Il pittore di battaglie

by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Roberta Bovaia (Translator)

In un'antica torre di guardia sul Mediterraneo, Falques, ex fotoreporter di guerra, dipinge un immenso affresco circolare: il paesaggio atemporale di una battaglia, la fotografia che non è mai riuscito a scattare, il caos del mondo dall'assedio di Troia a oggi. Dopo trent'anni in prima linea in molte guerre, infatti, ha deciso di ritirarsi in solitudine, non solo per gli orrori ai quali ha assistito ma anche per il proprio lavoro, che non sempre è stato oggettivo e innocente come avrebbe dovuto. Su questo punto è d'accordo il croato Markovic. Fotografandolo, Falques gli ha distrutto la vita. E molti anni più tardi, Markovic lo rintraccia, determinato a ucciderlo. Dal passato torna anche il ricordo di Olvido Ferrara, la donna amata, saltata su una mina in servizio nella ex Iugoslavia, da cui ha compreso come solo l'arte può dove l'occhio o la macchina fotografica falliscono.

Genres: Fiction, Spain, War, Art, Spanish Literature, Historical Fiction, Philosophy

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez, is a Spanish novelist and ex-journalist. He worked as a war reporter for twenty-one years (1973 - 1994). He started his journalistic career writing for the now-defunct newspaper Pueblo. Then, he jumped to news reporter for TVE, Spanish national channel. As a war journalist he traveled to several countries, covering many conflicts. He put this experience into his book 'Territorio Comanche', focusing on the years of Bosnian massacres. That was in 1994, but his debut as a fiction writer started in 1983, with 'El húsar', a historical novella inspired in the Napoleonic era.

Although his debut was not quite successful, in 1988, with 'The Fencing Master', he put his name as a serious writer of historic novels. That was confirmed in 1996, when was published the first book of his Captain Alatriste saga, which has been his trademark. After this book, he could leave definitely journalism for focusing on his career as a fiction writer. This saga, that happens in the years of the Spanish golden age, has seen, for now, seven volumes, where Pérez-Reverte shows, from his particular point of view, historical events from Spanish history in the 16th century.

Apart from these, he also penned another successful works like Dumas Club and Flanders Panel, titles that, among others, made Pérez-Reverte one of the most famous and bestseller authors of Spanish fiction of our era.

Reviews

[Jim Fonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

An internationally-known war photographer has hung up his camera and retired as a hermit to an abandoned structure near Barcelona. He is painting the entire interior of his lighthouse-type structure with a battle scene. It is a battle scene that transcends time, partly re-creating famous battle paintings from ancient ones to more modern ones like Guernica.



The painter's work is interrupted by a visitor, a former soldier that the photographer captured on film in Croatia and made famous. The soldier and his wife were of different ethnic groups in the conflict; not a good thing when war breaks out between the two ethnic groups. (I’m reminded of the violence suffered by a couple – an Arab man married to a French woman -- during the Algerian war of independence against France, the theme of the book The Lovers of Algeria by Anouar Benmalek.) The Croatian soldier was imprisoned and tortured; his wife and child were killed. He announces he is here to kill the photographer for bringing this curse down upon him.



Here the real story begins. The soldier who plans to kill the artist returns day after day. The two men discuss art, photography, life and death, violence, war, responsibility and guilt. There is a lot of technical talk about painting and photography: brushstrokes and shutter speeds.



The book is slow in parts. The author knows his subject: he was a war correspondent covering wars all over the world. The book is translated from the Spanish.

Paintings from top: The Battle Painting by Nocolas Poussin fineartamerica.com
Guernica pablopicassso.org
Battle of Little Big Horn by Edgar S. Paxton paintingandframe.com

[Велислав Върбанов · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Всяка хубава картина винаги се стреми да бъде пейзаж на друг, ненарисуван още пейзаж; но когато обществената реалност съвпадала с тази на твореца, няма дублиране. Най-хубавото е обаче, когато те не са съвпадали, и художникът е трябвало да избира между покорството и измамата, използвайки таланта си, за да направи така, че едното да изглежда като другото.“


„Художникът на битки“ е изключително стойностна и трогателна книга! Реверте е създал ярко антивоенно четиво, представяйки жестоката склонност на хората към насилие и низостта на човешката природа като цяло. Освен това, той майсторски е описал огромното значение на изобразителното изкуството в живота, както и вложил задълбочени размисли по различни теми. В тази сравнително кратка, но страшно емоционална и запомняща се история, са преплетени по въздействащ начин меланхоличното настояще и мъчителните спомени от миналото на популярен бивш военен фотограф, който впоследствие се е е оттеглил и превърнал в художник...






