Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1981.
Description
Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML: The Balkan Trilogy is the story of a marriage and of a war, a vast, teeming, and complex masterpiece in which Olivia Manning brings the uncertainty and adventure of civilian existence under political and military siege to vibrant life. Manning's focus is not the battlefield but the caf� and kitchen, the bedroom and street, the fabric of the everyday world that has been irrevocably changed by war, yet remains unchanged. At the heart of the trilogy are newlyweds Guy and Harriet Pringle, who arrive in Bucharest--the so-called Paris of the East--in the fall of 1939, just weeks after the German invasion of Poland. Guy, an Englishman teaching at the university, is as wantonly gregarious as his wife is introverted, and Harriet is shocked to discover that she must share her adored husband with a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Other surprises follow: Romania joins the Axis, and before long German soldiers overrun the capital. The Pringles flee south to Greece, part of a group of refugees made up of White Russians, journalists, con artists, and dignitaries. In Athens, however, the couple will face a new challenge of their own, as great in its way as the still-expanding theater of war..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member brenzi
I picked up the mammoth The Balkan Trilogy expecting to read a book that revealed, comprehensively, the effects of the beginning of WWII on a group of expats, living in Rumania in 1939. What I got was a book about two wars, so well-written and character driven that those very characters are
The second war that Olivia Manning writes about is taking place between the protagonists Harriet and Guy Pringle. They’re young newlyweds as the story opens, early twenties, and quite naïve and Manning cleverly juxtaposes their lives and the advance of the Germans into Rumania. Guy is an English professor and lecturer at the university in Bucharest. And as they begin their married life in 1939, Germany has just invaded Poland, and Harriet is shocked to discover that she must share her outgoing husband with a wide range of personalities and it doesn’t take long before she begins to feel neglected. Harriet, you see, is a complete introvert. Why these two didn’t figure out their differences during their two-week romance before they got married is a question that will remain unanswered. Later in the book, Harriet muses,
”In Bucharest, where he continued his classes for Jewish studies in spite of Fascist demonstrations, he said: ‘They need me. They have no one else. I must give them moral support,’ yet he seemed unable to understand that, living as they did, she, too, needed ‘moral support’. As she met every crisis alone, it seemed to her she had been transported to a hostile world, then left to fend for herself.” (Page 765)
As far as sweeping epics go, this one is exceptionally well done. Manning builds suspense through Harriet’s eyes and that which affects her, affects you as a reader. As Guy got more and more involved, first with his production of Troilus and Cressida in Bucharest, and then with his socialist friends in Greece, she feels more and more isolated and, consequently, looks for companionship with other male friends. Meanwhile, the Germans march on.
The book is populated by profiteers, con artists, pompous intellectuals, hangers on, over-populated you might say, with those who want to save the world and don’t mind telling you how they will do it. And Manning pulls it all off beautifully but the solutions are often quite complex. Take for instance Prince Yakimov; oh, probably not a real prince but no point in arguing the point with him. Initially, I was disgusted and irritated by him. He doesn’t work and therefore has none of “the ready.” (reminding me initially of Harold Skimpole in Bleak House.) But he manages to get people to pay for his food, his drinks and, eventually his shelter when he takes advantage of Guy’s bigheartedness and moves into their flat in Bucharest, much to Harriet’s great irritation. But then Manning started to tweak his personality, imperceptibly, and little by little, somewhere along the way my feelings toward him changed, and I found that I was actually cheering him on. As I said, complex characters. And intricate plotting. And a husband I would have divorced early on. But that’s me. See for yourself. Highly recommended.
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vibrantly occupying my mind days after completing the book.The second war that Olivia Manning writes about is taking place between the protagonists Harriet and Guy Pringle. They’re young newlyweds as the story opens, early twenties, and quite naïve and Manning cleverly juxtaposes their lives and the advance of the Germans into Rumania. Guy is an English professor and lecturer at the university in Bucharest. And as they begin their married life in 1939, Germany has just invaded Poland, and Harriet is shocked to discover that she must share her outgoing husband with a wide range of personalities and it doesn’t take long before she begins to feel neglected. Harriet, you see, is a complete introvert. Why these two didn’t figure out their differences during their two-week romance before they got married is a question that will remain unanswered. Later in the book, Harriet muses,
”In Bucharest, where he continued his classes for Jewish studies in spite of Fascist demonstrations, he said: ‘They need me. They have no one else. I must give them moral support,’ yet he seemed unable to understand that, living as they did, she, too, needed ‘moral support’. As she met every crisis alone, it seemed to her she had been transported to a hostile world, then left to fend for herself.” (Page 765)
As far as sweeping epics go, this one is exceptionally well done. Manning builds suspense through Harriet’s eyes and that which affects her, affects you as a reader. As Guy got more and more involved, first with his production of Troilus and Cressida in Bucharest, and then with his socialist friends in Greece, she feels more and more isolated and, consequently, looks for companionship with other male friends. Meanwhile, the Germans march on.
