Fortunes of War: The Balkan Trilogy

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She wanted a large, comfortable man as friend and companion, like Guy, but without his intolerable gregariousness." It is fair to say that Guy Pringle is one of the most frustrating characters in any novel and his arrival, as expected, does not improve Harriet’s life noticeably. Politically naïve, emotionally warm and gregarious; Guy spends his time thinking the best of everyone despite the reality of his situation and unwilling to face reality. Guy had worked in the English department of the University in Bucharest, but, once in Greece, he finds that Dubedat, Lush and Professor Pinkrose are unwilling to help Guy with work – as he once helped them. Harriet is constantly frustrated by her husband’s unwillingness to see anything but the best about everyone and begins to feel more and more neglected as these books continue. Indeed, this novel sees her attracted to Charles Warden, as she feels her marriage means little to Guy, who has time for everyone but her, in a life taken up by providing entertainment for the troops and pouring his attention on students and friends. Yes, we can do your car service on Friday. Do you want to leave your car or would you like to wait?" Because at first food is everywhere in Bucharest—and food and hunger (physical and emotional) are central motifs that run through the trilogy. Fortunes of War is the name given to a series of six novels by Olivia Manning that describe the experiences of a young married couple early in World War II. The series is made up of two trilogies: the books The Great Fortune (1960), The Spoilt City (1962), and Friends and Heroes (1965) comprise The Balkan Trilogy, while The Danger Tree (1977), The Battle Lost and Won (1978), and The Sum of Things (1980) comprise The Levant Trilogy. The novels were based on Manning's personal experiences during the second world war.

Guy's best actions are to befriend Simon a young English soldier who has been injured and must undergo a long period of rehabilitation. When Simon falls in love with Edwina, the fast living gold-digger Guy manages to open Simon's eyes about her. If you haven't read this book yet, you may want to move on now because I will probably spoil the ending for you.I think Harriet Pringle is the greater character: wise and helpful for newly married young soldier Simon Boulderstone, freshly arrived from England; she is the one who counsels Guy to be diplomatic when he is trying to negotiate a job with the odious Gracey; the one who sees Edwina Little for the beautiful, sweet but shallow girl she is; the one who befriends Lady Angela Cooper, not her type at all; the one who accurately reads the feelings and emotions of those around her. She does the same thing with Guy's Marxist pronouncements. She neither condemns nor endorses them. But you know Harriet must have some opinion.

This prescription was so well filled by the Olivia Manning Balkan and Levant trilogies. I have such a warm feeling in my chest after having finished the six volumes. Manning introduced me to a full range of human types, people I loved and hated as the clouds of war chased them across southern Europe and on to the Middle East. This was a part of World War II that I had not paid a great deal of attention to. And along that plane, incidentally, I learned a lot. There was so much. Dubedat, an English elementary school teacher and bohemian pacifist 'simple lifer', who was hitchhiking his way around the Balkans when war broke out. Working class and a scouser.In this second trilogy of Guy and Harriet Pringle, we learn more of their marriage, their travels from Budapest to Greece to Egypt during WWII, their friends, and the Battle of El Alamein (both of them). cookson, aware of danger, paused nervously, then made a darting sally towards the table, saying on a high, exalted note: 'hello, lady H! Hello, Bill! I knew you wouldn't mind Poor Tootsie...' Clarence Lawson, a colleague of Guy's in Bucharest. An embittered cynic and moper, he is employed by the British propaganda bureau and on relief to Polish refugees. So, I was anticipating something along those lines in "Fortunes of War." But, we don't get much of that. Instead we are taken along the "adventures" of a recently married English couple in their moves to three locations in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. They are civilians, associated with an institute that teaches English language and culture in other countries. The series/film is based on six novels of fiction by Olivia Manning, who used her travel and living experiences with her husband who worked for the BBC. I'm not familiar with Manning's works, so I don't know how true to the books the mini-series is. They proceed, then the mosque keeper indicates she needs to be barefoot. Harriet says in Egypt they give you slippers, but Halal tells her they are more strict here. I was reminded of Geraldine Brooks remarkable book Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women, about the Muslim women she got to know as a journalist in Egypt and the Middle East in the 1980s, which among other things brought out the subtle and not so subtle differences in Muslim practices in the different countries (and even within them).