Waiting for Robert Capa

Waiting for Robert Capa

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3.28 of 5 stars 3.28  ·  rating details  ·  106 ratings  ·  27 reviews
An extraordinary novel of love, war, and art, based on the turbulent real-life romance of legendary photojournalists Gerda Taro and Robert Capa

Artists, Jews, nonconformists, exiles. Gerta Pohorylle meets Andre Friedmann in Paris in 1935 and is drawn to his fierce dedication to justice, journalism, and the art of photography. Assuming new names, Gerda Taro and Robert Capa t...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published September 27th 2011 by Harper Perennial (first published June 2009)
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Community Reviews

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Audra (Unabridged Chick)
Shamefully, I had no idea who Robert Capa and Gerda Taro were when I started this book, but I now feel possessive and proud and affectionate toward Gerda Taro and I dare anyone to read this and not feel the same. In 1935, Jewish refugees Gerda Pohorylle and André Friedmann meet in Paris; André is a photographer who books Gerda's friend as a model for advertising images. Gerda becomes interested in the art of photography; her friend predicts a romance.

The novel is told through Gerda Pohorylle (mo...more
Alison
Not what I expected.

I had trouble getting into this book, especially in the beginning. In the spirit of full disclosure, I was having a bit of Book ADD at the time I was reading this book, so my inability to become immersed in it may not have been the fault of Susana Fortes. I take much of the blame, and offer my apologies to Ms. Fortes.

That being said, the writing was not as compelling as the story itself - does that make sense? All the elements of a wonderful war-torn love affair were there -...more
Diana
Waiting for Robert Capa is the story of photojournalists Andre Friedmann and Gerta Pohorylle, who later assume their more well known aliases, Robert Capa and Gerda Taro. Both are Jewish; Taro had relocated to Paris from Germany due to the Nazi regime and impending persecution of the Jews. There, she meets Capa and begins a business relationship with him that leads to a romantic companionship that extends into the Spanish Civil War until her death.

The premise of Waiting for Robert Capa captured m...more
Minh
**Waiting for Robert Capa will be released Oct. 1, 2011 by HarperCollins**


Overall Rating: 3.3/5
PROS: WWII; historical fiction; tragic love story; sad endings (eff, sad ending always get to me)
CONS: Is this really a fiction novel, cuz it reads like non-fiction half of the time; the last line killed my entire mood; the relationship between the two characters sort of drained me
Future Movie Prospects?: Movie has already been set to be adapted by award-winning director Michael Mann (“Ali”, “Collatera...more
TC
This book looks like it will be one of those released to great critical acclaim, and translated for the big screen which I imagine will make a good film. However I found myself struggling to finish this book. For the plot please take a look at the description above.

I'm interested in photography but have to admit I hadn't heard of these photographers before so I wasn't sure how much of the book was a biography and how much was fictionalised. I read it expecting something that would be almost a h...more
Judith Starkston
Translation by Adriana V. Lopez

Waiting for Robert Capa is both a puzzling book and an alluring one. It contains gorgeous, vivid descriptions of life in Paris and Spain in the ‘30s. It has long philosophical musings on war and refugees and love and memory, which I found deeply compelling and thought provoking. The portrayal of the Spanish Civil War with its intellectuals and artists as well as its armies was tragic and moving. What I was never persuaded of was that this is a novel rather than a s...more
CD
A lyrical, poetic prose homage to the first female war photo-journalist. Gerda Taro as she renamed herself, was the first women to die pursuing this role. Robert Capa was a name also invented by Gerda for business reasons and has become iconic. Their relationship is the primary story line set during the turbulent era that culminates in this book during the Spanish Civil war between the Republicans and Franco's Fascists.

I read the first third of this book in one sitting. It is captivating for a...more
Jennie
I’m not sure if I was just not in the right mood for this book or if it just wasn’t the type of book for me in general, but I could not get attached to the characters, nor the plot. This is surprising given that I am a hobbyist photographer and have an interest in war stories. The descriptions of Paris and Spain didn’t even ring deep for me. The romance between Gerta and Andre was a roller coaster ride but the novel left out enough detail that I had a hard time following along. It felt like chun...more
Rachael
I’m not a lover of love stories, and this was no different in the sense that at times I was ready to skip ahead, notably at the sex scenes (I have no problem with them if they add something, but while some of these had a reason for being there, I don’t feel many of them did) and some of the descriptions of how they felt.

That said, the descriptions in general in the book are wonderful, and so well suited to a book about photographs, which we cannot see but must imagine, and a time period/places b...more
Stephen
Gerda Taro was a pearl with no oyster in which to enfold herself.

She's the one "Waiting for Robert Capa," a Hungarian photographer named Andre who she coddled, loved, and turned into an international artistic product.

Taro herself was one of those strong and independent women in a time when her gender was allowed no such prerogative and those who chose to exercise it were left on the vine to dry and die.

