A vigorous and pacily written appeal for social justice, using the various Peasants' Revolt type struggles of the Middle Ages, sometimes rooted in religious fanaticism to make its points. His focus is the life and times of Thomas Müntzer, German preacher and theologian, for whom even the likes of Martin Luther were too Establishment. In a mere 60 pages, he conjures the atmosphere of discontent of the peasantry with the oppression and poverty which was their lot. This, rather than any real religious fanaticism was behind the revolt he championed. It was a fight that could not be won, and in vigorous, emotionally wrought poetic language, Vuillard tells the tale of what he sees as one of history's great injustices. ( )

Shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize, which describes itself as for "the finest fiction from around the world, translated into English." Leaving aside "finest", is this fiction? We have a very well known model for this sort of thing, it's been around since 430 B.C. - Herodotus' "Histories". Herodotus blended fact, myth, and narrative, he related facts and told stories, and gave us a fantastic picture of the worlds he described. Despite controversy over the nature and veracity of his work from the very beginning, he has still earned the name "father of history". Should we give him a Nobel Prize for Fiction in recognition of his fine work? Probably not. (Ok, he’s dead, for one, which violates a Nobel guideline, and technically it’s a Literature not Fiction prize, but bear with.) Herodotus wouldn't have considered what he was doing as writing fiction, and similarly I don't think what Vuillard is doing here is writing fiction either. I'm against this attempt to poach it from historiography.

Going back to "finest", now. Well, it's very short, half the size of what I'd consider a novella. So that's a strike. In terms of plot and character development, well, how much can you do in such a short space. It's necessarily impressionistic, but I will say that it makes a strong impression. It gets across a history of peasant uprisings and the resulting slaughter of said peasants forcefully, and it leaves a forceful impression of its central character of Thomas Müntzer, all thanks in large part to the impassioned and colloquial language the translator (and I assume Vuillard himself) use. This passage, for instance, impresses me:

Something terrible inhabits him, agitates him. He is enraged. He wants the rulers' skins, he wants to sweep away the church, he wants to gut all those bastards. But maybe he doesn't know this yet, and for the moment he is choking it down. He wants to put an end to all that pomp and miserable circumstance. Vice and wealth devastate him; their conjunction devastates him. He wants to inspire fear. The difference between Müntzer and Hus is that Müntzer is thirsty, hungry and thirsty, terribly hungry and thirsty, and nothing can sate him, nothing can slake his thirst. He'll devour old bones, branches, stones, mud, milk, blood, fire. Everything.

Language like that will keep me turning pages, for sure. Literary language that shakes its closed fist, that spits with zeal and menace and urgency, something like a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song from back in the day. In fact, yeah, I love that analogy. "I'm your Loverman," Müntzer threatens. And he's waiting outside your door, you German princes, and he's bucking and braying and pawing at the floor, and he's howling with pain, and he's shouting your name and asking for more. Insert crunching guitar noise here. ( )

In dreizehn kurzen Kapiteln erzählt der Autor die Geschichte der europäischen Erhebungen, Volksaufstände und Revolten, die oft vereinfachend unter dem unscharfen Begriff 'Bauernkriege' subsumiert werden. Entlang des Lebens von Thomas Müntzer, dem sowohl das erste als auch das letze Kapitel gewidmet ist, wirft Vuillard auch Blicke in vorherige Epochen, etwa nach England während des 14. Jahrhunderts (John Wyclif, John Ball, Wat Tyler) oder - zeitgleich - nach Böhmen (Jan Hus). Begleitend zu den ausführlichen Zitaten aus den Proklamationen, Reden, Predigten & Briefen dieser Aufrührer, denen die Lutherische Reformation nicht weit genug ging, beschreibt der Autor in eindrücklichen Szenen die Lebenswelten jenes Teils des Volkes, an den sich die aufrührerischen Schriften richteten: Bauern, Hand- & Bergwerker; Tagelöhner, Knechte & andere Lumpenproletarier.
Mit "Der Krieg der Armen" gelingt Vuillard - mal wieder - eine materialreiche, klug komponierte & glänzend geschriebene historische Skizze. Auch an der Übersetzung gibt es nichts zu mäkeln: Nicola Denis findet schöne Entsprechungen für die detailreiche, zuweilen verspielte Sprache dieses kurzen Textes. Großes Lesevergnügen - und eine starke Empfehlung.-
( )

Éric Vuillard - [La Guerre des Pauvres]
This is an essay published in book form, covering 68 pages of text. Vuillard studied under the influence of the french philosopher Jacques Derrida which may account for this history of Thomas Müntzer staying close to known facts. He for the most part leaves it for the reader to make his/her own interpretations.

Thomas Müntzer 1489-1525 was a German preacher and theologian who became the leader of a popular uprising now known as the German Peasants' war. He was captured after the battle of Frankenhausen 1525 tortured and executed. Vuillard links this with earlier peasants revolts in England: Wat Tyler led the revolt in 1381 with his associate John Ball. There are similarities in that the revolt of the poor and oppressed took the nobility by surprise. However once the powerful men at arms realised that their very existence was under threat they reorganised and easily thwarted the revolt and showed little mercy to the defeated peasants. Another similarity was that John Ball was a fiery orator, a preacher in the mould of Müntzer who stirred up religious zeal which was a factor in leading the revolt. Jack Cade's revolt in 1450 which was again perceived as a reflection of social, political and economic issues is also described.

Vuillard tells of Müntzer's early life as a radical theologian and his allegiance with Martin Luther. His vehement preaching from the pulpit, which found favour locally, but led to a series of enforced moves. His break from the influence of Luther who he claimed had lost his way and become complaisant with the powerful magnates, led him to forge his own path. Müntzer's zeal was based on his idea that God about to overturn the natural order of things and when he preached this to the nobility he found little favour. There is no direct evidence that Müntzer was the leader at the battle of Frankenhausen, but Vuillard describes the battle as though he was there.

Vuillard matter of factly tells of Müntzers imprisonment and final beheading. He wonders what the local tradesmen saw who attended the execution. They saw the little man (Münzer was small in stature) who carried the burdens of the world on his shoulder, whose head became separated from his body. Vuillard does not ask himself what they thought only tells us what they saw. He concludes his essay with:

"Martyrdom is a trap for those who are oppressed, only victory is desirable. I will tell it."

Vuillard links events to a certain extent to re-emphasise the issues raised in his essay, but leaves the reader to do the thinking. 3 stars. ( )

Dit lijkt een aardig tussendoortje van amper 60 bladzijden, maar schijn bedriegt. Vuillard heeft er om te beginnen een doorwrocht historisch traktaat van gemaakt over één van de zwaarste boerenopstanden in wat nu Duitsland is, in het begin van de 16de eeuw. Vooral Thomas Müntzer (1489-1525) wordt gevolgd, die evolueerde van protestants theoloog tot virulent opstandeling tegen het gezag van de kerk én de adel. Vuillard schrijft in een erg elegante stijl, maar door de korte, gecondenseerde zinnen en de theologische redenaties, doe je er als lezer eerlijk gezegd langer over dan je zou verwachten. Uiteraard vraagt iedereen zich af wat we hier nu uit moeten halen, en dat is een goed teken, ik hou niet van te opzichtige moralistische boodschappen. Maar de link met de ‘gele hesjes’ van vandaag is onontkoombaar. En dan lijkt het mij dat de auteur er ons voor wil waarschuwen schijnbaar irrationeel volksprotest maar beter ernstig te nemen, én tegelijk ook dat brute macht in handen van “het gezag” altijd wint. Dit is een kort en krachtig boekje, maar een volwaardig verhaal zou ik het toch niet noemen. ( )