Esperando a Robert Capa

by Susana Fortes

París, 1935. Escritores, pintores, poetas, fotógrafos… se mezclan en las calles y en los cafés de la Rive Gauche con miles de refugiados que llegan huyendo del nazismo. Entre ellos, dos jóvenes judíos. Ella, alemana de origen polaco, orgullosa, disciplinada y audaz. Él, húngaro, un superviviente nato que intenta como puede hacerse un hueco en el mundo de la fotografía. En apenas un año, el estallido de la guerra civil española los convertirá en dos de los mejores reporteros de guerra de todos los tiempos: Robert Capa y Gerda Taro. El amor, la guerra y la fotografía marcaron sus vidas. Eran jóvenes, antifascistas, guapos y asilvestrados. Lo tenían todo. Y lo arriesgaron todo. Crearon su propia leyenda y fueron fieles a ella hasta sus últimas consecuencias. Una novela emocionante que rinde homenaje a todos los periodistas y fotógrafos que se dejan la vida en el ejercicio de su profesión para mostrarnos cómo amanece el mundo cada día.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, War, Romance, Spain, Historical, Photography

236 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Susana Fortes (Pontevedra, Spain, 1959) graduated in Geography and History at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, and in American History from the Universidad de Barcelona. She has recently spent time in the USA, combining teaching Spanish in Louisiana and participating in university conferences at the Universidad Interestatal de San Francisco. She currently teaches at a secondary school in Valencia. With her first novel, Querido Corto Maltés (Dear Corto Maltés), she won the 1994 Premio Nuevos Narradores. In 2001 she was shortlisted in the Premio Primavera awarded by Espasa for her novel, Fronteras de arena (Borders of Sand). She has also published Las cenizas de la Bounty (Ashes of the Bounty; Espasa, 1998), Tiernos y traidores (Tender Traitors; Seix Barral, 1999) and the screenplay Adiós, muñeca (Ciao, Doll; Espasa, 2002). With her novel El amante albanés (The Albanian Affairs) she was short-listed for the Premio Planeta 2003. Her novels have been translated into English, Dutch, French, Norwegian, Greek, German, Italian, Portuguese (Portugal and Brazil), Chinese (Simplified and Complex) Polish, Hungarian, Croatian, Turkish, Hebrew, Russian and Korean. Susana is a regular contributor to the newspaper El País, as well as various cinema and literature magazines.

Her novel El azar de Laura Ulloa (The Fate of Laura Ulloa), Planeta 2006, won the Premio de la Crítica and has been translated into several languages. Quattroccento (Planeta, October 2007) and her last novel Waiting for Robert Capa (Planeta, 2009), winner of the Premio Fernando Lara 2009, have been translated into 12 languages and are best-seller in many countries.

Film rights of Waiting for Robert Capa have been sold to Forward Pass (Michael Mann's production company) and Columbia Pictures. The screenplay is written by Jez Butterworth.

Reviews

[Maria Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Qué maravilla de libro! En serio, sin palabras... Exactamente no sé qué decir, solo que es fascinante la maestría con que la autora nos muestra esa España convulsa, ya olvidada, en guerra. Pero sobre todo cuando narra la vida de Gerda Taro, una mujer que lucha por reclamar un lugar propio en el mundo y el amor loco y desesperado de un hombre, capaz de todo por poseerla; por amarla.

[Майя Ставитская · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually, el fascismo ha pasado (fascism has passed), contrary to the aspirations and sacrifices of the heroically selfless inter-brigade members. And Spain for many years was under the rule of dictator Franco, who flooded the country with secret police agents. If you have read "The Cemetery of Forgotten Books" by Carlos Ruiz Safon, then you have an idea of the further development of events.

But while it is only the beginning of the thirties, the Polish Jew Herta Pohoril is involved in the struggle against National Socialism. She is arrested for spreading anti-Nazi propaganda, but partly due to the fact that the girl is playing an empty-headed fashionista, partly due to family ties involved, and mainly due to the fact that in the 33rd the regime is not so fierce yet. But staying in Germany, where the family moved a few years ago, is dangerous, Herta and her cousin Ruth are moving to France.

In Paris. thanks to the knowledge of languages, cursive and typewriting are interrupted by one-time side jobs: translation, reprint, secretarial work. A Scandinavian-type beauty, Ruth, a statuesque blonde, sometimes poses for advertising. So Herta gets acquainted with the Hungarian Jew photographer Endre Friedman, and under his influence begins to study photography.

They are young, in love, happy, despite the lack of money. And there is a remedy for lack of money. They come up with an American photographer Robert Kapu, creative, talented and brave, who only Gerda Taro has access to. Such a pseudonym consonant with Greta Garbo and as far as possible from the Jewish sound (because anti-Semitism was strong everywhere in pre-war Europe) - such a pseudonym takes Gert, along with the role of an agent of the mysterious Kapa.

