PositiveThe Los Angeles Review of BooksThe story flows easily from thriller (psychological antagonism), to crime drama (will one of them kill the other?), bildungsroman (boisterous boyhood drifting into unsettled manhood), existentialist musing (alienated men not understanding anything, least of all women), to a tale of infinite regret. And it achieves all this without losing its internal unity, suggesting possible outcomes while concluding in a way that throws the story wide open again ... It is polished and sophisticated, undercut with sufficiently troubling undercurrents to make it more than merely decorative or forgettable ... Unfortunately, the novel can tend toward the logical, even clinical. The plot can feel too neat as it unfolds over the years, with its episodes somewhat schematic ... One thing follows the other as tick follows tock: one never has the impression Jan as narrator, or Rubin as author, will stop and double back, or go deeper when it might seem out of place but nonetheless fascinating.
Adam Hochschild
MixedThe Pittsburgh Post-GazetteAt its most compelling, Spain In Our Hearts follows a Swarthmore College senior as he joins in the battle for Madrid (fatally, as it turns out, much to the consternation of his bewildered parents back home); a 19-year-old girl from Kentucky who went to the war for her honeymoon; and a number of little-known journalists and writers. There’s a palpable sense of adventure in these people’s stories ... Less successfully, the book introduces us to Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell...Mr. Hochschild should have steered clear of them. His work is strong for its focus on 'ordinary' folk doing extraordinary things. Also, it has to be said the book caricatures the Nationalists ... Nonetheless, there is much to enjoy and learn from this work, which will appeal to both general and specialist readers.
