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Title: A Moment of War: A Memoir of the Spanish Civil War by Laurie Lee ISBN: 1-56584-173-5 Publisher: New Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Moment of Luck
Comment: I do not know much else about the author, Larie Lee, but in "A Moment of War" he certainly led a charmed life. Those who have studied the Spanish Civil War know that the level of hatred, distrust, brutality, and revenge was excessive in this conflict. Indeed, they mirrored that of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia which, not coincidently, exemplify the two main factions in this civil war.
Right from the beginning the author steps into the middle of this tension. He is held in suspicion by the very side he has come to fight for. The "in and out of favor" status that he holds gives this book an even greater flavor of the conflict he writes of.
The book is brief, in part because the authors's tenure in Spain was brief. However, through his experiences and observations, we are able to understand much about this microcism of Twentieth Century European politics. It is a memoir written with a poetic style which allows the author to say so much in so few pages. As an account of the Spanish Civil War, it ranks up there with Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia".
Rating: 4
Summary: The Dark Reality of War?
Comment: "A Moment of War" is the third book in Laurie Lee's autobiographical trilogy. Lee arrives in a Spain which is deep in civil war, wanting to "do his bit" for the Republican cause, but finds that he's not welcomed with open arms and the war is far grimmer than he'd expected.
It's a bleak story, told many years after the actual events. There's no heroic romanticism or political fervour in this account. Even though "A Moment of War" is a short book, its grim realism prevents it from being an uplifting read. But, I felt that Lee's version of events, bereft of nostalgia (except perhaps for the women he slept with) rang true. Here, war is characterised by deprivation, chaos, suffering and utter confusion. Of course, Lee's fine prose makes the journey all the easier too.
G Rodgers
Rating: 3
Summary: I was left as disillusioned as the author.
Comment: Down in Stroud we have few famous people to cheer about and most of those are invisible (Princess Anne) or vulgar comers-in, so Laurie Lee always had great celebrity in the whole area. His 'Cider with Rosie' is legendary, while 'As I walked out one Midsummer's Morning' maintains the arcadian magic. Indeed, I thought much of him on my own teenage jaunts round Europe. As louts we would meet him up the Woolpack in Slad and occasionally throw pebbles into his beer. We followed his politics, too. Class differences in the country are even starker than in town. This title was one I had awaited for a long time. I had read Orwell's 'Homage to Catalonia' and expected something as inspiring, but this is definitely the work of an older man, looking back with indulgence and sorrow at his youth. There is no heroism, indeed there is no ideology, and instead we have a sad book, without the charm of 'As I walked out..' or the commitment of 'Homage..' This particular crusader lost his way long before the war was over.. I lost interest in the book long before the end.
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Title: As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee ISBN: 0140033181 Publisher: Penguin USA Pub. Date: 01 February, 1979 List Price(USD): $2.95 |
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Title: Homage to Catalonia (Harvest Book) by George Orwell ISBN: 0156421178 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1969 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The FIFTH COLUMN : AND FOUR STORIES OF THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR by Ernest Hemingway ISBN: 0684839261 Publisher: Scribner Book Company Pub. Date: 26 May, 1998 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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