¡No pasarán!
С "Лейкой" и с блокнотом, но не с пулеметом...
На самом деле. el fascismo ha pasado (фашизм прошел), вопреки чаяниям и жертвам героически- самоотверженных интербригадовцев. А Испания на долгие годы оказалась под властью диктатора Франко, наводнившего страну агентами тайной полиции. Если вы читали "Кладбище забытых книг" Карлоса Руиса Сафона, то имеете представление о дальнейшем развитии событий.

Но пока только начало тридцатых, польская еврейка Герта Похориль включается в борьбу против национал-социализма. За распространение антинацистской пропаганды ее арестовывают, но отчасти благодаря тому, что девушка разыгрывает пустоголовую модницу, отчасти - задействованным семейным связям, а главным образом тому, что в 33-м режим еще не так лют - выпускают. Но оставаться в Германии, куда семья переехала несколько лет назад, опасно, Герта с двоюродной сестрой Руфью перебираются во Францию.

В Париже. благодаря знанию языков, скорописи и машинописи перебиваются разовыми подработками: перевод, перепечатка, секретарская работа. Красавица скандинавского типа, Руфь, статная блондинка, иногда позирует для рекламы. Так Герта знакомится с венгерским евреем фотографом Эндре Фридманом, и под его влиянием начинает заниматься фотографией.

Они молоды, влюблены, счастливы, несмотря на безденежье. И против безденежья есть средство. Они придумывают американского фотографа Роберта Капу, креативного, талантливого и смелого, выход на которого есть лишь у Герды Таро. Такой псевдоним созвучный с Гретой Гарбо и максимально далекий от еврейского звучания (потому что антисемитизм был силен везде в предвоенной Европе) - такой псевдоним берет Герта, вместе с ролью агента загадочного Капы.
[image error]

А потом они отправляются освещать события Гражданской войны в Испании и там Фридман, окончательно сжившийся с псевдонимом Капа, становится фантастически знаменит, благодаря фотографии "Смерть солдата республиканца", мгновенно облетевшей издания всего мира. Это фото и на сегодняшний день считается одним из лучших военных. Хотя есть что-то глубоко неправильное в том, как человечество романтизирует войну. В готовности, с какой видит в ней не боль, потери, разрушение, калек, грязь, дерьмо, окопных вшей, а вот эту вот красивую живописную жестокость.


Книга Сусанны Фортес об этом. И о Герте Таро, первой женщине - военном фотожурналисте. По сути, "В ожидании Роберта Капы" - беллетризованная биография, основанная на серьезной работе с источниками. Интересная книга.

[piperitapitta · Rating 2 out of 5]

«Leggermente fuori fuoco»



Gerda Taro fotografata da Robert Capa



Robert Capa fotografato da Gerda Taro

Devo chiedere scusa alla Editrice Nord per aver scritto, iniziando la lettura di questo romanzo, Titolo originale: Esperando a Robert Capa, da cui il documentario che verrà Waiting for Robert Capa di Michael Mann. Ma vabbè, siamo nella terra dei fotoromanzi, perché loro sapevano, evidentemente avendolo già letto e tradotto, che proprio di fotoromanzo trattavasi.
Peccato, perché la storia, come già sappiamo grazie alla lettura (o anche alla sola conoscenza) dell’opera di Helena Janeczek, vincitrice del premio Strega 2018 con La ragazza con la Leica, è non solo affascinante dal un punto di vista umano, ma anche, soprattutto, interessante da un punto di vista storico.
Peccato, perché sembra che proprio la Storia sia il punto di forza dell’autrice - Susana Fortes ha una doppia laurea, la prima in Storia e Geografia conseguita all’Università di Santiago di Compostela, la seconda in Storia americana all’Università di Barcelona - ed infatti, almeno in quello, nella parte storica narrata e nel contesto rappresentato, è più solida.
Peccato, perché come dice lei stessa nella postfazione, la Spagna sente di essere debitrice alla coppia di fotografi, di dover in qualche modo rendere loro onore e grazie.
Peccato, però, che non resista alla tentazione di tingere di rosa cipria, rosa antico e rosa cupo, la relazione che unì i due fotografi - Gerda Taro e Robert Capa, appunto - riducendo la stessa a una storia da fotoromanzo; di infarcire con dettagli della loro relazione - anche sessuale, di cui non si sentiva affatto l’esigenza che, al contrario, infastidiscono e fanno sentire a disagio il lettore - una vicenda che di potenziale ne aveva, ne ha, talmente tanto, da chiedersi cosa mai sia passato per la testa dell’autrice per deragliare fino a tal punto.

