Description
Book SynopsisText in Arabic. Set in the dark days of the Spanish Civil War, Qalam an-Najjar charts the linked destinies of Dr Daniel Da Barca, the Republican who cheats death in Francos prisons, and Herbal, the illiterate Falangist, and of the unnamed painter with the carpenters pencil, the man who unites them in life and death. All are bound together by the events of the Civil War -- the artists and the peasants alike -- and all haunted by the power of the carpenters pencil.
Trade ReviewI have learned more about the Spanish Civil War by reading The Carpenter's Pencil by Manuel Rivas than through all the history books. -- Gunter Grass, Nobel Prize of Literature 1999 A strange and haunting novel... a sincere and beautiful portrait of a brutal, ugly period of Spanish history. The Guardian El l piz del carpintero brings together the taste of popular legends from around the world Paris Match A profound tale of love, art, politics and the lingering effects of a gentleness and cruelty on the soul The Miami Herald A startling novel. I have rarely read a piece of writing so poetic Daily Telegraph The novel is magnificently structured... The language is rich... one of the best Spanish novels of recent years. It tells a story of great emotional power and speaks movingly of the ability of moral principle to resist fascism Times Literary Supplement Rivas is a superb stylist in the Spanish tradition of less is more Washington Post Magnificent Le Monde
