Product Description

It is the summer of 1936, the early months of the agonising civil war that engulfs Spain and shakes the rest of the world. In a prison in the pilgrim city of Santiago de Compostela, an artist sketches the famous porch of the cathedral, the Portico da Gloria. He uses a carpenter's pencil. But instead of reproducing the sculptured faces of the prophets and elders, he draws the faces of his fellow Republican prisoners. Many years later in post-Franco Spain, a survivor of that period, Doctor Daniel da Barca, returns from exile to his native Galicia, and the threads of past memories begin to be woven together. This poetic and moving novel conveys the horror and savagery of the tragedy that divided Spain, and the experiences of the men and women who lived through ti. Yet in the process, it also relates one of the most beautiful love stories imaginable.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16446 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Widely received as one of the great recent literary debuts, Manuel Rivas's The Carpenter's Pencil is a supremely well-written and exquisitely translated love story. Principally set in the summer of 1936, at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, Rivas tells the tale of Doctor Daniel de Barca. A Republican and a revolutionary, the doctor is in love with Marisa Mallo, and she is totally in love with him. But family prejudice and the bitter, wrenching effects of the civil war keep them apart. Herbal, our narrator, a Francoist bully and soldier, has killed a Republican painter. As a keepsake he holds on to the artist's pencil and, as if not willing to be separated from it, the ghost of the painter remains with Herbal, whispering in his ear throughout the story. Herbal, himself in love with Marisa, follows the Doctor from prison to prison and tells Maria de Visitacao, who listens to him in the bar where they both now work, what he saw, what the prisoners said, and how the love between Daniel and Marisa deepened and managed to stay alive in those awful days.

Rivas' story is slight but the telling is magisterial, the depth utterly honest, his touch unerringly light, the resonances of his writing wide and the characterisation vivid: prose this poetic and this devoid of sentiment is as rare as it is breathtaking. War's abominable nature is the background to the work and its machinations move the Doctor away from Marisa, onto a train full of victims of TB and into a military hospital. Herbal is there all the way as guard, and witness, and occasionally as actor, intervening in ways he sometimes hardly understands himself. This is one of the first Galician novels to be translated into English and the book's sense of place adds wonderfully to the poignant work Rivas gets his relatively few words to achieve. The Carpenter's Pencil is a hugely moving, seductively readable, absolute triumph. --Mark Thwaite

Arturo Perez-Reverte
‘A beautiful novel, full of humanity and tenderness’

Daily Telegraph
‘A startling novel. I have rarely read a piece of writing so poetic’

Customer Reviews

A Diamond of a Novel
This is a beautifully written book. Harvill have yet again found a tremendous writer and an excellent translator. Set amidst the brutality of the Spanish Civil War, this novel presents a wonderful love story. Throughout, the worst and the best of human behaviour is presented, and we see it mostly through the eyes of a prison guard whose life is transformed by the remarkable imprisoned doctor. It is a novel which I know I will have to read again soon because there is so much floating around the edges of the smooth prose. It reminded me of Captain Corelli but has something extra too. It is a shame that it does not last for longer, but on the other hand the novelist has controlled his story brilliantly whilst letting it breathe for itself. Buy this novel and you will not only get a wonderful read but you will be supporting Harvill in continuing to translate and publish excellent fiction.

An ode to humanity and resilience
Being a born and bred Galician, I'm probably unable to write an unbiased opinion on this remarkable book. This was Galicia's first ever proper bestseller. It is easy to see why. Rivas's writing is pure and effective. There are many books devoted to the horrors of the Spanish Civil War but none of them are like the Carpenter's Pencil. Whilst other - also very good - books concentrate on the political strife and the carnage of battles such as Belchite, Brunete or Guernica, the Carpenter's Pencil focuses on the human cost to a group of very likely and relatable characters and the divisions that, in some cases, have lasted until today, 70 years later. The Spanish Civil War was a very complex conflict. What makes this book interesting is that the political aspects of it get pushed to the background. Rivas constructs an intricate web of characters that endure the most testing circumstances. My only criticism to the UK edition is that it should contain a few photographs, just a couple, of Santiago Cathedral and of the amazing Hercules Tower in A Coruna as many British readers will not be familiar with these impressive but relatively unknown sites.

Galicia is part of the "other Spain", green and rainy, full of mystical legend, Celtic heritage and a very, very long way from the Costas and 18-30 holidays. Rivas has captured the spirit of the region superbly and has done justice to the plight of the many unsung heroes that will forever remain unacknowledged.

Writing like poetry
The Carpenter's Pencil is an amazing piece of writing. A friend of mine at work from Galicia recommended I read this writer. I am thankful she did!