The book is populated by profiteers, con artists, pompous intellectuals, hangers on, over-populated you might say, with those who want to save the world and don’t mind telling you how they will do it. And Manning pulls it all off beautifully but the solutions are often quite complex. Take for instance Prince Yakimov; oh, probably not a real prince but no point in arguing the point with him. Initially, I was disgusted and irritated by him. He doesn’t work and therefore has none of “the ready.” (reminding me initially of Harold Skimpole in Bleak House.) But he manages to get people to pay for his food, his drinks and, eventually his shelter when he takes advantage of Guy’s bigheartedness and moves into their flat in Bucharest, much to Harriet’s great irritation. But then Manning started to tweak his personality, imperceptibly, and little by little, somewhere along the way my feelings toward him changed, and I found that I was actually cheering him on. As I said, complex characters. And intricate plotting. And a husband I would have divorced early on. But that’s me. See for yourself. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member Maura49
Coming back to this book many years after first reading I was not disappointed. The story of a newly married couple living in Romania, and later Greece, as war rages across Europe is totally compelling. Harriet and Guy Pringle are very different in temperament and their personal difficulties in the
Bucharest with it's cafe life, is initially glittering, but gradually loses lustre as the Germans move in and commandeer food and supplies. Once the action moves to Greece, the light and the sunshine, the beauty of the Acropolis are gradually undermined by similar shortages and near starvation as the Greeks lose their fight against the Germans.
Re-reading a book after a long gap is always interesting. Having been a champion of Harriet's when I first read it, I had more sympathy for Guy this time around. He is not always in the wrong and Harriet's impulses can be less generous than his. Another change for me is that I am now, like Guy and Harriet, an expatriate. Thankfully I do not live in a war zone but I empathise with the strangeness of life in a foreign country, coping with a language that is not one's own, having to make new friends. This book, so easy to read, is full of resonances, which make coming back to it as much of a pleasure as returning to a well loved classic.
I agree with some of the negative comments made about the follow up volumes forming "The Levant Trilogy." Again one has the strong, varied gallery of characters and the superb evocation of place, but some of the force is dissipated. Perhaps the splitting of the story between the Pringles and their friends and Simon Boulderstone's experiences is the cause. I am glad that I read both trilogies but for me, the first was the more profound experience.
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early years of marriage are set against the tense backdrop of a war that always seems to be close, but not yet quite on top of them. Olivia Manning had the twin gifts of being able to evoke a place brilliantly and to create memorable characters. Harriet, reserved, sharp-witted but vulnerable in her need for love is matched by Guy, gregarious, generous and gifted, but blind to her needs. We meet fellow exiles such as the comic, pathetic Pince Yakimov trailing around in his fur coat, the urbane consular official Dobson, Sophie the Romanian girl who wanted Guy to marry her, and many more.Bucharest with it's cafe life, is initially glittering, but gradually loses lustre as the Germans move in and commandeer food and supplies. Once the action moves to Greece, the light and the sunshine, the beauty of the Acropolis are gradually undermined by similar shortages and near starvation as the Greeks lose their fight against the Germans.
Re-reading a book after a long gap is always interesting. Having been a champion of Harriet's when I first read it, I had more sympathy for Guy this time around. He is not always in the wrong and Harriet's impulses can be less generous than his. Another change for me is that I am now, like Guy and Harriet, an expatriate. Thankfully I do not live in a war zone but I empathise with the strangeness of life in a foreign country, coping with a language that is not one's own, having to make new friends. This book, so easy to read, is full of resonances, which make coming back to it as much of a pleasure as returning to a well loved classic.
I agree with some of the negative comments made about the follow up volumes forming "The Levant Trilogy." Again one has the strong, varied gallery of characters and the superb evocation of place, but some of the force is dissipated. Perhaps the splitting of the story between the Pringles and their friends and Simon Boulderstone's experiences is the cause. I am glad that I read both trilogies but for me, the first was the more profound experience.