„Фаулкес намираше нещо очарователно в любезния и същевременно поостарял изказ на своя гост, в подбора на думите, в паузите, когато търсеше най-подходящата от тях.“


„Сезан го бе видял толкова ясно, помисли си Фаулкес. Въпросът не опираше само до това, да подчертаеш една усмивка със зелени тонове или да смекчиш сенките с охра. Преди всичко ставаше дума за това, да видиш проблема в дълбочина, отвътре, в неговата структура.“


„Само изкуствено създадените и наложени правила, културата, развитието и лустрото на различните цивилизации държат човека далеч от самия него.“


„Така отново се връщаме към Аристотел — малко не сполучил, но все още полезен: разбирането, дори и самият опит за разбиране ни спасява. Или поне ни утешава, защото превръща абсурдния ужас в спокойни закони.“


„Но другите невинаги знаят как да я четат. Сблъскват се с такива хора и дори не си дават сметка. Може би защото никой вече не гледа никого истински в очите.“


„Нашият свят произвежда останки, а не руини; всеки може да вкара един булдозер, да изравни всичко със земята и да забрави. Руините, естествено, пречат, притесняват, предизвикват неудобство. А без тези каменни книги, по които да четем бъдещето, много скоро ще седим с единия крак в лодката и без монета за Харон в джоба.“


„Винаги е било така, но просто се забравя. Светът никога не е знаел толкова за себе си и за своята същност, колкото сега, но какво от това? Винаги е имало земетресения в морето и приливни вълни, но преди нямахме луксозни хотели на плажа… Човекът си създава евфемизми и димни завеси, за да отрече естествените закони, както и присъщата му низка природа.“


„Макар и парадоксално, тези нови щрихи, които навлизаха в празната бяла част на стенописа — или дори тя сама по себе си — сякаш овеществяваха и потвърждаваха всичко нарисувано; така както шепата пясък, който изтича между пръстите, докато изчезне, представлява едно осезаемо понятие за думата пясък.“


„А онези двамата — добави тя изведнъж — Жерико и Роден, са били прави: само художникът казва истината. Снимката лъже.“

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 5 out of 5]

В самотна, рушаща се кула оттеглил се военен фотограф е приседнал за последен път до реката на смъртта и незабравата, от чийто отвъден бряг на нарисувания от него батален стенопис го гледат всички, чийто сетен час е минал през обектива му. Гледа го и цялата история на човешките войни от Троя насам.



Това е книга за отговорността. И отчасти за паметта. За скръбта и вината. За жестокостта. За смисъла, който не е математическа теорема. За изкуството, с най-прекрасните пейзажи в книга от много време насам, излезли от платната от Прадо, Уфици или просто от умиращото слънце над венецианските лагуни. Както и за геометрията на хаоса, която е просто близнакът на симетрията на живата материя. Законите на живота и смъртта са често едни и същи. Това, разбира се, изобщо не е утеха, още по-малко пък оправдание за войни и жестокост.

Това е най-пронизителната книга на Реверте.

***
▶️ Цитати:

🎨 “Да показваш ужаса на преден план вече не е социално приемливо. Дори и на детето с протегнати ръчички от известната снимка на варшавското гето днес биха му закрили лицето и очите, за да не се нарушават законите за защита на малолетни.”

🎨 “опустошени пейзажи — част от обширната геометрия на нещастието, войни, които приличат на други войни, хора, които приличат на други хора, мъртъвци, които приличат на други мъртъвци.”

🎨 “По-добре да сме аморални, отколкото неморални, не мислиш ли?”

🎨 “в един момент на лутане и колебание етиката и естетиката започват да чезнат, лишен от своя емоционален заряд, и когато този момент отмине безвъзвратно, изкуството се превръща, а може би най-правилно е да се каже, че отново става една безпристрастна и дори ефикасна формула, едно обективно средство за възприемане на живота.”

🎨 “в хаоса имаше безупречни прави линии, които отвеждаха на точното място в точното време.”

🎨 “Да приемеш нещата, не значи да ги одобряваш такива, каквито са”

🎨 “книгите му помагаха да подреди собствените си идеи;”

🎨 “Има места, от които никога не се връщаш ”

🎨 “Вече има твърде много снимки, не мислиш ли? Светът се е пренаситил с проклетите снимки.”

🎨 “Елементарната и първична жестокост не е жестокост. Истинската жестокост включва пресметливост… разум, както вече казах…”

🎨 “Вижте ги — толкова са цивилизовани, защото им изнася и не им струва особени усилия.”

🎨 “всяка симетрия носи в себе си жестокост.”

