Victus: The Fall of Barcelona, a Novel

Victus certainly held my interest, but I can’t say it was a particularly pleasurable read. Primarily because, despite the author’s labors, our protagonist military engineer Zuveria Marti never quite rises to the status of “lovable rogue”. Oh, there were parts when Zuvy’s knavery made me laugh such as when he knocks a priest out of the saddle to steal his horse. But while an interesting, complex personality and refreshingly candid concerning his own flaws, overall Marti remains a somewhat unsympathetic character throughout. And not the least of his faults, while dictating his youthful adventures as a 98 year old man, Marti continually heaps verbal abuse on his long-suffering female scribe.As a historical novel, Victus is something of a mixed success. We must credit Pinol with giving a compellingly vivid account of the savagely contested siege of Barcelona. As essentially the culmination of a civil war between Castille and Catalonia within the context of the larger European war of Bourbons vs. Allies, the action feels closer in nature to the fury of Stalingrad than what we would customarily think of early 18th Century siegecraft. Wherein a fortress governor would resist just long enough to meet the formulaic timeline for what constituted a defense worthy of being granted surrender with the “honors of war”. No doubt even relatively bloodlessly resolved sieges wouldn’t have seemed so gentlemanly to the poor soldiers laboring in muddy trenches, but the sacrifices of Barcelona’s civilian population to the last full measure made this an unusually protracted and bloody affair by the standards of the age.The author makes some errors, such that the knowledgeable reader may form the opinion that Pinol did just enough research to plausibly set a novel in the War of the Spanish Succession, but no more than he had to. Or not enough in some cases, as the constant and inaccurate use of the term “rifle” instead of “musket” got on my nerves throughout. I assure you, the distinction is more than a matter of button-counting pedantry. The use of one or the other would dictate fundamentally different tactics. Really, even the most cursory research would reveal that line infantry were armed with inaccurate smoothbore muskets in the early 1700’s, and indeed well into the Napoleonic Wars and beyond. I have to wonder if Victus falls between two stools militarily: not quite up to snuff for 18th Century military buffs, yet containing too much of it for the average reader who for example, cares not a whit about the progress of Lord Stanhope’s campaign of 1710. Overall, I didn’t get an entirely convincing flavor of the Baroque era from this book. In part, because of some anachronisms such as a gratuitous gay liason.Hopefully this review won’t come off as too negative. I’d rate Victus as worth a read and for me, well written enough to be a memorable if not well-loved book.

This is a tough book. It is funny, insightful, with philosophy , musings on life, war, sex , class, bravery , cowardice. Lessons from the 18th Century that certainly resound today. It is long, slow, and at times a little tedious but always rewarding. I give it five stars because it is a bravura performance. An obscure piece of history in a small corner of Europe. So So much better than the usual garbage that passes for historical fiction today. Written with panache, it gives us an anti-hero hero, and an amazing cast of characters, some, including the protagonist , actual persons, important in their time but now swept into the dustbins of the past. My biggest regret is that all the adventures lead to an inevitable and actual tragedy.

Excellent piece of fiction set in an accurate hisorical depiction of the era.Written/translated in a slightly pedantic fashion it mimics the language as spoken at those times. In it's 9th printing, translated into 11 languages in only four years, it's MUST read even if you're not planning to visit Barcelona. And soon to be a movie to boot!

This was recommended reading for a Viking ocean cruise in the Med. It turned out to be a very interesting book! I learned a lot about Spanish history that I hadn't known before.

Good reading, a bit on the long side but a good story about the Catalans spirit. Almost makes one think of todays striving for Catalan independence.

I like historical novels but this one was so so. I learned more about Barcelona, but the plot was not my type of story.

Reminds me of Umberto Eco’s Prague Cemetery. Delightful characters and some real history. I wish I’d read this before visiting Barcelona.

I like the early part of the book very much, and I liked the parts that dealt with interpersonal relationships, but later the author devoted more time to the details of the siege of Barcelona that I found appealing.

The narrative starts of with considerable humour and tragedy, then begins the journey of descent of the narrator into a bizarre world of royalty and then military. Many of the relationships in this text are unconvincing and the congruity lacks in places. The presentation of the narrator is arguably inconsistent too and unconvincing in places. I disliked the ending and the chapters leading up to it. The book is fantastic for teaching you new words though and about the parts of a castle. This book is fictional and not to be used as factual ... although perhaps slithers of it are based on the actual real-siege.

Classic book layout but clearly written a good entertainment while reading.

What a fascinating and often totally ignored piece of European history! Whether you like it or not, you end up learning quite a bit of the various fortification techniques in the early 17th century.

As a Catalan person I could have taken the original version of the book but wanted to experience the english version. Easy to understand and great way to show the history of our land.

Attractive and nice novel to read. Good novel with good background of history.