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LibraryThing member thorold
The Balkan Trilogy goes very well with Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy and the war movement of Powell's A dance to the music of time as a view of World War II as seen by a middle-class, not very bellicose, British intellectual of liberal/conservative leanings. There's the same puzzled attempt to
So what does Manning provide as added value to make us read this doorstop as well as the others? The background of the fall of Romania and Greece, for one thing. There aren't all that many first-hand accounts of this in English, and not even that many second-hand accounts (Captain Corelli's Mandolin is just about the only one I can think of). Manning was one of a handful of British people who remained in Romania after the outbreak of war, and seems to have been the only one to write a novel about it. This personal experience makes her account very interesting, but it also means that she has a tendency to forget that she's writing a novel and drift into memoir mode, leaving her characters stranded for a while.
The book should also be very interesting as an account of the war from a woman's perspective, but I found this aspect of it a little disappointing. Her central character, Harriet, is too narrow and limited to carry a novel of this length. Essentially, she is an automaton programmed to do three things: to observe political events inefficiently; to feel vaguely disappointed in her husband; and to form sentimental friendships that lead nowhere with animals and good-looking men. She does these three things repeatedly in all three parts of the trilogy, but she doesn't seem to develop at all between summer 1939 and Easter 1941. Even when she finds a job for a while, her duties seem to consist exclusively of lunch dates with a good-looking man. Harriet doesn't get very far in forming friendships with other women, and she only has very limited direct contact with people outside the "British community" in Bucharest and Athens. So, while it's a book that confirms that war and international politics are not to be seen as exclusively male territory in literature, apart from this it does about as much for the feminist cause as the film Brief Encounter.
Despite these limitations, the book is very agreeable to read. Manning's style is clear and fluid, there's a lot of striking visual description, and the characters, whilst repetitive, are often amusing. A very good novel, but less than I was hoping for, somehow.
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come to terms with what it means for a civilised person brought up in the liberal-humanist tradition suddenly to find themselves in the primitive state of war, the same sense of being on the outer periphery of big events that are happening somewhere else, even the same trilogy format and some of the same characters. Prince Yakimov could step into any Evelyn Waugh novel with no questions asked, and he would be just as much at home attending one of Anthony Powell's bohemian parties.So what does Manning provide as added value to make us read this doorstop as well as the others? The background of the fall of Romania and Greece, for one thing. There aren't all that many first-hand accounts of this in English, and not even that many second-hand accounts (Captain Corelli's Mandolin is just about the only one I can think of). Manning was one of a handful of British people who remained in Romania after the outbreak of war, and seems to have been the only one to write a novel about it. This personal experience makes her account very interesting, but it also means that she has a tendency to forget that she's writing a novel and drift into memoir mode, leaving her characters stranded for a while.
The book should also be very interesting as an account of the war from a woman's perspective, but I found this aspect of it a little disappointing. Her central character, Harriet, is too narrow and limited to carry a novel of this length. Essentially, she is an automaton programmed to do three things: to observe political events inefficiently; to feel vaguely disappointed in her husband; and to form sentimental friendships that lead nowhere with animals and good-looking men. She does these three things repeatedly in all three parts of the trilogy, but she doesn't seem to develop at all between summer 1939 and Easter 1941. Even when she finds a job for a while, her duties seem to consist exclusively of lunch dates with a good-looking man. Harriet doesn't get very far in forming friendships with other women, and she only has very limited direct contact with people outside the "British community" in Bucharest and Athens. So, while it's a book that confirms that war and international politics are not to be seen as exclusively male territory in literature, apart from this it does about as much for the feminist cause as the film Brief Encounter.
Despite these limitations, the book is very agreeable to read. Manning's style is clear and fluid, there's a lot of striking visual description, and the characters, whilst repetitive, are often amusing. A very good novel, but less than I was hoping for, somehow.
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LibraryThing member yvonnebarlow
I read this in the 1980s and fell in love with the story and characters. Thoroughly engaging as a young wife tries to make her own life in a foreign land.
LibraryThing member hazelk
I was quickly drawn into this trilogy by the first novel 'The Great Fortune'. Without long descriptive passages Olivia Manning brilliantly and economically conveys both the city of Bucharest in the first few months of the Second World War and its community of ex-pats.
I found myself alternately
Our own historical knowledge of the events in Europe makes one shudder for the fate of the Jewish residents and emigres described making you feel you want to shout at those characters 'quick, get away if you can'. That's how involved I felt. But it was good to end with Guy's production of 'Troilus and Cressida', a necessary 'up' towards the end of this first part of the trilogy.
