Review of 'The fifth column and four stories of the Spanish Civil War' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
The Fifth Column and Four Stories of the Spanish Civil War should be re-named Tales from the Chicote Bar because a lot of the stories center around, take place in, or stop by for a drink at the Chicote. This is clearly because Hemingway, going for authenticity and having first hand experience with the Spanish Civil War, understood that the Chicote was an important location for this bloody conflict...about as important if not more so than Ebro!
It certainly is not because Ernie is a raging alcoholic.
"The Fifth Column" is Hemingway's only play that follows our brave, masculine, totally-non-alcoholic, counter-espionage agent, Philip, as he tries to uncover information about the undercover Fifth Column fascists while attempting to have a normal relation with a dumb, blonde bimbo that writes for the Cosmopolitan. The first act is somewhat clunky, but we are able to get some substance and excitement in the …
The Fifth Column and Four Stories of the Spanish Civil War should be re-named Tales from the Chicote Bar because a lot of the stories center around, take place in, or stop by for a drink at the Chicote. This is clearly because Hemingway, going for authenticity and having first hand experience with the Spanish Civil War, understood that the Chicote was an important location for this bloody conflict...about as important if not more so than Ebro!
It certainly is not because Ernie is a raging alcoholic.
"The Fifth Column" is Hemingway's only play that follows our brave, masculine, totally-non-alcoholic, counter-espionage agent, Philip, as he tries to uncover information about the undercover Fifth Column fascists while attempting to have a normal relation with a dumb, blonde bimbo that writes for the Cosmopolitan. The first act is somewhat clunky, but we are able to get some substance and excitement in the final two acts. It certainly, I suppose, is not the best example of a play. It is actually just a short story written as dialogue and scene descriptions and makes no use of the advantages the theatre medium has to offer. However, it is entertaining and insightful into this small portion of the Spanish Civil War... the portion in Madrid around Chicote's.
The short stories also stay in or around Madrid. They deal with the unsavory realities of the politics of the Spanish Civil War, the incompetency of the Second Republic Commanders, those damn murderous Russians, and an incident mentioned in a play where a bar patron sprays perfume on some waiters in the Chicote and gets shot by another patron.
These are tales about a foreigner's observation during one of history's most brutal wars. And limited to that scope, it is a success. There is a sense that there is a lot going on that we do not understand and a hopelessness in fighting for what is right when the opposing side is receiving plenty of aid and you are struggling to make due with what resources you have. This is no longer the Spain of dignified bull-fighting, majestic vistas, and alcohol drenched night-life we see in The Sun Also Rises. In this Spain, dignity is stripped away by questioning by secret police and military executions, the vistas are now just shell-pocked Madrid under constant and unbreakable siege by the fascists, and alcohol is limited to what our intrepid foreign correspondents happen to have at their Hotel and the dwindling supplies of Chicote.