Unica pagina (mezza, in verità) veramente interessante è quella che Susana Fortes dedica ai fotografi di guerra tormentati dalle loro immagini, che mi ha permesso di scoprire le storie di alcuni di loro, su tutte quella di Kevin Carter, e delle loro foto.

«Tutti i fotografi odiano le immagini che li perseguitano fino alla morte, come fantasmi, a causa del mistero e della spettacolare infelicità che racchiudono. Eddie Adams visse tormentato da una sua foto del 1968, scattata nel preciso momento in cui un generale della polizia di Saigon spara a bruciapelo alla tempia di un prigioniero vietcong che ha le mani legate dietro la schiena. La vittima contrae involontariamente i muscoli del viso nel momento dell’impatto, un istante prima che il corpo crolli a terra. Nick Ut, dell’Associated Press, non poté mai dimenticare l'immagine di quella bambina vietnamita di nove anni che, ustionata dal napalm, corre nuda lungo una strada, vicino al villaggio di Trang Bang. Nel 1994, Kevin Carter scattò una foto a una bambina sudanese rannicchiata a terra, forse svenuta per la fame, sotto lo sguardo famelico di un avvoltoio, a meno di un chilometro dal punto di distribuzione viveri dell’ONU. Con quella foto vinse il Pulitzer, e qualche mese dopo si suicidò. Robert Capa non riuscì mai a superare la Morte di un miliziano, la miglior fotografia di guerra di tutti i tempi. La foto che gli aveva fatto a pezzi l'anima.»









Se La passione di Artemisia di Susan Vreeland è il non libro da non leggere su Artemisia Gentileschi, questo è il non libro da non leggere su Gerda Taro (e Robert Capa): sono fatti della stessa farina. Rosa. Probabilmente l’unico colore che Robert Capa e Gerda Taro non avrebbero mai scelto di mettere nei loro reportage e Artemisia Gentileschi nei suoi quadri.

Capa affida le sue memorie di guerra ad un libro pubblicato nel 1947, che spera di trasformare presto in una sceneggiatura per il cinema: Leggermente fuori fuoco (Slightly Out of Focus). Per questo avverte il lettore sul risguardo della sovraccoperta: «Visto che scrivere la verità è ovviamente tanto difficile, nell’interesse della verità stessa mi sono permesso ogni tanto di andare appena oltre, altre volte di fermarmi appena al di qua. Tutti gli avvenimenti e le persone descritte in questo libro sono accidentali e hanno qualcosa a che fare con la verità».



Una miliziana spagnola fotografata da Gerda Taro

[Lidia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quizá sea 4,5 pero no le voy a escatimar ni una estrella. Me ha encantado. Teniendo claro que es una "biografía novelada" y que tenemos que dar por hecho que los detalles salen de la autora y pudieron no ser verdad, aun así, o quizá por eso (porque si no se llamaran Taro y Capa también me habría conquistado) la novela, la historia, me ha encantado. Tiene mucho que ver el estilo de la autora, su narración, esa descripción que resulta detallista y que habla de sentimientos. Y toda la recreación histórica me ha parecido perfecta. Mucha información pero muy bien llevada para que no pierda agilidad. Es una novela que engancha. Y es increíble que la guerra civil en este país sea tabú cuando hubo un movimiento intelectual a su alrededor realmente interesante (y desconocido salvo que tires de libros históricos o académicos).
La historia me ha parecido preciosa, a pesar de lo triste (no desvelo nada, todos sabemos cómo acabó Taro y si no, solo hay que ir a la Wikipedia), porque Susana Fortes ha conseguido que quiera a los protagonistas de esta historia, que admire a Taro, su inteligencia y sus agallas.
Recomendadísima.

[Marisa Sicilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tan jóvenes, tan valientes, tan comprometidos, antes que con ninguna otra cosa consigo mismos. Me ha parecido preciosa la forma en que la autora saca adelante una historia que transcurre en una época trágica. Puede que la última parte se cuente un poco a vuela pluma, sobre todo en lo referente a la Guerra Civil, imposible abarcar un hecho histórico tan complejo en una novela que no pretende centrarse en la contienda, sino que sirve de marco para comprender cómo afectó a los protagonistas. A cambio logra un retrato igual de vivo y fuerte, tal como debieron de serlo los auténticos Robert y Gerda. Está escrita con una pasión que contagia, se mueve entre varios géneros sin llegar a decantarse del todo por ninguno (y quizá esto puede perjudicarla un poco porque inevitablemente te deja con ganas de más: más historia o más romance o más biografía), sin embargo, me quedo con esa sensación de reportaje fotográfico, de capturar la vida que sí consigue. Por cierto, inevitable buscar las fotos y que no se te parta un poco más el corazón.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admirables Capa y Taro.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 para una novela que es mucho más que la historia de la relación de dos personas fascinantes. En ella encontramos el reflejo de una época que ha marcado a generaciones, la pasión por el arte de la fotografía, la importancia del periodismo gráfico. Son muchas cosas las que se esconden en sus páginas.
Una buena lectura, desde luego