I couldn't wait to start on the second novel.
I found myself alternately
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admiring and being annoyed with Guy Pringle, just like his wife Harriet. And who could forget Prince Yakimov! What a creation, and quite Dickensian I felt, part Mr Jingle and part Mr Micawber. Our own historical knowledge of the events in Europe makes one shudder for the fate of the Jewish residents and emigres described making you feel you want to shout at those characters 'quick, get away if you can'. That's how involved I felt. But it was good to end with Guy's production of 'Troilus and Cressida', a necessary 'up' towards the end of this first part of the trilogy.
I couldn't wait to start on the second novel.
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LibraryThing member libraryhermit
I echo the sentiments expressed in the reviews already posted.
I knew little of the history of the Second World War as it happened Eastern and Southern Europe, especially in Romania and Greece. I also knew very little of the life of the many Europeans who were not at home when the war broke out. It
Olivia Manning gives a special description of a time and place which have both now disappeared. Romania and Greece of course have not disappeared, but even if you went back today, you could not experience the events that are described in this book, even if you walked down the same streets and went into the same buildings, if and where they exist. That brings us back to this book; the best way to go back to that time and place is to read the book. Then go and visit the streets and buildings that the author describes and then let your imagination take over.
I knew little of the history of the Second World War as it happened Eastern and Southern Europe, especially in Romania and Greece. I also knew very little of the life of the many Europeans who were not at home when the war broke out. It
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would have been very hard to get back home to England or any other place. So what then, if you are just forced to stay or decide to stay of your own free will? Quite a few of the main characters in this book are in their 20s or 30s from what I can remember, and they are certainly living away from the homes of their parents. But they still seem to be so young to be caught up in all the turmoil that erupts around them. Of course that is the main theme of this whole conflict; the term World War implies that everybody was caught by it, young, old, wealthy, poor and wherever you were on any spectrum from one extreme to the other, you were caught in the conflict.Olivia Manning gives a special description of a time and place which have both now disappeared. Romania and Greece of course have not disappeared, but even if you went back today, you could not experience the events that are described in this book, even if you walked down the same streets and went into the same buildings, if and where they exist. That brings us back to this book; the best way to go back to that time and place is to read the book. Then go and visit the streets and buildings that the author describes and then let your imagination take over.
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LibraryThing member xieouyang
This is the first book in the series [The Balkan Trilogy], by the British author [Olivia Manning]. In this trilogy Manning follows the wartime lives of several characters, mainly Harriet and Guy Pringle, as they move from one country to another avoiding the Nazi invasion. The [Fortunes of War]
Their lives develop in the time that Nazi Germany began to flex its expansionary muscles and started invading one country after another. We hear the news as they came in to Bucharest, confusing and never very clear. Some people continue to believe that Romania would be spared, since the Nazis were focusing North (Poland, Denmark, Netherlands) and East (France). But the country is supplying great amounts of feed to Germany, thus the latter is highly dependent on Romania. A few other characters are more realistic and know that Romania will eventually fall in the grasp of the Nazis.
Manning portrays her characters very well, and they are interesting to follow. Harriet is a plucky British girl, with a bent towards independence, although she gives up to her husband even though she often knows that he is wrong. Guy, on the other hand, seems a more flighty character. He is talented and has a good heart, but tends to ignore the long-term consequences of events that are unfolding around him (mainly the German threat). Both of them, however, appear to be fit well together.
I am eagerly anticipating what will happen in the next novel in the series, [The Spoilt City].
[Olivia Manning] followed [The Balkan Trilogy] with a second one called [The Levant Trilogy]. I am curious to find out about it, and it seems that it's not as popular as the first one since it's not mentioned as frequently in LT.
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finds Harriet and Guy living in Bucharest, he a teacher of English and she a housewife. They are recently married and she is new to Romania although he has been teaching there for a while. They are surrounded by an interesting cast of characters, mainly British although a few are Romanian or other nationalities. Their lives develop in the time that Nazi Germany began to flex its expansionary muscles and started invading one country after another. We hear the news as they came in to Bucharest, confusing and never very clear. Some people continue to believe that Romania would be spared, since the Nazis were focusing North (Poland, Denmark, Netherlands) and East (France). But the country is supplying great amounts of feed to Germany, thus the latter is highly dependent on Romania. A few other characters are more realistic and know that Romania will eventually fall in the grasp of the Nazis.
