The four horsemen of the apocalypse

Original language: castellano

Year of publication: 1916

Valuation: Alright

At ULAD we have paid very little attention to Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, just one review before this one, scarce for an author who has long held relevant positions in the literary ranks, at least in Spain. The Valencian author, famous in his time as a combative republican and anticlerical, was also a promoter of bold agricultural and economic initiatives and, although he enjoyed some recognition for some of his previous works, he achieved publishing success precisely with the novel that we bring here today. Success, by the way, much more notable in the United States, at the same time that it was a hit in Europe. No news at the frontalso focused on the Great War, although with quite different characteristics.

Yes, like most people, we have as a reference for his literary work the famous Valencian period, naturalistic and tinged with traditionalism (The barracks, Reeds and mud, Among orange trees…), The four horsemen… It will seem strangely foreign to us, perhaps more because of the context than because of the prose, which is still brilliant, with an important lyrical charge and great color and sensuality. But Blasco is already on something else, and seems determined to write something definitive that would establish an unequivocal position on the world conflict, without nuances or considerations about the causes of the war or the political environment. It is easy to understand that this inclination towards what could be called Manichaeism resonated so well with an American public, so fond of identifying good and bad.

Without detracting from Blasco’s ability to tell stories with power and attraction, the book is enormously irregular. The author assembles a family saga that arose from Julio Madariagaespañol Indian who makes his fortune in Argentina. It is in my opinion the best constructed part, the typical story that revolves around the pioneer who triumphs in an unknown land, a severe and arrogant guy who builds his empire based on strength and ingenuity. From there the family is divided into two branches, headed by a Frenchman and a German, to everyone’s surprise, both achieving success (and fortune) under the shadow of the founder. The Desnoyers and the From Hartrott They will meet again not much later.

The author, who wants to tell about the war making it clear that he takes sides without half measures, goes on to present some very long paragraphs to condemn the intrinsic evil of the Germans, in which a certain simplicity is mixed with a surprising prophetic vision of the future Nazism, and of There we went to war. Here we have a quite interesting perspective, because the narrative takes place from Paris, where the news is confusing and the massive mobilization of combatants towards the front dominates the atmosphere. It is the image of an entire country marching to defend itself from a terrible enemy, and it is overwhelming because Blasco Ibáñez, of course, tells it with all the power of his prose.

The bloodiest episodes of the war will follow, in which, on the contrary, the most gruesome scenes of destruction, mutilated bodies and the shooting of teenagers are not avoided. There are many pages of extreme violence, terror and ignominy, which seems to be just what they wanted to tell. And he does it well, of course, although he clearly abuses repetition, wallowing in mud and blood and, above all, some scenes that border on the grotesque to once again define the bad guy without nuances, with everything inhuman. and demonic that could come to Don Vicente’s head.

This effort to highlight the sadism and inhumanity of the enemy, as a collective aggressor and also as undesirable individuals taken one by one, tarnishes what is at times a vigorous, effective and very visual narrative, and generates that sensation of Manichaeism that said to the principle. It is not a denunciation of war and its horrors as in Remarque’s book, but rather a philippic against this war and this adversary in particular, a very plastic exhibition that certainly achieves the objective of pointing out the enemy and adorning him with all the attributes to be hated without restraint. In Europe, where most of the blood and destruction occurred, it is consistent that a more anonymous story was better appreciated, focused on the suffering of the combatants, the pain and the heartbreak without colors or nationalities.

Along the way there are a few characters, who are born with promising characters but end up on a flat path, succumbing in that thick-lined environment: the lover converted into a nurse and once again devoted wife of the mutilated hero, the ruthless nephew dominated by nationalist blindness. , the brainless young man who transforms into a brave fighter. Only the protagonist, the old man Desnoyers, He seems like a man of flesh and blood, both horrified and perplexed by the horrors that pass before his eyes, more concerned about the lives of his people than about general patriotic fervor.

If we consider that the narrative structure is rather capricious and unbalanced, along with the decay of the characters, the book ends up being something rather inconsistent, which sometimes overwhelms and sometimes bores, and it is only possible to enjoy what it has at times. Well, Blasco Ibáñez’s ability to tell certain episodes with all the intensity, like a hurricane, without respite and without measure. Apart from this, considering it as the body of almost four hundred pages that it is, the assessment cannot be much more generous.

Other works by Blasco Ibáñez in ULAD: The barrack