[Judith Starkston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Translation by Adriana V. Lopez

Waiting for Robert Capa is both a puzzling book and an alluring one. It contains gorgeous, vivid descriptions of life in Paris and Spain in the ‘30s. It has long philosophical musings on war and refugees and love and memory, which I found deeply compelling and thought provoking. The portrayal of the Spanish Civil War with its intellectuals and artists as well as its armies was tragic and moving. What I was never persuaded of was that this is a novel rather than a strange hybrid of history, biography, artistic critique, with more imagined pieces to it than any of those writing forms generally permit. This doesn’t make it a bad book, just an unusual one.

We never lose ourselves in Fortes’s imagined semi-fictional world because she tells Robert and Gerda’s story with the all-knowing voice of historical retrospective. It’s not just an omniscient point of view; it’s the voice of history and critique. The book has poetic, involving descriptions, but then there are also moments of narrative disconnect when Fortes has positioned the point of view inside Gerda’s mind and yet somehow future events are known and described. Here’s a passage when Gerda and Capa have recently arrived in Spain that demonstrates both the book’s beauty and its odd narrative voice:

“Gerda and Capa spoke little during those walks. As if each needed to react on their own while facing that land inhabited with skinny dogs and old women dressed in black, their faces chiseled by strong winds, weaving wicker baskets under the shade of a fig tree. She began to realize that perhaps the real face of the war wasn’t just the price paid for the blood and disemboweled bodies that she would soon see, but the bitter wisdom that lived in those women’s eyes, a dog’s solitude as it wandered through the fields limping, a hind leg broken by a bullet.”

Sometimes Fortes’s writing seems more a critique or homage to these two photographers than a novel. For example:

“She was training her photographer’s eye, and little by little, she was developing an extraordinary talent for observation. Curious, she lifted the tip of the cloth with caution and discovered the dead body of a few-months-old baby dressed in a white shirt with lace trimming, whose parents were planning to bury their child that very afternoon. She kept quiet, but went out walking by herself until she reached the edge of an embankment and sat down. Resting her head on her knees, she began to cry, hard and long, with tears that dripped onto her pants, unable to control herself, without really knowing why she was crying, completely alone, staring out into that horizon of yellow countryside. She had just learned her first important lesson as a journalist. No scenery could ever be as devastating as a human story. This would be her photography’s signature. The snapshots she captured with her camera those days were not the images of war that militant magazines such as Vu or Regards awaited. But those slightly inclined frames transmitted a greater sense of sadness and loneliness than the war itself.”

In this passage Fortes starts with a scene, although even here her narrative voice creates a kind of distance between the reader and the character/experience depicted in the scene. But after starting in-scene, she shifts to a description of her journalism—the narrative camera moves outward away from the fictional world into the art critic’s academic voice. Both Capa and Gerda were talented and fascinating photographers. Learning about them was one of the pleasures of this book, and perhaps there was no way to accomplish that without leaving pure story-telling behind, but generally speaking, I prefer historical fiction to pull me more directly into another world and let me forget the academic structures of history and analysis while I’m there.

One other mildly distressing aspect of this book—and it may have come about in the process of translation—is the constant use of sentence fragments, whole paragraphs of them at times. The feeling of an incomplete idea, an unexpressed point begins to creep up on my consciousness as I read these bits and pieces of phrases with no grammatical or logical completion. It’s a stylistic choice, I think, but it may be one tinged with some intellectual laziness. The writer needs to think the idea all the way through and push the heart and mind to the end. It’s painful, but that’s what writing is. Others may feel she’s captured an appropriate mood or flood of emotions with this choice, and I’m just being a stodgy old English teacher, with which I won’t quarrel.

The relationship Fortes describes between Capa and Gerda is complex and multi-faceted. She gives us a weighty, layered portrayal of their lives. The horrors of the civil war are vividly depicted. She gives us the warmth and depth of the many friendships Capa and Gerda had with other photographers, journalists, doctors, and refugees.

There are many reasons to read Waiting For Capa, but don’t expect to get lost in a rich fictional world. The rich world is there and so is the fiction, but the author is at your side commenting throughout. You will not get lost and that might be a loss.

[Please note that I was reading an unedited electronic advance reader copy and there may be errors in the passages I have quoted that will be corrected before publication.]

[An Munoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 - Melancolía, soledad, instinto, necesidad, cuerpo, alma, desarraigo, nostalgia...
''Fotografiar a las personas es obligarlas de algún modo a afrontar cosas con las que no contaban. Las sacas de su camino, de sus planes, de su trayectoria normal. A veces también es obligarlas a morir."-
Taro y Capa, Inolvidables.

[Diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Waiting for Robert Capa is the story of photojournalists Andre Friedmann and Gerta Pohorylle, who later assume their more well known aliases, Robert Capa and Gerda Taro. Both are Jewish; Taro had relocated to Paris from Germany due to the Nazi regime and impending persecution of the Jews. There, she meets Capa and begins a business relationship with him that leads to a romantic companionship that extends into the Spanish Civil War until her death.

The premise of Waiting for Robert Capa captured my attention. I really wanted to like this book. However, at the risk of sounding like a philistine, it was pretentious, and I couldn’t get into it. While Ms Fortes’ writing is lyrical and beautiful, the story itself was dry. The book is translated from the original Spanish version, so maybe it was something lost in translation. It tries to be so many things: romance, historical nonfiction, political/social commentary, etc. I really just felt alienated by the book’s inconsistency of genre. There are plenty of books that can masterfully weave all of these different elements together. Unfortunately, Waiting for Robert Capa is not one of them.

There is a lot of name dropping, e.g. James Joyce, Hemingway, Man Ray, that really doesn’t pertain to the story. I understand that they hung out with a lot of artists and avant garde figures, but do I really need to know that they were around Ernest Hemingway having a domestic squabble with Martha Gellhorn? There is also a lot of discussion of different political factions and philosophies that are so thinly covered that it creates confusion. It seems like one must know Trotskyism and the other philosophies she lists in order to really understand the story, which, unfortunately, I don’t.

Ms Fortes also flits to and from different time periods within the length of a paragraph too much, making the reading experience less enjoyable. Also, while she creates intriguing characters of Capa and Taro, I felt very distant from them and just didn’t connect with them.

I didn’t hate it; I just struggled to get through it. The saving grace is the writing, but there is only so much pretension that I can take. Maybe it’ll make a better movie than a book

I had the privilege of reading an advanced copy from netgalley for free. There was no compensation made for my review; it is my own, unadulterated opinion

If you liked this review, check out my book blog Random Pabulum

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Al final de la novela la autora expresa que "me hubiera gustado reflejar la intensidad y la complejidad de aquellos años convulsos con la maestría y la pasión de Robert Capa, Gerda Taro y David Seymour transmitieron con sus fotografías. Pero no tengo el talento para manejar una camara. Así que no me quedaba otro remedio que intentar recorrer la distancia entre la imagen y la palabra a mi manera y con mis propias armas"... y puedo decir que lo ha conseguido con creces.
Ha sido una lectura increíble, apasionada, real, que consigue transmitir tanto que puedo aseguraros que no soy la misma que era al empezar a leerla.

https://millibrosenmibiblioteca.blogs...

[Netta · Rating 2 out of 5]

A poignant but poorly written story.

[Agnes Franczia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book I was looking forward to read for such a long time that it would have been an utter disappointment if it turned out to be not worth the wait. Fortunately, this was not the case. :)
As I heard, a lot of people started reading this book without any knowledge of Capa or the times he was working in or anything at all really. Well, I'm Hungarian and I was always fascinated by his work (even though I have never been a photography expert myself) and I also feel myself drawn to this era (for instance one of my favourite books is Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls - actually I think it's his best work, I don't really get what the fuss is about when people discuss the Old Man and the sea...).

You might think that this is the story of Robert Capa, originally Endre Friedmann from Hungary and his way to success but in truth, it's more than that. It's about the woman behind him who helped him as a kind of manager as the writer says in the book. This is the story of Gerda Pohorylle, Gerda Taro who herself became a huge figure (with the help of Capa) in the 30s circle of war photography. This book doesn't tell us a story of a silent girlfriend in the background but rather a fierce, independent woman whose name the world should know in her own right.

A lot of people criticized this book because you couldn't really decide which genre it is. People, this is just crazy... You don't have to get upset if you don't get a detailed description of the Spanish Civil War.. if you want to know more on the subject, for god's sake, open your history books or type it in google or wikipedia... And yes, this is the story of real people but it's not a biography, it's fiction! That means the novelist has the freedom to write about these two people, their relationships, their words and thoughts as she sees fit. I read somewhere that Jimmy Fox, the director of Magnum Photos was disappointed because it was too sugary and fluttery because in reality they cheated on each other and so on.. So let me just say again, it's fiction.
That doesn't mean that their relationship was just fiction and maybe they weren't faithful to each other but I would very much like to think that they cared for each other way more that they could ever care for anyone else. I think they understood each other and there was a conflict between being with each other and being free and independent and doing what they liked the best: living in the danger of war and telling the world about it with memorable photos.