"Waiting for Robert Capa," is the story of their brief, youthful, and productive love affair....more
José Luis Calvillo
Es excepcional que me decida por la lectura de autores todavía escasamente conocidos de novela histórica, no porque el subgénero literario no me atraiga sino porque habitualmente termino con el regusto de que no ha merecido la pena. Frecuentemente, al final, lo leído no acaba de ser una novela, tampoco una narración histórica y todo queda en un híbrido: “un quiero y no puedo”. Se promete la recreación de personajes de otro tiempo y se ofrece solo la epidermis descriptiva de unos hechos histórico...more
Zuzana
Trocha historie nikoho nezabije. Tentokrát se jedná o historii trochu okrajovější - válečná fotografie, španělská občanská válka. Od krátkého příběhu nelze očekávat hluboký historický exkurz, ale úplným laikům to trochu otevře další obzory a znalci se setkají s hvězdou oboru z trochu jiného pohledu, než jaký přinášejí encyklopedie a oficiální životopisy.
Kdybych byla fanoušek novinářské fotografie, tak dám těch hvězdiček určitě víc. Spisovatelsky to žádnou velkou hodnotu nemá, příběh jako takový...more
Spyder
Feb 03, 2012 Spyder rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: 2011
I bought this at Dymocks in Sydney and read it in one day. Robert Capa is one of my favorite photographers and biographical characters. Having read his auto-biography and the biography BLOOD & CHAMPAGNE this was a fantastic fictional telling of the love of Robert and Gerta and the part of history that brought them together and tore them apart. I read it in one flight from Sydney to Perth.
Kate
Dec 31, 2011 Kate rated it 1 of 5 stars
Recommended to Kate by: the library bookshelf
The writing was not so good; the story was not so developed; the pages took forever to get through; but the real life folks that she was writing about were unknown to me before this book and interesting enough to wikipedia and then google and then look for other books about them. So, if they were able to shine through these pages, they must be fascinating.
Kerry
I great insight into the Spanish Civil War from a human perspective. Showing what it's like to be a member of the press in a war zone. Told with an underlying love story which brings home the cost of loss & suffering that war brings. Some of the technical information about cameras & war zones was unnecessary for my liking but a good read despite that.
Sharlane
Tries too hard to be cool. This should have been an exciting, thrilling and frightening adventure and an extraordinary decent into the madness of love in war. Instead it is droll and ho hum. Giving most of the story away before it happens. I like to read, I want to love the story but this is making me struggle.
Michelle Vasquez
Waiting For Robert Capa by Susana Fortes is a beautiful story that blends historical fact and fiction to tell the story of photojournalists Robert Capa and Gerda Taro.

Read my full review here:

http://lifeinreviewblog.wordpress.com...

Bridge
I enjoyed this. Actually I have just the last part to go but can't finish as well if you know her story it doesn't end well! But it was easy for me to read. I love this period and the book gives a romantic tale of what was an extraordinary time.
Jennifer Franz
I liked this book OK. It was very romantic and tragic, which I liked, even though it's based on a true story. But it was also very wordy and a lot went on that I didn't understand, like the battles of the Spanish Civil War.
Elizabeth
ecrit par une femme....ca m'a un peu fatiguee de lire les passages semiporno des relations sexuelles de la photographe Taro et de Robert Capa. Interessant autrement pour ce reportage de la guerre espagnole dont je ne sais malheureusement pas grand chose. Je me suis forcee a le finir car je me suis dit que la BO choisit toujours des livres qui en valent le coup. Je ne suis toujours pas convaincue que ce livre soit le meilleur de leur selection
Bob
Jun 02, 2012 Bob rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: own
A beautiful fictional account of the relationship based,on available historical data, between Greda Taro and Robert Capa from her prespective. It is well researched and the descritions of the Spanish Civil War are very moving.
Marta
Interesante, me ha gustado bastante. Aunque algunas partes se repiten un poco. Recomendable para fotógrafos y no tanto.
Viccy
This was a beautiful book, wonderfully written and very sad. It was the story of a great love between two talented people: Gerda Taro and Robert Capa (born Endre Friedmann). They meet in Paris in 1935 and become the first couple to photograph the Spanish Civil War. Gerda was killed after the Battle of Brunete in Julyl 1937. For a few brief years, they were a golden couple. Capa went on to become a celebrated war photographer and captured the horrors of battlefields across Europe. The writing is...more
Jennifer
Ohhhh....beautifully and refreshingly true, raw, haunting. As Fortes wrote in her Author's Note, "there is a part of me that will forever remain in those violent war years of bombarded dreams in which Gerda Taro awoke tender and in pajamas." Perfectly gorgeous writing that never drops you from its spell. Yes.
Faz
May 18, 2013 Faz is currently reading it
So far, so riveting.

"...everything that lives fits into a thousandth of a flash across the firmament, because time does not exist."
Collin
The greatest love story ever told. The fiction of life, the work of art, and the immortality of influence. While Orwell fought and Hemmingway drank, Andre and Gerta opened the eyes of humanity.
Heiki
May 12, 2013 Heiki marked it as to-read
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Susana Fortes (Pontevedra, Spain, 1959) graduated in Geography and History at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, and in American History from the Universidad de Barcelona. She has recently spent time in the USA, combining teaching Spanish in Louisiana and participating in university conferences at the Universidad Interestatal de San Francisco. She currently teaches at a secondary school in...more
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