🎨 “разбирането, дори и самият опит за разбиране ни спасява. Или поне ни утешава, защото превръща абсурдния ужас в спокойни закони.”

🎨 “Ужасът винаги дебне наоколо, готов да заколи Евклид с косата на хаоса”

🎨 “според един основен постулат на квантовата механика, наблюдавайки реалността, човекът я създава.”

🎨 “Разглобяваше всяка тишина на части, както часовникарят разглобява часовници.”

🎨 “просто се стремеше да види света в неговите истински пропорции, без лустрото на фалшивата нормалност;”

🎨 “В свят, в който ужасът се продава като изкуство, в който изкуството се ражда, за да бъде заснето, в който образът на страданието не извиква нито осъзнаване, нито съчувствие, военните фотографии вече нищо не струват.”

🎨 “Лошото на спомените е, че могат да те превърнат в пророк.”

🎨 “По някакъв начин една трагедия успокоява повече от един фарс, не мислите ли?… Също така има и временни болкоуспокоителни. С малко късмет, помагат да избуташ. А ако са и правилно предписани и разпределени — ще ти вършат работа до края.
— Например?
— Бистрият ум, гордостта, културата… смехът… Не знам. Такива неща.”

[Berengaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Muy buena novela sobre el destino, el amor, el arte, la guerra y la tragedia de la vida de nosotros seres humanos.

This Kammerspiel (chamber play) of a novel has only two protagonists: Faulques, a celebrated war photographer for whom the evils he witnessed over years in his job are finally catching up to him, and Ivo, a former Croatian solider who was tortured and his family murdered on the basis of a random photo taken by Faulques.

The two men in their conversations explore the responsibility of journalists who document wars, the unforeseeable results of everyday actions, the horror of ethnic cleansing, the passive evilness of humans, but also the laws that govern chaos & order, love & loss, as well as art in its literal and figurative forms.

I've long been a fan of Arturo Perez-Reverte and have read most of his novels, but this one stands out to me as not only his most personal, but also his very best.

Having been a war correspondent himself for many years, you can feel how Perez-Reverte is processing his experiences, regrets and ethical questions in fictional form.

It is close, intense, at times revolting and heartbreaking, but most of all it's an honest recogning with fate and the laws that govern our chaotic lives here on earth. How we try to make sense of the chaos and how we fail.

This will not be everybody's novel and certainly, the vivid flashback scenes to real wars and conflicts are not for the sensitive - remember this was written by someone who has seen murders and terrible destruction in real!

But I found it a fantastic, if understated, work of fiction and humanity.

[Antigone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fool for fine writing. I adore a sentence that says what it means, that clicks into place like a puzzle-piece, snug and thrillingly sufficient - comprehending as it must that it is part of a grander scheme and can't, on its own, afford to be oblique. I chide my own nouns and verbs and adjectives constantly: Save your narcissism for poetry! That is your debutante ball. This is your mission. Forge a bond with your brethren or suffer the red-pen consequences. Hundreds of beautiful, beautiful sentences have been cut down in their prime solely on the basis of their petulant refusal to become team players. (Those of you who compose know the agony of this.) Such is my foolish standard...and so it should come as no surprise that one of the shrines I worship at is under the somewhat constant construction of Arturo Perez-Reverte.

Mr. Perez-Reverte is a Spanish author whose works may be familiar. His books include The Club Dumas, The Flanders Panel, The Queen of the South, and a collection of novels following the adventures of swordsman and soldier of fortune, Captain Alatriste. Should you choose to sample his stories, my advice is to start among these. The Painter of Battles is a different beast entirely. Here he draws the demons forward, resurrecting his extensive experience as a war correspondent to meditate on aggression and the brutality of the human spirit.

Protagonist Andres Faulques is a world-renowned battlefield photographer who has retired, finally, to a ruined coastal watchtower known as Cala del Arraez. His remaining days, he has determined, will be spent on a single aim: expressing his knowledge of war through the painting of a darkly-elaborate mural that will encompass the walls of the first floor. He is well on his way to achieving this end when a stranger shows up at his door, announcing that he has come to kill him. Thoughtful conversations ensue.

This is a short novel, dense with art history, existential philosophy, and stark travels through several of the cruelest conflicts of modern time - Bosnia, Lebanon, Romania, the Persian Gulf. Much is made of the intellectualization of evil and the elusive nature of a journalist's ethical responsibilities during a time of war. The text is quite fine, the intent exact, yet the subject matter (from an author who is clearly processing) may prove crushing in its burden. That said, Arturo Perez-Reverte remains a phenomenal wordsmith. And so my worship continues.