Personally, I also think that there was nothing wrong with the style or with the narration, I could imagine everything which was written in the novel and I especially liked those pages where the writer picks us up from the present and suddenly we are in the future, so you can know what will happen to all of them, Capa, Taro and their photographer friend Chim (although I was sorry that we couldn't get more information how these photographer branch came together, for example there is nothing about Henri Cartier-Bresson aside from some mentioning of his name..well, you can't have everything in twohundred pages I guess..) Near the end she also used this technique with some of the soldiers in the civil war and you could just have this feeling that everything is so fragile. One minute they are just enthusiastic photographers and young boys in war and the next minute or the next year it can all change.
So I guess it actually doesn't really matter if he wasn't the love of her life or she wasn't his because I believe that they had love for each other in one way or another and their relationship - whatever nature it was - was meant to be because they had an effect on each other's lives. And even though they both had such tragic fate, through their work they captured these memorable, sometimes ordinary moments which for a brief amount of time seemed to last forever.

So if you love humanity, history, drama and some reality, don't hesitate to read this book!!! :)

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Due dei fotografi che amo di più.
Una biografia romanzata ben scritta e molto scorrevole.
Un modo diverso di conoscere due importanti personaggi che con le loro foto ci hanno raccontato la guerra di Spagna.

[Byron Márquez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmmm

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gerda Taro was a pearl with no oyster in which to enfold herself.

She's the one "Waiting for Robert Capa," a Hungarian photographer named Andre who she coddled, loved, and turned into an international artistic product.

Taro herself was one of those strong and independent women in a time when her gender was allowed no such prerogative and those who chose to exercise it were left on the vine to dry and die.

"Waiting for Robert Capa," is the story of their brief, youthful, and productive love affair. It is, in her case, a holocaust story because she is a displaced Polish Jew who does not survive the Nazis and Fascists of her time.

And it is mostly Gerda's story. That of a woman whom watching evoked, "an Angora cat hunt down a mouse with the street smarts of a stray," someone, author Susana Fortes tells us, who was "automatically loved. It's something you're born with, like the way you laugh as you tell a joke in a low voice."

The couple meet in Paris after being chased from their respective homelands. Fortes' strongest contribution may be her depiction of how suffocating and terrifying Fascism had become for the average person in the European street.

The portrayal suggests the couple were happier in a war zone, where they could be free, where utility outranked pedigree, and where they could confront the enemy earlier than most.

Fortes puts these characters into Spanish Civil War action at the places history knows they had been: the defense of Madrid, the refugees' flight from Malaga, the exiled government in Valencia, and the fateful battle of Brunete.

She peppers her text with the names of forgotten poets and International Brigadists in the style of Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska.

But mostly Fortes imagines the internal and emotional lives of her subjects, the lovers Gerda and Capa, although these inner personalities are not put into "play" very often.

Rather the author tells us what they are thinking about themselves and one another, mixes said feelings with politics, Jewish identity, and their zest for life into an interesting, if low-volume literary affair.

Although the players in action took more work, and despite the fact "Waiting..." is situated in war time, the author favors the internal dialogues and, as such, this book is mostly a projected mapping of these two peoples' emotional souls.

This is a European romance of the old-fashioned kind that continues the ongoing effort to recuperate the memories of remarkable people forgotten, because they were losers in a chapter most critical to modern history.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not a lover of love stories, and this was no different in the sense that at times I was ready to skip ahead, notably at the sex scenes (I have no problem with them if they add something, but while some of these had a reason for being there, I don’t feel many of them did) and some of the descriptions of how they felt.

That said, the descriptions in general in the book are wonderful, and so well suited to a book about photographs, which we cannot see but must imagine, and a time period/places both so vibrant and busy and so empty and tragic. The author’s description of the various settings and her recreation of scenes from a time of chaos, rebellion, loss, passion, grief…are all so vivid that I really felt myself there with them.

However, this also meant that this book took some real reading. I enjoyed it, but it was draining at times and hard to read at others. It was a book of short, sharp bursts. I had to read a few pages then mull it over, leave it to one side, do something else for a while before picking it up again. It was definitely not a book for the metro.

What interested me most, from the romantic aspect of the book, was the struggle between independence and co-dependence, and the fact that it was (for once, and interestingly for the time period) the man who showed how much he ‘needed’ the woman rather than viceversa. Indeed, Greta/Gerta is a very strong character, although it is clear how much she too wants Capa and I like that we see hints of her inner doubt and vulnerability, making her more likeable and more real.

This is, above all, a true story - the characters are real, the events are true, making some of them very hard to read about, but also making me think about the nature of this sort of photography, the danger of it and the drive behind it. The passion for taking the best shot, capturing things exactly as they are really comes across, and is highlighted so well by the scene of Capa in Guernica.

Overall, I really liked this book. It was a tough read, but one I'd like to go back and read again at some point, as I feel there is a lot to take in in one go.

