Soldiers of Salamis by Javier Cercas (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide

By Bright Summaries

Unlock the more straightforward side of Soldiers of Salamis with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of Soldiers of Salamis by Javier Cercas, an unusual novel which blurs the lines between autobiography and historical fiction. Its central character is a fictionalised version of Cercas himself who becomes obsessed with a little-known anecdote from the Spanish Civil War concerning a fascist leader who narrowly escaped execution thanks to the mercy he was shown by an unknown soldier. The fictional Cercas decides to use all of his skill as a journalist to uncover the full story so that he can use it as the basis for his next novel. Javier Cercas is a Spanish writer whose signature writing style is based on a seamless blend of fiction and reality. He has also worked as a freelance journalist and as a professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Girona.

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This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:

• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection

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• Language: English
• Publisher: BrightSummaries.com
• Release date: May 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9782808001847

Book preview

SPANISH WRITER AND PROFESSOR

Born in Ibahernando (Spain) in 1962.

Literary awards:

Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, 2004 (for Soldiers of Salamis)

Medal of Extremadura, 2005 (for Soldiers of Salamis)

Spanish National Literature Prize for Narrative, 2010 (for The Anatomy of a Moment)

Notable works:

The Speed of Light (2005), novel

The Anatomy of a Moment (2009), novel

Outlaws (2012), novel

Javier Cercas was born in Ibahernando, a small town in the province of Cáceres in Extremadura, western Spain. When he was four years old, his family moved to the city of Girona in Catalonia, and Cercas later moved to Barcelona to study Spanish Literature at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Two years after he graduated in 1985, he began working at the University of Illinois in the USA, where he wrote his first novella, The Motive (1987). In 1989 he became a professor at the University of Girona, and also began writing articles for a variety of newspapers. He soon became a frequent contributor to the Catalan and Sunday editions of the Spanish newspaper El País.

Cercas’s writing remained relatively unknown in his native Spain until his novel Soldiers of Salamis was published in 2001. The novel was praised by renowned authors such as Mario Vargas Llosa, J. M. Coetzee, Doris Lessing and Susan Sontag, and catapulted Cercas to international fame. The novel’s commercial success allowed Cercas to begin writing full-time, and he resigned from his post as a professor of literature. His next novel, The Speed of Light (2005), reaffirmed his talent as a writer and won several awards. His other novels, including The Anatomy of an