly armed group of peasants from Mühlhausen into the surrounding countryside until they met up with the princes’ army at Frankenhausen. The resulting Battle of Frankenhausen was the end of the German Peasant's War.

It is reported that Müntzer was found hiding in a house in Frankenhausen after the battle and was later executed. The author of this book chooses not to believe the claim of the victors that he recanted and begged for mercy. The author would rather think of him as a martyr for his cause.

This book is not written in a style or level of thoroughness to meet modern standards of history writing. It’s too polemical to be good history and too lacking in fiction to be a novel. As for thoroughness, I found more information about Müntzer in Wikipedia than in this book.

I have chosen to call it a biography bordering on hagiography. However, I suspect that in the author’s mind it was more of a story about the long historical arc of the people’s revolution, and how demands that were made then seem very reasonable five hundred years later.
_________
Perhaps the following excerpts together with my explanatory comments will convey the style of writing in this book.

The use of metaphor in the following excerpt impressed me with how it combined the flow of molten metal in the making of type for the printing press with the resulting consequences caused by the wide availability of the Bible to common people.

Fifty years earlier, a molten substance had flowed, flowed from Mainz over the rest of Europe, flowed between the hills of every town, between the letters of every name, in the gutters, between every twist and turn of thought; and every letter, every fragment of an idea, every punctuation mark had found itself cast in a bit of metal. (p2)

The following excerpt is from the Chapter titled “The Summer Is Knocking At Our Doors." In it the author ruminates on the question of Müntzer’s personality, and more specifically was he sane or a prophet? I think the following demonstrates how the author’s writing took on the prophetic cadence and style of Müntzer himself.

Yes, Müntzer is violent; yes, Müntzer is a raving loon. He calls for the Kingdom of God here and now—there’s impatience for you! The inflamed are like that: They spring forth one fine day from the head of the populace the way ghosts seep from walls.

But by what treasure of distance and delegation, by what twists and turns of the soul are the great sophisms of power maintained? One could write a history—nuanced, subtle, wildly improbable; but also shameful, with a thousand doses of poison, of lies proffered, fabricated, admitted, believed, repeated; of sincere prejudices, secret, half-avowed guilty consciences, and all the contortions of which the soul is capable.
... ... ...
Müntzer is a crackpot, fair enough. Sectarian. Yes. Messianic. Yes. Intolerant. Yes. Bitter. Perhaps. Alone. Sort of. Here’s what he said: “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth; I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” (p48)

The following excerpt is taken from the chapter titled, “Words.” Though Müntzer may have been partially motivated by religion, this excerpt clearly shows that the author considers his primary message to be one of secular revolution.

Still, even a false word will convey a flash of truth between the lines. “It is not the peasants who arose against you masters, but God himself!” Luther reportedly said at first, in an admiring but horrified cry. But it wasn’t God. It was indeed the peasants rising up. Unless you want to define God as hunger, disease, humiliation, rags. It wasn’t God rising up, it was taxes, tithes, land rights, ground rents, tariffs, travel dues, hay harvests, droit du seigneur, cutting of noses, gouging of eyes, pinching with burning tongs, bodies broken on the wheel. In reality, quarrels about the Beyond have to do with the world here-below. That’s all the influence that those aggressive theologies still exert over us. The only reason for understanding their verbiage. Their impetuousness is a violent expression of poverty. The plebeians rebel. Hay for the peasants! Coal for the laborers! Dust for the road workers! Coins for the beggars! And words for us! Words, which are another convulsion of things. (p66)

This book was originally written in French. My quotations are obviously from the English translation.

[Ana Cristina Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Todos los temas que trata Vuillard en esta novela me parecen apasionantes: la traducción de la Biblia al alemán y la influencia que esto tuvo en la extensión de las ideas de la Reforma protestante, así como su relación con las revueltas sociales y sus diferentes líderes, muchos de ellos religiosos, como el teólogo Thomas Müntzer.

En realidad es una especie de biografía de éste último, iluminado y antisistema, que provocó una auténtica guerra contra las clases dominantes.

La manera cómo Vuillard describe el episodio, a grandes trazos- brochazos – no tiene desperdicio. Empezando por el fenómeno de la imprenta:

Cincuenta años antes, una pasta ardiente había fluido desde Maguncia hasta el resto de Europa, había fluido entre las colinas de cada ciudad, entre las letras de cada nombre, en los canalones, en los recovecos de cada pensamiento, y cada letra, cada pedazo de idea, cada signo de puntuación, había quedado apresado en un trocito de metal.

Müntzer considera que la Biblia es la base de toda su creencia y que se puede interpretar directamente, sin la intermediación de las autoridades de la Iglesia:

Cree que los textos pueden leerse sencillamente, al pie de la letra; cree en una cristiandad auténtica y pura.

