The Anatomy of a Moment

Anatomy of a moment: The Night of the Spanish democracy was saved ( in the original: Anatomia de un instante ) is a non- fictional, historical essay by Javier Cercas from the 2009 German edition was published in 2011 by S. Fischer Verlag. It deals with the coup of 23 February 1981 to end a failed attempt by sections of the Civil Guard and the military, democracy in Spain and to build a renewed dictatorship. This was an important turning point in modern Spanish history.

Content

Santiago Carrillo Solares (2006)

The structure of the text is based on a well-known television recording of the Spanish radio station Radiotelevisión Española ( RTVE ). Television cameras had recorded inside the Spanish Parliament, as the rebels stormed the boardroom and the parliamentarians threatened.

Cercas is dedicated to the description of the extensively protagonists of the events. One by one he deals with the life stories of the outgoing Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez, Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado of the Vice President, the Communist leader Santiago Carrillo Solares and the alleged leader of the coup, General Alfonso Armada, apart. Although shots were fired, the three former had opposed the military in parliament. Cercas attempted to explore their different in the highest degree motives for their actions.

Although Cercas has worked intensively in his own words with the events of 1981 and is based on sources and interviews, it is not explicitly in the work of a scientific work, though it is referred to by various reviewers as a book. The novelist tries extensively empathize with the thoughts of the characters, and speculate about their motives.

Review

The German -language criticism took " Anatomy of a Moment" very positive.

Paul Ingendaay called the book in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as a " masterpiece " as " compelling narrative " and as a "free book that does not follow a theory, say nothing, or trying to prove ."

Catherine Döbler suggests in her book review for Germany Kultur the translator of the German edition, Peter Kultzen, for a price before and noticed that Cercas the theme " a voltage and a depth" reclaims " commonly does not have a political non-fiction ."

Original source

• Anatomía de un instante. Essay. 2009 (German anatomy of a moment. Was the night, the Spanish democracy was saved. Translated by Peter Kultzen. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2011, ISBN 978-3-10-011369-6 )