[Eliza Rapsodia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mi historia con este libro es curiosa. Lo descubrí a principios de este año cuando brujeaba en la ronda habitual a mi biblioteca universitaria. Pero por mi gran gana de prestar más libros de los que tengo tiempo de leer, tuve que devolverlo. Tiempo después volví a llevármelo para ahora si leerlo si o si. Me he sentido identificada. He llorado. He reído. Me ha encantado.

Esta es la historia de una reportera. Gerta Pohorylle, una de los miles de refugiados que llegaron a París de años años 30. Una polaca con pasaporte alemán. Dura y recia desde la juventud que huyó para salvar la vida. En París no todo es bonito ni fácil para ella. Porque ella es judía. Y es comunista. Y mientras sobrevivía en una ciudad que nunca considero suya conoció al hombre que le daría una razón para vivir: Endre (Andre) Friedmann, un 'jodido húngaro' que amaba la fotografía. Junto a él se convertiría en una de las reporteras de guerra más grandes de todos los tiempos, a pesar de que ella estuvo en la sombra. Ellos eran los admirados y reputados Robert Capa y Gerda Taro.

Reseña completa: http://rapsodia-literaria.blogspot.co...

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro verdaderamente maravilloso. Lo he disfrutado de principio a fin, y la caracterización de Taro y Capa me ha parecido maravillosa, desde los primeros capítulos en el París de principios de los 30 a la cruda Guerra Civil. Los últimos capítulos me han partido el corazón, y me han hecho adorar más (si cabe) a estos fotógrafos que llevan llamándome la atención tanto tiempo. En general, una lectura no muy densa, que engancha y, sobre todo, que representa maravillosamente a dos de los más brillantes fotógrafos del siglo XX.

[Pia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Die Schreibweise dieses Buches ist wirklich einzigartig.
Während wir den beiden Hauptfiguren dabei zusehen wie sie die Fotografie meistern, sich in Kriege stürzen und sich mit allen Tücken des Lebens herumschlagen, liest es sich wie ein Bildband in Textform.
So viele Eindrücke und Gefühle, man kann die Handlungsorte förmlich riechen. Ich hatte noch nie das Gefühl, Fotografie so gut zu verstehen und wertzuschätzen wie während dieser Lektüre.
Das Buch verdient, über mehrere Tage hinweg gelesen zu werden, um es richtig aufzunehmen.

[lise.charmel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tanta ricerca storica per poi raccontare la vita di Gerda Taro con lo stile di un Harmony.
Il romanzo è infarcito di locuzioni tipo "ci sono giorni che", "ci sono abbracci che", "ci sono persone che" e tutti questi giorni, abbracci, persone sono indimenticabili, per non parlare di "non avrebbe più amato nessuno allo stesso modo".
Addirittura l'autrice ad un certo punto si spinge ad immaginare che uno dei personaggi si ricorderà di uno di quegli abbracci in punto di morte. Paragrafo stucchevole (come tanti) e inutile ai fini della trama.
Infine, ho trovato (forse campanilisticamente?) irritante che l'autrice si limiti a citare gli italiani limitandosi agli aerei mandati da Mussolini, senza nominare i tanti volontari che accorsero in Spagna credendo in un ideale e desiderando dare il loro contributo a salvare quella giovane democrazia che fece la brutta fine che conosciamo.

[Mariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

um livro de ficção histórica muito interessante! com personagens reais, mas pensamentos e ações com licença poética.
achei uma ótima ilustração, sobretudo aos pensamentos de Gerda Taro e quem era ela antes de Robert Capa. entretanto, as vezes sentia falta da própria Taro na narrativa.
jurei que não ia chorar, mas paguei a língua né? 🤡🤡🤡
embora sei que não seja muito a premissa da autora e da história, senti falta de mais dados políticos da própria Guerra Civil Espanhola, sendo essa cheia de simbolismos.
nos agradecimentos ela cita algumas referências importantes que ela utilizou para a realização do livro e creio que pode ser de grande ajuda para o início de uma pesquisa sobre Gerda Taro.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un libro tierno, y sobrecogedor. Es difícil ver la realidad de una guerra sin tener en cuenta vivencias cercanas de familiares que estuvieron ahí. Y es más, me es difícil no pensar en mis abuelos al leer la historia de Gerda sin emocionarme. Qué mujer, qué maravilla de historia oculta que tenemos de auténticas valientes.

[TC · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book looks like it will be one of those released to great critical acclaim, and translated for the big screen which I imagine will make a good film. However I found myself struggling to finish this book. For the plot please take a look at the description above.

