A little-known novel of the Spanish civil war

They say that anyone who studies the history of Spain is certain to suffer some kind of mental breakdown, and that is probably true simply for those who try to make sense of the Spanish Civil War. Started reading Joan Sales's Uncertain Glory, his (yes, Joan is a male name in Sp.) novel based apparently on his experiences in the war (the novel was first published in censored and abbreviated form; it went through several significant revisions and the final version, now available from the great NYRB publisher, is from 1971). From the first section, about 50 pp., we can see that the protagonist, Lluis (cq) is serving with a brigade posted somewhere near Barcelona; they mus be fighting against the fascists, but there are all sorts of other groups taking various sides in this struggle, notably the anarchists (there's also the confusing fact that those opposed to Franco and fascists are called the Loyalists, against all likelihood, though that terminology hasn't entered yet into this novel). Lluis is a lawyer, and it seems that much of his work, such as it is, involves drafting legal and procedural documents for the brigade; he also provides instruction on machine-gun use. So far, though, no action - therefore Lluis spends a lot of time visit the ruins of a nearby monastery, where he becomes fascinated by the mummified bodies of the monks and priests, many of which have been disinterred and placed around the ruined church in odd tableaux; it's unknown who desecrated these bodies - but we do know that the anarchists had executed the local gentry - and Lluis becomes friendly w/ a beautiful woman living in the abandoned castle - apparently she had been the mistress of the landowner, but she was left to survive because of her working-class background. There's also talk of the "vulture pit" where dead animals and humans are tossed and left as food for vultures. The war, though, seems far away, as there is much talk about the beautiful young women in the area, and even - when Lluis occasionally meets w/ his childhood friend, also a lawyer serving in the army - talk about philosophy and poetry. We suspect that all this wasting of time and immobility, all the focus on the boredom, inefficiency, even insanity of war (reminiscent of many war novels, e.g., Catch 22), is a prelude to a violent, and perhaps senseless, battle to come. Sales - I know nothing about any of his other writings - has a great sense of humor, often quite subtle - as when Lluis meets a new recruit: Lluis introduces himself as a "solicitor"; the recruit, pleased, says they're in the same line of work. Oh, are you a lawyer, too? No, I walk the streets holding a billboard.