Uncertain Glory by Joan Sales, translated by Peter Bush, is the first book written in Catalan about the Spanish Civil War, a book that fought the censors under Franco for years before finally achieving publication.
Lluís is a leader on the Aragonese front, distracted by the beauty of the countryside, the often disdainful drunkenness and antics of those around him, and his attraction to the widow of Castel de Olivo. His friend Soleràs dips in and out of his life, bringing his unpredictable twists and monologues with him. Cruells ponders the night sky with his telescope, working as a nurse. And meanwhile, Trini, the mother of Lluís's son, tries to survive in a Barcelona haunted by bombs and hunger—she lives on the companionship of her letters from Soleràs, a newly burgeoning faith, and her often difficult debates with her pacifist father and radical mother.
Drawing from his own experience fighting on the republican side, Sales writes of the distinctly un-glorious war. The two sides of the war mix and murk in both absurd and tragic ways. On the front, smoky, muddy lines cross over the fighting; debates are the norm, and people fight within themselves. It is a realistic, well-written war novel, one that does not commit itself to a side and instead laments war as atmosphere, as setting, as real life.
Uncertain Glory is a rich war epic; its genius comes from how focused and relatively small it stays, narrowing in on normal conversations, war-time jokes, everyday atrocities, and tight-knit relationships. While it could occasionally be slow going, it was definitely worth the full read.