[Biogeek · Rating 2 out of 5]

A novel that may have been better as a short story. The premise, and some of the dialog in the first and last 50 pages, were intriguing. A retired and reclusive war photographer is visited by a Croat he once photographed retreating from a battle. That one photo, an award-winning one, had unexpected, and tragic, repercussions in the subject's life, and now he wants to kill the photographer. But not before the two engage in pages and pages of discussions about art, war, cruelty, death, love, responsibility and symmetry. Some of these conversations are fabulous, and some mind-numbingly boring.

A third character, the photographer's dead girlfriend, makes for an unwelcome addition to the story. I found myself skimming all the sections where she made an appearance. She is one of those characters that an author finds amazingly attractive in his head, but then ends up being horrible on the page. She seems cold and pretentious in almost every conversation, and wastes our time with lines like, "I heard once, or read, that if you over-analyze events you end up destroying the concept. Or is it the other way around? That concepts destroy events?"

This made me wonder, does a poorly rendered character destroy the novel, or does a bad novel destroy a character.

[Димитър Цолов · Rating 5 out of 5]

Войната е мрачната спътница на хората от зората на времето и насилието сякаш интимно е втъкано в човешките гени. Може би затова Артуро Перес-Реверте не се оплита в задълбочени обяснения на феномена, а през очите на своя герой, прочут фотограф, с тридесет годишен стаж в отразяването на кофликти в различни точки на света, се превръща в мълчалив съзерцател на войната, затваря я в почти естетически рамки, без нито за миг да забравя уродливата ѝ същност.

...когато нещастието върне човека към хаоса, от който той в действителност произхожда, цялата тази цивилизована обвивка се разкъсва и той се превръща в това, което е бил или което може би не е преставал да бъде: безмилостен кучи син...

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was part of a stack that I’m trying to get through—just books that I’ve had sitting around for years. Books that I plan on giving away as soon as I’ve finished them. Books are powerful things though, and this one obviously had other plans. This went from the giveaway pile to my absolute-favorites-of-all-time pile.

It’s a beautiful book, a heartbreaking book, and a book that’s heavy on philosophy. It’s one that I immediately want to reread, but I’m not going to because I feel like it’s something special now, and I don’t want to be too greedy with it. Maybe that’s absurd. I don’t know. I just know I love this book, and I wish I could read it again for the first time.

[Louize · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally written here.


SYMMETRY

After Isaac Newton laid his 3rd law of motion, almost every branch of science agreed with him. I suppose, even religion does. “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” It is the fundamental symmetry of the universe. Our every action draws an imaginary path, an effect. Sometimes even a small change may result to a large difference.

Andrés Faulques, a war photographer by profession, decided to leave his famous life and secluded himself in a tower by the sea, painting an extensive mural on its interior. A vision of nightmare: 26 centuries of the iconography of war.

Because he couldn’t find, through the lens, “the definitive image; the both fleeting and eternal moment that would explain all things,” “the hidden rule that made order out of the implacable geometry of chaos.”

One day an unexpected visitor came; introducing himself as Ivo Markovic, the subject in one of Faulques war photos, “The Face of Defeat”. And, announcing without swell that he intends to kill Faulques. But first, he wants the photographer to understand some important details.

“I can’t just kill you,” he explains. “I need for us to talk first; I need to know you better, to be sure that you realize certain things. I want you to learn and understand. ... After that, I’ll be able to kill you.”

The game was set, the terms were laid. But Markovic was puzzled by Faulques. The painter of battles is different from the war photographer he thought he knew. His visits were welcomed, followed by long philosophical conversations on war and the natures of man. The issues of responsibility and guilt were always present. And death was never far behind.

”It's here, under our skin,....In our genes. Only the artificial rules, culture, the varnish of successive civilizations keep man within bounds. Social conventions, laws. Fear of punishment.”

The novel was both beautiful and tragic. The callousness of how Arturo Pérez-Reverte depicts war as art was something you cannot look away from. His prose will encourage you to look over Faulques’ shoulder and take a peek at the picture of suffering. Each was rendered in technical details. His philosophies on symmetry and violence through Faulques’ eyes can evoke a clash of feelings.

I have only Club Dumas -having read only that before this- to compare The Painter of Battles with. This book is different in many ways, but the strange element is also present. My only complaint is the incessant reference to the protagonist as “the painter battles”. Or maybe, Reverte have a certain point he wished to drill that I totally missed. Arturo Pérez-Reverte is a great mind-bender and his games of mental-chess are something I have to get used too.

[Sandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Painter of Battles is a beautifully written word picture encompassing everything from "the Butterfly effect", to art history lessons, to a morality homily on the futility of war and the evil that man bestows on his fellow man.