Esto le lleva a cuestionar las estructuras de poder de la sociedad de la época:

¿Por qué el dios de los pobres se situaba tan extrañamente junto a los ricos, con los ricos, sin cesar? ¿Por qué hablaba de abandonarlo todo por boca de quienes se habían apoderado de todo?

Estas ideas prenden como un fuego entre los desfavorecidos – que eran la inmensa mayoría:

En sus granjas cochambrosas, en las que revientan de hambre los niños, a ellos les seduce esa relación directa con Dios de la que les hablan, sin mediación de los curas, sin pagar diezmos, sin ese tren de vida de los cardenales; ¡esa pobreza evangélica es su vida!

Y transcribiría más párrafos – bellísimos – pero corro el riesgo de espoilear completamente la lectura, ya que ésta sólo ofrece ¡35 páginas! ¿De verdad, Vuillard? ¿Has despachado este tema complejísimo en 35 páginas (muy bien escritas, eso sí)? Lo cierto es que me he quedado con cara de tonta y con ganas de leer más sobre el tema, mucho más.

Le doy 4 estrellas porque no soy vengativa, a pesar de la tomadura de pelo.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is slim and perplexing and if I were more invested in the International Booker this year surely I'd take more umbrage at its inclusion (I wouldn't say I found it groundbreaking, and I honestly don't fully understand how it was eligible), so on that level I do understand this book's largely negative reception. But, however you'd classify it and whatever it did or didn't do to earn its spot on the longlist, I honestly really enjoyed it.

The War of the Poor focuses on Thomas Müntzer, a controversial theologian at the heart of the Protestant Reformation, and I'd say that having some kind of interest in that period of history is a baseline requirement to getting anything out of this. This book reads, as some have noted, like a Wikipedia entry on Müntzer's life and death and all the revolts in between, but I also think that comparison minimizes its efficacy. I think Vuillard's writing is riveting and this is a much more thematically coherent project than its Wikipedia counterpart, and I also enjoyed the meta commentary on the ways in which we engage with history. I found it to be sharp, engaging, topical, and poignant--certainly worth a read if its summary sounds appealing. 

[John Hatley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The incredibly brutal and bloodily crushed German Peasants' War of the mid 16th century is the historical background of this short work, by French writer and film director Éric Vuillard. It sketches the life of the preacher and protestant theologian, Thomas Müntzer, who opposed both Martin Luther and the Roman Catholic Church. The rebellion was mercilessly ended by the aristocracy, who slaughtered as many as 100,000 peasants and farmers.
Today's aristocracy have developed highly sophisticated and much more subtle methods of suppressing the poor.

[Lazaros Karavasilis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Οι πρώτες οδύνες τοκετού του σύγχρονου κόσμου

Ο Eric Vuillard μας έχει συνηθίσει στο να παίρνει ιστορικά γεγονότα και να τους δίνει μια μυθιστορηματική διάσταση. Αυτό είναι καλό για δύο λόγους, καθώς αφενώς δείχνει πως του ταιριάζει πολύ σαν γραφή και αφετέρου δημιουργεί φοβερά αναγνώσματα.

Το θέμα του βιβλίου, οι αγροτικές εξεγέρσεις του 1500 και ο Τόμας Μύντσερ, γνωστός γερμανός θεολόγος της εποχής. Ο Vuillard μας αφηγείται την ιστορία του και πως ξεκίνησε να δημιουργεί ένα κίνημα αντίστασης απέναντι στον θεολογικό και πολιτικό απολυταρχισμό που επικρατούσε την Ευρώπη τον ύστερο μεσαίωνα. Ταυτόχρονα όμως, είναι και μια ιστορία για το προοίμιο της σύγχρονης εποχής, αυτής της νεωτερικότητας. Η θρησκευτική αμφισβήτηση της εποχής της μεταρρύθμισης σε συνδυασμό με τις αργές αλλά σταθερές αλλαγές στον τρόπο παραγωγής, δημιουργούν τα πρώτα ρήγματα στις σχέσεις ανθρώπων και εξουσίας. Η περίπτωση του Μύντσερ αποτυπώνει πολύ καλά αυτή την μετάβαση και η γραφή του Vuillard την μεταπλάθει σε αγνό λογοτεχνικό κείμενο.

«Κανένας θεός, μόνο λαός» θέλουν να φωνάξουν οι εξεγερμένοι αλλά αρκούνται μόνο στο να φωνάξουν πως ο αληθινός θεός μιλάει μόνο για εμάς. Νιώθουν αμήχανοι. Καταφεύγουν στην προσευχή. Δεν μπορούν να διαχειριστούν την κοινωνική έκρηξη, πέρα απο την μεταστροφή της σε πλήρη κοινωνική διάλυση. Θα χρειαστούν μερικοί αιώνες για την πλήρη απόρριψη του θεού ως πηγή εξουσίας.

