Another view of the Spanish Civil War: Uncertain Glory

In the first part of Joan Sales's Uncertain Glory (1971) the protagonist, Lluis (cq) is with a Spanish Civil War brigade, opposed to the fascist army but also fending off attacks from various leftist splinter groups such as the Anarchists (who can understand this?), is posted in a village, Olivel, near Barcelona await orders. Lluis gets involved with a woman who was the mistress of the village nobleman, who was assassinated along w/ his family, but she - because of her working-class origins - was left unscathed and is living in the castle (despite its name, not a glorious palace by any means, more of a fortified house) with her two children. Lluis tries to begin an affair w/ her; she resists, and asks him for one favor, which he obliges: forge a marriage certificate so that it will look as if her children were born in wedlock. Then, she still resists Lluis, and probably wisely so: He has a child of his own, and a longstanding relationship with a woman (neither of the believe in marriage) back home (not sure where that is). What we really see is the torment of a military officer waiting for orders over an extended period of time. Then, the brigade moves off for one of the fronts, and we hear the sounds of battle and get various reports of many casualties, although Lluis himself is not quite at the front or in the line of fire, at least yet. It's a strange novel; we really sense the amateurish nature of the brigade (another brigade, which as it happens acquits itself well in battle, is known as the Flat-Foot Brigade), and tedium, and the terror of marching off into a line of attack. So far, though, for Lluis, the war is an intellectual experience; he spends a lot of time star-gazing (with the medical officer, an amateur astronomer) and reflecting on the vastness of the universe, philosophizing, quoting Symbolist poetry, especially with his somewhat cynical friend and fellow officer, Solares. This unusual novel makes a good counterpoint to Hemingway (For Whom the Bell Tolls) and Graves (Goodbye to All That) - a Spaniard/Catalan's view of the war, as experienced by a combatant - at least initially, not as violent as one might expect, but with many physical hardships, includes days marching w/out sufficient food or water, minimal protection against cold and rain.