GHANGHANTO GHANTANAD

Book Details
• Translators: D.B. Mokashi
• ISBN: 9789353172640
• Edition: 2
• Publishing Year: January 1941
• Pages: 472
• Language: Translated from English to Marathi
• Category: Fiction
.  Publisher: Mehta Publishing House
• Sub Category: Historical, Modern & Contemporary Fiction

This novel graphically describes the brutality of the Spanish Civil War during this period. It is told primarily through the thoughts and experiences of the protagonist, Robert Jordan. Drawing from Hemingway’s own experiences in the Spanish Civil War as a reporter for the North American Newspaper Alliance, this story delves deep into the emotional and physical toll of war.

Robert Jordan is an American who had lived in Spain before the war and fights as an irregular soldier for the Republic against Francisco Franco’s fascist forces. As an experienced dynamiter, he is ordered by a Russian general to travel behind enemy lines and destroy a bridge with the help of local anti-fascist guerrillas to prevent enemy troops from responding to an upcoming offensive.

During his mission, Jordan meets the rebel Anselmo, who brings him to the hidden guerrilla camp and serves as an intermediary between Jordan and the other guerrilla fighters. There, Jordan encounters María, a young Spanish woman whose life was shattered by the execution of her parents and her subsequent rape by the fascists at the outbreak of the war. His strong sense of duty clashes with the guerrilla leader Pablo’s reluctance to commit to an operation that could endanger himself and his comrades. Jordan’s new-found lust for life, fueled by his love for María, complicates his mission.

Pablo’s wife, Pilar, with the support of the other guerrillas, eventually displaces Pablo as the group leader and pledges the guerrillas’ allegiance to Jordan’s mission. However, the group faces grave challenges when another band of anti-fascist guerrillas, led by El Sordo, is surrounded and killed during a raid supporting Jordan’s mission. Pablo, trying to prevent the operation, steals the dynamite detonators but later regrets abandoning his comrades and returns to assist in the mission.