Η εξέγερση τελειώνει όπως και κάθε εξέγερση με αίμα. Πολύ αίμα. Οι χωρικοί σφιαγιάζονται σαν τα σκυλιά στα αμπέλια, ο Μυντσερ συλλαμβάνεται, βασανίζεται και καρατομείται η εξέγερση τελειώνει και δίνει την σειρά της σε άλλες μεταγενέστερες εξεγέρσεις.

250-300 χρόνια μετά, οι εξεγερμένοι θα πάρουν άλλη μορφή. Θα φορέσουν στολή, θα οπλιστούν κατάλληλα θα λάβουν χαρακτήρα μαζικού στρατού και θα κινήσουν για να καταλάβουν όλη την Ευρώπη υπό τις οδηγίες του Ναπολέοντα. Στη πορεία όμως θα δημιουργήσουν τον σύγχρονο κόσμο, με τη μεταφορά της εξουσίας απο το θείο στο κοσμικό.

[Kamil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very very skilful writing. That’s pretty much it.

[Kuszma · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Münczer Tamás nem szép ember, de gavallér.)

Így két regény után már ki merem jelenteni: Vuillard nem regényírásban utazik, hanem proklamációkban. Tulajdonképpen ennek a műfajnak a szépirodalommá tétele az ő nagy művészi vállalása, és ebben tényleg nagyon ott van. A legtöbb írónál a fiktív elemek a történetben jelennek meg, azonban Vuillard esetében maga a cselekmény a legszigorúbban vett tényanyag - ebben a konkrét esetben Münczer Tamás hektikus élete. Ha csak ezt nézzük, a Szegények háborúja vegytiszta történelmi esszé. Lenne. Ha Vuillard akár csak a legkisebb vonzalmat is érezné a tárgyszerű tálalás irányában. De nem, és pont ez a lényeg. A szerző ugyanis azzal teszi irodalommá a szikár történelmi tényanyagot, hogy átforrósítja azt a kendőzetlen személyes véleményével. Így lesz az egész egy rövid, de annál szenvedélyesebb állásfoglalás a hatalmasok ellen - és ezzel párhuzamosan azok mellett, akik dacolva a megégettetés veszélyével, kiálltak az Isten előtti egyenlőségért. Izzó és radikális kiáltás ez a szűk száz oldal, amiben a szerző szent haragja kicsordul a sorok közül. Ez a harag kétféle céllal bír - egyfelől hitelessé teszi a szöveget, másfelől képes arra, hogy a hátára kapja az olvasót, és az olvasás folyamatát a vágtatás érzetével töltse fel. A magam részéről (akármennyire is egyetértek Vuillard mondanivalójának velejével) nem gondolom, hogy a harag bármit is hitelesít - ami azt illeti, sokkal kevésbé lenne veszélyes a világ, ha az emberek a saját haragjukat több gyanakvással vizsgálnák. De ettől függetlenül a magának megfogalmazott írói víziót Vuillard sallangmentesen megvalósítja, baromi karakteres és eredeti irodalmat hozva létre.

[Julius · Rating 3 out of 5]

A veces tengo la sensación de que hay libros que encajan mejor en un formato de podcast. Y este es uno de estos.

La obra cuenta la historia de Thomas Müntzer y su liderazgo en el levantamiento de los pobres. Prácticamente, el escueto libro es solo acción y frases muy cortas, sin profundidad. Creo que el protagonista se merecía más páginas y una lectura más pausada.

2,5 estrellas.

[Georgina Koutrouditsou · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ζητούνται ιστορίες,είναι διαφωτιστικές, λέει΄ και όσο πιο αληθινή είναι η ιστορία,τόσο πιο πολύ αγαπιέται.Αλλά κανείς δεν ξέρει να διηγείται αληθινές ιστορίες.Και όμως είμαστε πλασμένοι από ιστορίες,μας κρατούν με ιστορίες από όταν ήμασταν παιδιά: ακούστε!διαβάστε!κοιτάξτε!, γενηθήτω η αλήθειά μας,ας μας θίξει όσο πιο καίρια και ας μας απωθήσει όσο πιο μακριά γίνεται με εικόνες και λέξεις."

Νομίζω ότι το παραπάνω κείμενο είναι ένα χαρακτηριστικό απόσπασμα της φιλοσοφίας των έργων του Βυγιάρ!
Έχοντας διαβάσει τα άπαντά του (όσα κυκλοφορούν στα ελληνικά, τουλάχιστον) μπορώ να πω με βεβαιότητα ότι ο Βυγιάρ έχει οδηγήσει σε άλλο επίπεδο μια μορφή της Δημόσιας Ιστορίας. Παίρνει μια απλή λεπτομέρεια της ιστορικής γραμμής και πλάθει γύρω της, αν και μυθοπλαστικά,ιστορίες γεμάτες ζωντάνια και φυσικότητα σαν να είμαστε μάρτυρες, κινηματογραφικά ωστόσο, του γεγονότος.
Μια μικροκάμερα που προσπαθεί να μεταφέρει στο κοινό την ένταση, τα συναισθήματα, τους ήχους και ό,τι άλλο για να γίνει η Ιστορία βίωμα.
Αν και σύντομο το παρόν βιβλίο σε "πνίγει" στις συγκλονιστικές εικόνες, αν και αποσπασματικές!

Τα βιβλία του Βυγιάρ πρέπει να αντιμετωπίζονται συνολικά και όχι μεμονωμένα ως πρόθετα εγχειρίδια διδακτικής ιστορίας,γλώσσας και λογοτεχνίας.Υπερβολή;Όχι,γιατί αυτό το χαρακτηριστικό λείπει από έναν σύγχρονο έλληνα συγγραφέα (ο οποίος θα έδινε και τα ανάλογα παραδείγματα,πάντα σε σύντομη έκταση),ενώ αντίθετα η Γαλλία έχει καταφέρει να εξελιχθεί σ'αυτόν τον τομέα.
Στόχος της διδακτικής, να διορθώσω, δεν είναι η αποσπασματικότητα ή η συντομία...αλλά η ενσυναίσθηση που κατα��έρνουν τα έργα του Βυγιάρ!

[B. H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is there a clause somewhere hidden deep in the deed that established the Booker International back in 2016 that stated that every longlist for here unto eternity must feature at least one slim, unassuming French book that can only be described as the epitome of mediocrity?

I think this is meant to be an essay (or a mini-biography?) recounting the life of a “forgotten” figure of the Reformation who was for "equality" and inspired a War of the Poor, and through the lens of this singular life then making an argument about the cyclical, unending nature of class revolt? I can feel that Vuillard has a soft spot for Müntzer, but maybe that should have been reason to work harder on making this a better book!

I would have been fine with the facile, half-assed, poorly-argued and structured argument of this “book” if the writing hadn’t been so lackluster. Since it was rather short, I read the original French and then skimmed the English translation. Kudos to Polizzotti who, on several occasions, managed to elevate Vuillard’s straight-out cheesy prose.

“Martyrdom is a trap for the oppressed. Only victory is desirable. I shall tell of it.”

Yeah, maybe don’t.

I am not really mad. Like this wasn’t actively bad, more just “meh”. I am absolutely baffled as to why this book was longlisted as it had absolutely nothing going for it. Okay fine, no idea who this guy was before reading the book and while I am not one to scorn new knowledge, it wasn’t like Müntzer is the type of person we have never heard about, nor is his story particularly interesting. At least not in Vuillard’s hands. The framing is not original, the language is not daring, there is nothing here that hints at even an usual blending across genres that might have excused its other faults. I don’t get it! What is it doing in this longlist?

[Bill Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not easy to dislike a book so short, it's over before you can barely think about it. Having read The Order of the Day, I was eager to read more of Vuillard. I think his work is deceptive. He is writing about moments in history, but, it seems to me, he is thinking about now. In this latest beautifully slim book, he takes in a rapid journey through peasant revolts of the 14th to 16th centuries, from England to Germany, and schisms in the European Christian church. Quite a scope for about 50 pages of text. Focusing on Thomas Müntzer a radical theologian who set his path against the aristocracy and church in favour of the poor, Vuillard covers Müntzer's arguments and actions in raising the revolt of the dispossessed in favour of a 'true' belief in god. However, this feels, to me, written as metaphor, not only for the disparity in wealth today from hyper-rich to the devastatingly poor, but also for the radically religious, of whatever belief system. The simple message, 'it was ever thus'. Yet, we are horrified by the mayhem he presents and almost ignore the same now. A short book, with a lot of think about.

[Effie Saxioni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ούτε σαν ιστορικό με κάλυψε, ούτε σαν μυθοπλασία, ούτε κατάφερε να μου κεντρίσει σοβαρά το ενδιαφέρον. Αναζήτησα,βέβαια,τα γεγονότα στο ίντερνετ και βρήκα αρκετό υλικό, παρόλα αυτά, η παρουσίαση των γεγονότων στο βιβλίο μου έδωσε την εντύπωση γρηγορογραμμένης έκθεσης.
2⭐