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The Olive Field
A novel set amongst the olive workers in 1930s Spain-it is famous for describing their attachment to the land and their failed attempt to start a workers' revolution in 1934.
439 pages, Hardcover
First published December 27, 1936
About the author
Ralph Bates
38 booksBates was born in Swindon (England) in 1899, and as a teenager worked at the Great Western Railway factory. In 1917, he enlisted in the British army and served in World War I, training soldiers to prepare for poison gas attacks.
After returning from the war, he began to travel, to France and then, in 1923, to Spain, where he had wanted to visit since boyhood (his great-grandfather, a steamer captain, was buried in Cadiz). He stayed in the country permanently from then on, traveling and doing odd jobs. He published his first work, Sierra, a collection of short stories, in 1933; in 1934, a novel, Lean Men.
When the Spanish Civil War began in 1936, Bates enlisted with the government forces and made rank of political commissar. He helped to organize the International Brigade. Later that year he traveled to the United States to raise awareness of the plight of the Spanish Republic.
The year also saw the publication of Bates's best-known work, The Olive Field, about olive workers in southern Spain. The book received good critical notices in the United States.
Bates was briefly arrested for arms smuggling when traveling through France back to Spain in February 1937. Upon his return, he moved to Madrid and founded the International Brigade's newspaper, The Volunteer for Liberty. He frequently traveled to the United States and Mexico in 1937 and 1938, meeting his future wife, Eve Salzman on one trip.
He joined the British Communist Party in 1923. During the investigations of suspected Communists in the 1950's, he refused to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.[1] After the Soviet invasion of Finland in November, 1939, he publicly condemned the Communists in an article for The New Republic.
After the overthrow of the Spanish Republic, Bates moved to Mexico, where he lived for a number of years, publishing The Fields of Paradise in 1940. In 1947, he became a professor of creative writing and English literature at New York University, a post he would hold until his retirement in 1966. He published his last book, The Dolphin in the Wood, in 1950, although he would continue to work on several unfinished writings up to his death 50 years later.
After his retirement, he moved with his wife to the Greek island of Naxos, where he pursued his lifelong hobby of mountain-climbing well into his 80s. He died in Manhattan in 2000, and his cremated remains were scattered in Naxos.
After returning from the war, he began to travel, to France and then, in 1923, to Spain, where he had wanted to visit since boyhood (his great-grandfather, a steamer captain, was buried in Cadiz). He stayed in the country permanently from then on, traveling and doing odd jobs. He published his first work, Sierra, a collection of short stories, in 1933; in 1934, a novel, Lean Men.
When the Spanish Civil War began in 1936, Bates enlisted with the government forces and made rank of political commissar. He helped to organize the International Brigade. Later that year he traveled to the United States to raise awareness of the plight of the Spanish Republic.
The year also saw the publication of Bates's best-known work, The Olive Field, about olive workers in southern Spain. The book received good critical notices in the United States.
Bates was briefly arrested for arms smuggling when traveling through France back to Spain in February 1937. Upon his return, he moved to Madrid and founded the International Brigade's newspaper, The Volunteer for Liberty. He frequently traveled to the United States and Mexico in 1937 and 1938, meeting his future wife, Eve Salzman on one trip.
He joined the British Communist Party in 1923. During the investigations of suspected Communists in the 1950's, he refused to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.[1] After the Soviet invasion of Finland in November, 1939, he publicly condemned the Communists in an article for The New Republic.
After the overthrow of the Spanish Republic, Bates moved to Mexico, where he lived for a number of years, publishing The Fields of Paradise in 1940. In 1947, he became a professor of creative writing and English literature at New York University, a post he would hold until his retirement in 1966. He published his last book, The Dolphin in the Wood, in 1950, although he would continue to work on several unfinished writings up to his death 50 years later.
After his retirement, he moved with his wife to the Greek island of Naxos, where he pursued his lifelong hobby of mountain-climbing well into his 80s. He died in Manhattan in 2000, and his cremated remains were scattered in Naxos.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 14, 2019
This is a tough and beautiful book. Spain just before the Spanish Civil War, written by an Englishman who spent much of his life in revolutionary activities before the War. Some passages, particularly of nature, are astonishingly beautiful. Some of the details of relationships and political activities are hard to follow. Towards the end I found the story hard to follow and I was, frankly, ready for the book to end. But a lot of the story of the peasants work with harvesting olives, and their relationships with each other, with the landlord, the overseer and the local priests was quite fascinating and very interesting to read.
July 8, 2023
Kembali, saya tak ingat bagaimana buku ini bisa berada dalam rak saya. Sebenarnya, tertimbun diantara buku-buku yang sedang disisihkan untuk dikirim ke suatu TBM. Buku terbitan tahun 1936 yang saya punya, kondisinya 85%. Halaman masih lengap, tentunya sudah menguning. Hanya saja kondisi kover yang agak menyedihkan.
Dalam 471 halaman yang terbagi menjad 34 bab (paham dong bagaimana imutsnya huruf), berkisah tentang persahabatan dua orang pekerja sebelum masa Perang Saudara melalui persahabatan dua orang pekerja Caro dan Mudarra.
Menarik.
Dalam 471 halaman yang terbagi menjad 34 bab (paham dong bagaimana imutsnya huruf), berkisah tentang persahabatan dua orang pekerja sebelum masa Perang Saudara melalui persahabatan dua orang pekerja Caro dan Mudarra.
Menarik.
February 18, 2015
Rural Spain on the eve of the Civil War: Joaquín Caro woos Lucía Robledo, who is seduced & knocked up by Caro's best friend, Diego Mudarra; Caro & Mudarra (both olive workers & fervent anarchists) duel with knives, but Caro can't bring himself to kill his old friend. Caro reconciles with Lucía, who comes to terms with her shame, and they marry; Caro & Mudarra are reconciled by their politics, in the 1933 uprising in Asturias & the taking and defense of Oviedo. Subplots have to do with intrigues within the Federación Anarquista Ibérica. Vivid estampas of agricultural labor & conflicts in those days. ntbk 7/12/86 (160)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews