It probably also helps that I've seen a fair number of movies set during the Spanish Civil War, which makes the era seem much more real. (In truth, it seems like a positively absurd war, with people going home for lunch breaks during the first few months of it. I guess it just takes a while for it to sink in that your neighbors and coworkers are trying to kill you. Given that it was a class-based conflict as opposed to a regional conflict like the US civil war just made it uglier.)
In retrospect, I realize that my grandfather never really talked much about it, and all the stories I have are secondhand from my father. It still gives me a different perspective, though. When watching Pan's Labyrinth, I had an immediate and visceral hatred of the villainous colonel--these were the assholes that had tried to kill my grandfather, and I take great umbrage at attempts to delete my timeline.
Mm. I wrote all of the papers I wrote because I'd seen Pan's Labyrinth. We did study that war in general but I learned a lot more about it than any of my classmates.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-21 04:27 pm (UTC)In retrospect, I realize that my grandfather never really talked much about it, and all the stories I have are secondhand from my father. It still gives me a different perspective, though. When watching Pan's Labyrinth, I had an immediate and visceral hatred of the villainous colonel--these were the assholes that had tried to kill my grandfather, and I take great umbrage at attempts to delete my timeline.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-21 04:36 pm (UTC)