I'm interested in photography but have to admit I hadn't heard of these photographers before so I wasn't sure how much of the book was a biography and how much was fictionalised. I read it expecting something that would be almost a historical fiction novel, but there were so many names and facts thrown in that it interrupted the flow of the narrative. I was also hoping to learn a bit more about the Spanish Civil war, which doesn't seem to get a lot of attention in the media compared to other conflicts. However while there was some information included it almost seemed to presuppose a degree of prior knowledge which I don't have, so it didn't really enlighten me and the scenes detailing actual conflict were limited and didn't have much emotional impact.

The story jumps around both in time and location, and the narrative in places is very choppy with incomplete sentences. The style worked in some places but overall this had a combined effect of making it a bit difficult to follow at times. Some of the references back to Gerta's life before she moved to Paris seemed to set up mysteries to be resolved, such as what had happened to her previous love Georg who went to Italy, with a suggestion something had gone on that would be revealed, but it never was. Probably a good thing there were no more flashbacks to their time together as I hated the sex scenes. I seriously dislike the use of the word "member", does anyone use it in real life in an anatomical context outside of literature?

I put this book down unsure of whether it was a biography, historical fiction or a romance novel, and my overall feeling was one of relief that I'd finished it. It was okay but I'm afraid I can't be more enthusiastic. It's a shame something I saw as really promising was a bit of a damp squib.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected.

I had trouble getting into this book, especially in the beginning. In the spirit of full disclosure, I was having a bit of Book ADD at the time I was reading this book, so my inability to become immersed in it may not have been the fault of Susana Fortes. I take much of the blame, and offer my apologies to Ms. Fortes.

That being said, the writing was not as compelling as the story itself - does that make sense? All the elements of a wonderful war-torn love affair were there - the drama, the passion, the scenery - but the cadence was off. It felt disjointed and choppy.

BUT, once I was involved in the story, I understood why I was holding this book in my hands. It really was a beautiful, unbelievable story based on two very real, very interesting people. I had to remind myself that what I was reading was not total fiction, and this made me want to turn the pages even when I was tempted to put it aside for something lighter.

If you enjoy stories about real people, and want to become immersed in the drama of the 1930s, then give WAITING FOR ROBERT CAPA a try...just don't give up on it too soon!

[CD · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lyrical, poetic prose homage to the first female war photo-journalist. Gerda Taro as she renamed herself, was the first women to die pursuing this role. Robert Capa was a name also invented by Gerda for business reasons and has become iconic. Their relationship is the primary story line set during the turbulent era that culminates in this book during the Spanish Civil war between the Republicans and Franco's Fascists.

I read the first third of this book in one sitting. It is captivating for a reader who come to this with background already. There is history, journalism, art, politics and a few other topics without which this is 'just' an off beat literary love story. A more serious review and discussion will be forthcoming when there more time.

A work that temporarily goes on the hist/fict until a better label can be found.(Several books need a 'different' shelf beyond just 'literature') As a translation from Spanish it has a few quirks. Some odd word choices or phrases that can be wildly confusing or distracting. Another topic to be dealt with in detail in a more thorough review that this work deserves.

Until then

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this due to these real people appearing in the book The Perfume Garden. This is written in translation from the Spanish and reads at times like a documentary account of the two photographers Robert Capa and Gerda Taro. It is factual and detached from the actual war in some way - whilst telling you all about it. It has no sentimentality.

I found the account of the 2 characters detailed and interesting but this lacked somewhat for me as it switched from being a documentary account to a novel type prose to a diary and back again.

I think it is worth reading if you are particularly interested in the Spanish Civil War. For me it was a good link to follow up as I have now read several books on the subject.

[Zuzana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trocha historie nikoho nezabije. Tentokrát se jedná o historii trochu okrajovější - válečná fotografie, španělská občanská válka. Od krátkého příběhu nelze očekávat hluboký historický exkurz, ale úplným laikům to trochu otevře další obzory a znalci se setkají s hvězdou oboru z trochu jiného pohledu, než jaký přinášejí encyklopedie a oficiální životopisy.
Kdybych byla fanoušek novinářské fotografie, tak dám těch hvězdiček určitě víc. Spisovatelsky to žádnou velkou hodnotu nemá, příběh jako takový je ale zajímavý. Knížka je natolik útlá, že i přes veškeré výhrady stojí za to si ji přečíst.

[Federica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarà che la storia d'amore di Robert Capa e Gerda Taro è uno dei miei punti deboli, ma io ho amato questo libro. Descrizioni meravigliose, sembrava quasi rivivere la vicenda con loro. Adatto a chiunque, come me, ami le struggenti storie d'amore tormentate (bonus: ambientate durante la guerra).

[Deborah 🐝 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ho dato quattro stelline a questo libro perchè il rapporto tra Robert Capa e Gerda Taro mi ha appassionato molto, ma la scrittura di Susana Fortes non mi ha convinto fino in fondo, nonostante la ricostruzione storica accurata dello scenario della guerra civile spagnola a metà degli anni 30