The Painter of Battles Book

I am a fool for fine writing. I adore a sentence that says what it means, that clicks into place like a puzzle-piece, snug and thrillingly sufficient - comprehending as it must that it is part of a grander scheme and can't, on its own, afford to be oblique. I chide my own nouns and verbs and adjectives constantly: Save your narcissism for poetry! That is your debutante ball. This is your mission. Forge a bond with your brethren or suffer the red-pen consequences. Hundreds of beautiful, beautiful sentences have been cut down in their prime solely on the basis of their petulant refusal to become team players. (Those of you who compose know the agony of this.) Such is my foolish standard...and so it should come as no surprise that one of the shrines I worship at is under the somewhat constant construction of Arturo Perez-Reverte.

Mr. Perez-Reverte is a Spanish author whose works may be familiar. His books include The Club Dumas, The Flanders Panel, The Queen of the South, and a collection of novels following the adventures of swordsman and soldier of fortune, Captain Alatriste. Should you choose to sample his stories, my advice is to start among these. The Painter of Battles is a different beast entirely. Here he draws the demons forward, resurrecting his extensive experience as a war correspondent to meditate on aggression and the brutality of the human spirit.

Protagonist Andres Faulques is a world-renowned battlefield photographer who has retired, finally, to a ruined coastal watchtower known as Cala del Arraez. His remaining days, he has determined, will be spent on a single aim: expressing his knowledge of war through the painting of a darkly-elaborate mural that will encompass the walls of the first floor. He is well on his way to achieving this end when a stranger shows up at his door, announcing that he has come to kill him. Thoughtful conversations ensue.

This is a short novel, dense with art history, existential philosophy, and stark travels through several of the cruelest conflicts of modern time - Bosnia, Lebanon, Romania, the Persian Gulf. Much is made of the intellectualization of evil and the elusive nature of a journalist's ethical responsibilities during a time of war. The text is quite fine, the intent exact, yet the subject matter (from an author who is clearly processing) may prove crushing in its burden. That said, Arturo Perez-Reverte remains a phenomenal wordsmith. And so my worship continues.