Perez-Reverte draws you into the story as he meticulously recounts (probably from his own experiences as a war journalist) example after example of the insanity of war and examines the cruelty and finality of its outcome. In essence, Perez-Reverte gives us and in depth look at the nature of man who he perceives as possessing an in-born inescapable evil that he has, utilizing his superior intelligence, refined through the centurys into an art form.

This story of two men, inescapably linked by a war, a chance encounter and a photograph, and the culmination of those events is mezmerizing. As the story progresses, their relationship becomes almost symbiotic in nature.

This is definitely not your "run of the mill" novel and Perez-Reverte is not your run of the mill writer. His fluent prose and evocative observations will fill your mind and soul like a fine dinner satisfies your hunger. Perez-Reverte has created his own "Butterfly Effect". By writing this book, he has effected the perception of his readers.

[Mariya Mincheva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Много искрено написан разказ за унищожителната сила на войната и силно доказателство в подкрепа на тезата ми,че няма оправдан военен конфликт предвид разрухата,на която обрича поколения невинни животи.
Както винаги се случва при този автор книгата е написана с много внимание към детайла и при събитията, и при героите,и в развръзката. Вълнуващ мрачен реализъм и силните послания са много силен аргумент за това, че в лудостта на войната няма победители, а само жертви.

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was wary coming into this one after having given up on the last Pérez-Reverte book I tried. This wariness was a little uncalled for, since I had immensely enjoyed three others he wrote, but in the end it was justified. I went back and forth between being intrigued and downright bored, and quite truthfully only the slim 200-page count convinced me to see it through.

The main character, Faulques, is a former war photographer who has retired to an old tower to paint a mural of battles, an attempt at catharsis after what he had seen and lost. A soldier who he had photographed, Markovic, shows up and announces that he is going to kill him, starting off a long conversation between the two regarding the nature of man and war.

I would say it would be characteristic of me to prefer actual plot to philosophizing in a novel, but to my surprise, every time the book left the main discussion and flashed back to the photographer's past and his relationship with his lover and their travels through war-torn areas, I nearly fell asleep. The lover, Olvido, is the sort of creature that only exists in fiction, or perhaps only in the minds of men who are dreamers who conjure up untouchable women one can never really know. She is prone to the most ridiculous, romantic (in both senses of the word) dialogue that no real person would ever consider saying. The descriptions of her reminded me of an article I read about overrused elements in YA novels - "Does your character have magical green eyes? Do you keep mentioning them?" It seemed almost tragic to see it in literate fiction.

It was always with relief that I would return to the main conversation, leaving ridiculous Olvido behind. Pérez-Reverte was a war journalist himself, which adds considerable weight to the philosophizing. The conversation between Falques and Markovic is deep and uncomfortable and deserves more than two stars, but I resented Olvido's interruptions so much by the end that I can't bring myself to give it more.

[Ivo Stoyanov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книга за всичко което остава в хората след една война , възможности , вероятности , всичко е шанс невероятен шанс да оцелееш ,секунди , ако имаш късмет разбира се ,след това картините в теб няма да ти дават покой .Шедьовър !!!

[Joy D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faulques, a former lauded photojournalist, now lives alone in a villa-tower in Spain. After spending many years in war zones, he has turned to art and is painting a large mural depicting the horrors of war. One day a Croatian man arrives saying that one of Faulques’s award-winning photos ruined his life. He has come seeking revenge. The man comes back each day, speaking of what happened to him after the photo was published. During their conversations about life, death, love, and hate, we also learn Faulques’s backstory.

The narrative examines the responsibility of the artist to the subject. It is also a story of war’s impact and the seeming inability of humankind to avoid it. There is a feeling of tension throughout. The historic and artistic details are realistic. It almost seems like the “painter of battles” is being besieged by his conscience through his interactions with the visitor. At times I wondered if the visitor was a figment of the painter’s imagination, but he seems very real in the narrative. There are many references to artwork and the 1990s War in Bosnia-Serbia-Croatia. The ending leaves room for multiple interpretations, which always appeals to me. This book is much more than an entertaining story. It is thought-provoking combination of art, ethics, chance, war, and philosophy.

[Desislava Filipova · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Художникът на битки" от Артуро-Перес Реверте e жесток и навеждащ на размиси роман, проследяващ в ретроспекция историята на един военен фотограф, който се оттегля от света в своята кула, за да нарисува спомените си; и историята на един случаен човек, озовал се от другата страна на обектива.
Чрез своята картина художникът се опитва да осмисли миналото, цялата жестокост и деструктувност, на които е станал свидетел, това което човекът е съградил с години, може да бъде разрушено за секунди, с един куршум или с натискането на едно копче, светът избухва в пламъци. Ужасът е запечатан в един миг, във всеки кадър на фотоапарата и е представен просто като линии, пропорции и светлосенки. Дали и в най-страшните картини всичко е симетрия или хаос.
Историята е изградена върху символи и препратки към древността и митологията, върху лайтмотива за Троя.
Реверте има прекрасен стил, увлекателен и описателен, силно въздействащ, но в същото време борави добре с факти и с обяснителни бележки.
Донякъде като усещане на безнадеждност ми напомня на "Аз още броя дните", но единственото общо между двете е войната, представена без маска, слава или чест. "Художникът на битки" е извън ясна хронологична рамка, представя събития, които могат да се случат навсяъде, но очертава добре всяка локация, за да придаде достоверност.
Това е една от книгите, които ме карат да виждам свяета по различен начин, лишен от блясък и илюзии образ, който плаши.

[Kitty-Wu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro me ha gustado en cierta manera y me ha cansado en otra. Se reconoce bastante al autor en el personaje de Faulques, y me parece interesante la introspección del personaje sobre el tema de la guerra y los horrores de la condición humana, especialmente en la confrontación con Ivo... pero Reverte me parece penosamente pedante en otros momentos, pretendiendo tener la verdad absoluta sobre el mundo y los hilos ocultos que lo mueven... no niego que seguramente, tanto el personaje como el autor, por sus experiencias vividas, tengan una visión y una comprensión de las cosas muy alejada de la mía, pero es como si yo (o cualquier otra persona) pretendiera tener el saber absoluto por haber estudiado filosofía... no sé, ese gesto de "superioridad" me carga, así como el abuso retórico-estilístico... pero en general me ha parecido interesante.

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Arturo Pérez-Reverte writes wonderful thrillers - except when he doesn't. This was one of the latter, neither wonderful nor thriller. I guess it might turn into a thriller as a man threatens to kill the eponymous Painter of Battles, but I got to just short of halfway and couldn't wait around for the fear of death and the thrill of the chase to come into things.

The Painter was a former war photographer. There was too much about photography - the speed the shutter and various f-stops were sprinkled throughout. As to the wars, it was more anti-war than anything, but also some philosophy about why humans are such war mongers. And we are, if you look at history even if you or I, as individuals, are not.

Anyway, I was simply bored to tears, almost literally. I found something else to read to fill the same slot in this season's challenge.

[Fabio Luís Pérez Candelier · Rating 4 out of 5]

"El pintor de batallas" de Arturo Pérez-Reverte, es una novela en la que la guerra actúa como un poderoso telón de fondo, dejando cicatrices en quienes la viven y la padecen. Con una prosa evocadora, descripciones precisas y vívidas, diálogos filosóficos, el uso de flashbacks y de elementos de thriller psicológico, la obra aborda las complejidades de la condición humana a través de las tensiones que despiertan en el protagonista una visita inesperada y el recuerdo de un antiguo amor. La trama gira en torno a Faulques, un fotógrafo de guerra retirado que decide vivir en soledad en una torre frente al mar con el propósito de pintar un mural de batallas basado en sus vivencias en los campos de guerra. La novela explora las diversas tensiones psicológicas del protagonista y sus recuerdos, abordando temas como: el arte, la ética, la memoria, la violencia, la culpa, la crueldad de la guerra y el peso del pasado.

[notgettingenough · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of those books I feel like I should like more than I do. It’s made me realise that it’s an over-simplification to say that I like word descriptions of art more than the visual experience of observing it. Yes when John Berger is the writer. No when it’s Pérez-Reverte. The long descriptions of art did not give me a picture in my head the way Berger’s do. I got fidgety and ended up skipping them. It was that or not finish the book.

That said, it does a fair job of raising all sorts of issues to do with art. It’s potential for depth and layers of meaning. The photograph as falsehood. The impact of the observer upon that which it observes, photographer on subject. How a bystanding photograph can destroy a life. How Art can be honest where a photograph isn’t, and this is nothing to do with faking a photo, or touching it up. It’s about how a photo taken in a split second on the run can become the wrong story. I suppose all this must also mean questioning the point of the War Photographer. Why men (sic) might want to kill each other and what might stop them.

I don’t say don’t read it. But I have reservations.

[Stefanos V · Rating 1 out of 5]

Περίμενα αρκετά περισσότερα. Σχετικά απογοητεύτηκα. Παρά τις πολλές εικόνες που υπήρχαν σε περιγραφές η ιστορία ήταν στατική. Ανούσιοι διάλογοι και στοιχεία που τράβηξαν σε μάκρος χωρίς λόγο. Όχι κάτι το ιδιαίτερο.

[Maria Thomarey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αυτό θα συγγραφέας δε σε απογοητεύει ποτέ. Ακόμα και όταν καταλαβαίνεις πού το πάει δε σε απογοητεύει.

[Fila Trece (Liantener) · Rating 5 out of 5]

La obra más intima, profunda e impactante del autor español, que se aleja de las novelas de misterio y suspenso anteriores, pero que resulta muy agradable.

Por lo regular evito las descripciones de contraportada, pero en esta ocasión, no hay mejor manera de definir la trama que lo que dice la contraportada del libro, así que la transcribiré tal cuál: En una torre junto al mediterráneo, en busca de la foto que nunca pudo hacer, un antiguo fotógrafo pinta un gran fresco circular en la pared: el paisaje intemporal de una batalla. Lo acompañan en la tarea un rostro que regresa del pasado para cobrar una deuda mortal, y la sombra de una mujer desaparecida diez años atrás.

Supongo que a partir de su inclusión en la Real Real Academia Española, Pérez Reverte decidió demostrar que este hecho no fue obra de la casualidad o del volumen de ventas. El lenguaje en esta novela es mucho más rebuscado que en sus otros libros, pero sin caer en el estilo que usa en "Las Aventuras del Capitán Alatriste". Esta es la voz de Pérez Reverte en su forma más filosófica y profunda. Sin duda alguna su personaje es muy parecido a él, un fotógrafo de guerra, y por lo tanto todas las reflexiones, pensamientos e ideas deben ser un reflejo de las propias, o por lo menos de gente cercana.

Cada personaje y cada idea nos ponen a pensar. Incluso cada frase del autor, llena de metáforas y pasión, se vuelve una reflexión. Encontré que éste es el libro más "referenciable" del autor. Hay infinidad de frases que ya quisiera uno poder recordar para utilizar en conversaciones civilizadas.

Un libro por demás disfrutable, que encantará a todos los fans del autor y a quienes gustan de la buena ficción literaria.

[Παύλος · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ειναι το δεύτερο βιβλιο του Ρεβερτε που διάβασα. Το πρώτο ήταν η λέσχη Δούμας ή η σκιά του Ρισελιέ το οποίο με είχε εντυπωσιάσει τόσο πολυ που εδώ και τρία χρονια το μισό αριστερό μου χέρι έχει ζωγραφιστεί με πίνακες του βιβλιου.

Δυστυχώς δε με ενθουσίασε τόσο ο ζωγράφος των μαχών. Καλή και έξυπνη ιστορία με πολλές προεκτάσεις αλλά με αρκετή φλυαρία. Η βασική ιδέα συνοψίζεται στα εκεί ακόλουθα:

Ο Φοουλκες ειναι ένας 50αρης πρώην φωτογράφος και νυν ζωγράφος απομονωμένος σε ένα Πύργο στη Μεσόγειο τον οποίο και "ντύνει" με μια μεγάλη τοιχογραφία που αναπαριστά μάχη η οποία με την σειρά της κρύβει μέσα όλες τις φρικαλεοτητες των διαφόρων πολέμων που κάλυψε ως φωτογράφος. Ξαφνικά εμφανίζεται ένας πρωταγωνιστής μιας εκ των σημαντικότερων φωτογραφιών που είχε τραβήξει ποτέ ο οποίος ούτε λιγο ούτε πολυ του εξομολογείται ότι ήρθε για να τον σκοτώσει. Το αν θα τον σκοτώσει αλλά και το το θα ειπωθεί μεταξύ τους το διαβάζουμε στο περιεχόμενο...

Όπως προανέφερα, έξυπνη πλοκή με πολλαπλά μηνύματα σχετικά με την εμπορευματοποίηση του πόνου και του πολέμου μέσω των τεχνών αλλά και αρκετή άσκοπη φλυαρία για θέματα που δε φαίνονται να εξυπηρετούν κάποιο σκοπό.

Θα το πρότεινα μόνο σε αναγνώστες του κατα τα αλλά εξαιρετικού Ρεβερτε καθώς αν κάποιος αποπειραθεί να διαβάσει για πρώτη φορά τον Ισπανό λογοτέχνη, θα αδικηθεί απο το συγκεκριμένο βιβλιο.

[Iris Thirlwall · Rating 1 out of 5]

A deeply irksome read. This is written by a man who has never met a real woman. Too many references to skin-tight jeans and nakedness in a book about war photography. Strangely romanticised. It seems that the author relates to the horrors of the protagonist, yet where this should cause sympathy and profoundness, the result is a badly crafted novel shoe horning in comically pretentious dwellings on human nature whenever the plot loses pace.
None of the characters are likeable. Yet to decide if this is purposeful or not. Being semi-autobiographical, probably not.
Some lenience required as this is a translation into english. Perhaps they should get a translator who refrains from using the word panties in future.
This book does introduce an interesting and underrepresented perspective on war-photography. Promising premise disappointed by poor penmanship.

[Dariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Painter of Battles" is the most discouraging, harsh and sad novel that Arturo Perez-Reverte wrote. But it's definitely the most lucid and ambitious.

A four days journey, full of stories about love, death, guilt and violence, with an unexpected end.

In the South of Spain, in a tower on the Mediterranean shore, a former photographer paints an enormous circular fresco: a battle landscape, where he wants to cover all the images he could not capture on his film. To accomplish his goal, he will be helped by a character returned from the past for his revenge and the shadow of the loved one, that died ten years ago.
Surprising from the beginning to the end, the novel carries the reader through the geometry of the 20th century chaos.

[Bettie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review

[Ally Armistead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four out of five stars for "The Painter of Battles"--dark, beautiful, dense, intellectual. The story follows the odd final days of a retired war photographer, who has retreated into a watchtower in Italy to paint a ghastly war-themed mural and is encountered by a Croatian soldier he photographed years before.

Angry and grief-stricken at the loss of his wife and child, the Croatian solider--who holds the photographer's portrait of him accountable for their deaths--intends to kill him, exact revenge, and show him the evils of his photographic exhibitionism. The Croatian visits nightly, and the majority of the novel is structured around these visits, each time revealing the motivation of the photographer and the nature of photography, how it captures the moment of life becoming death, order out of chaos, the angles and lines and geometry of the universe.

In the end we hope that the photographer has a good bone in his body--that his motives in photographing the maimed and raped and dead are just--but we discover a darkness beyond fathoming, and that even causes the Croatian to abandon his quest for revenge.

Highly recommended for anyone fascinated by war photography, the dark side of humanity, morality of the image, and dense, intellectual debates and language.

[Rita Inácio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arturo Pérez-Reverte foi repórter de guerra e isso permite-lhe pintá-la tal como a conhece. Tal como a sentiu. Tal como a reviveu, e revive, mentalmente e vezes sem conta depois de já a ter abandonado. Ou não, pois "há lugares de onde nunca se volta".
Atribuiu a si mesmo o desafio de pintá-la nesta sua obra-prima. Uma pintura honesta. Sem artifícios. Sem poupar aos pormenores mais dolorosos. E sem palavras de aconchego à alma de todos aqueles que, tal como eu, olham para os repórteres de guerra como heróis e não vêem mais além daquele enquadramento. É que no meio das imagens de guerra há muito mais que não foi fotografado - existem histórias de amor.
O pintor de batalhas fala-nos (ou pinta) acerca de todas as batalhas da vida e da aparente ordem que pode reinar no caos. Não acredito, como ele, que o universo seja guiado por linhas rectas e simétricas. Mas sei que existem umas quantas por aí. E que a maior batalha delas todas é manter a ordem no caos. E será que a ordem cabe numa fotografia ou numa pintura? Talvez não porque uma imagem deixou de valer mais que mil palavras.
Mas cabe num livro. Neste livro.

[Nevena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Прочетох повече от една трета от книгата и се отказвам. Не че е толкова лоша, но като знам колко хубави книги ме чакат да ги чета... Много малко действие. Балансът интроспекция – външни събития е тотално объркан. Дълги, нерядко отегчителни диалози, в които се разменят философски мисли. Иначе си личи майсторското перо на автора, доброто проникване в гледната точка на художник и фотограф, обаче като се замисля... Това проникване е по-скоро техническо. Говори за светлини, за цветове, някакви сложни "художествени" неща и изглежда много компетентен, но тъй като "Анна Каренина" все още ми е съвсем прясна, а там имаше две-три страници с гледната точка на художник... Толкова по-убедително бе пресъздаден вътрешният му свят, че ми идва да сваля звездичките на две. Ще чета други неща от този автор. Ще се постарая да избера най-добрите му романи.

[Христо Блажев · Rating 4 out of 5]

Художникът на битки рисува Войната: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/h...

Романът има точно двамина герои – един мъж, който десетилетия е обикалял бойните полета и е запечатвал болката и ужаса, агресията и страха, и друг, който преди много години е застанал неволно пред обектива му по време на войната в Югославия. Този случаен кадър е сред най-добрите на някогашния фотограф, донесъл му е награди и корици на списания. А на човека на снимката е донесъл несравнимо страдание и страховита загуба. И сега идва, за да си отмъсти.

Издателство "Еднорог"
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/h...