Manning portrays her characters very well, and they are interesting to follow. Harriet is a plucky British girl, with a bent towards independence, although she gives up to her husband even though she often knows that he is wrong. Guy, on the other hand, seems a more flighty character. He is talented and has a good heart, but tends to ignore the long-term consequences of events that are unfolding around him (mainly the German threat). Both of them, however, appear to be fit well together.
I am eagerly anticipating what will happen in the next novel in the series, [The Spoilt City].
[Olivia Manning] followed [The Balkan Trilogy] with a second one called [The Levant Trilogy]. I am curious to find out about it, and it seems that it's not as popular as the first one since it's not mentioned as frequently in LT.
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LibraryThing member BDartnall
Another keen observer of the human condition and esp humans in challenging circumstances (impending war and war) and foreign landscapes/cultures. While Manning provides a well painted landscape of the "Paris of the East", Bucharest, with its Brit ex-pats, British military and cultural
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organizations, and other assorted (mainly "upper crust") characters from various parts of Europe, she deftly also weaves in thought provoking observations about the late 1930s-early 1940s European world, its various political pts of view, the complexities of marriages in this society, and even elements of friendship, identity, even meaningful existence - and all of this against the backdrop (and it is the backdrop -not the focus) of the growing war between the Axis powers and the Allies. Her main narrator, a young, somewhat diffident English woman, Harriet, who has recently married Guy Pringle, an idealistic, gregarious professor of English language and literature, is the lens through which Manning achieves this scrutiny, and gradually draws us readers in. It reminds me so much of the better black & white classic films from this time-period, with many colorful characters, all mixing it up in foreign clubs/bars, circling each other as they respond to the swirling events of European capitals & their response to the growing reach of Nazi Germany (yeah, like Casablanca!) but without the overwrought emotions...well, not at first. Manning does allow Harriet her moments of despair, passion, tearful grief - but this is such a British mid-20th century novel, even the horrifying or potentially romantic (hint of sex) moments are couched in restrained prose. And what wonderfully varied prose it is- this authors knows how to provide a fully descriptive passage, or convey a wealth of insight through tense, realistic, clipped dialogue. Nevertheless, her observations about life, death, what sort of marriage emerges for a young couple, the idiosyncrasies of one's friends and acquaintances - all are explored while we barrel through the disintegrating peace for Romania, and then Greece- among other nations which succumb to the Axis threats, and eventually military advancement. The Balkan Trilogy ends with Guy and Harriet escaping Athens with one suitcase apiece, on a rusty commercial steamer with other British nationals, hurriedly rounded up and deported to safer territory: Cairo, Jerusalem, etc - I'm looking forward to the next trilogy to see how these two survive and build their lives together, in spite of being so (to Harriet's great chagrin and despondency) incredibly different in temperament, political & spiritual beliefs, and insights into various individuals they encounter. Not for the faint of heart: this trilogy is 924 pages long. Yep. It's a winter read book... Show Less
LibraryThing member redtedari
Similar to some other readers, I particularly enjoyed the first book but the story progressively deteriorated through the next two novels. The characters became more repetitive and unpleasant throughout the triology, as well as more sanctimonious. I'm glad I've read it but don't feel inclined to
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seek out any more of Olivia Manning's writings. Show Less
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
I really like the series, and the front half of it is more thrilling than the last. The widely ranging characters, their great depth and the skilful weaving of all sub-plots are entrancing! I admit to having seen the TV Mini-series first, but the prose format allows for greater depth. I wasn't
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conscious of the pacing, so it must have been great, Was Guy a spy ,or not? Show Less
LibraryThing member CarltonC
The Great Fortune
Yakimov, a naturalised British White Russian, and Guy and Harriet Pringle, as newly married English couple, arrive in Bucharest as the Second World War starts. Yakimov is escaping from a Poland being overrun by Nazi Germany and Guy Pringle is returning to teach English at the
The story is told alternatively by “poor Yaki” and Harriet. Both Yakimov and Guy have annoying personalities, representing extreme self-interest and selflessness, with Harriet observing matters as a more typically “bourgeois” viewpoint.
The book ends with the set piece of an amateur performance of Troilus and Cressida put on by the British, which helps Harriet understand Guy better and brings out a more likeable side of poor old Yaki, following his fall portrayed throughout most of the book. Overall I felt that this book fulfilled less than its potential and this is perhaps due to the lack of empathy that you feel for the main characters.
Yakimov, a naturalised British White Russian, and Guy and Harriet Pringle, as newly married English couple, arrive in Bucharest as the Second World War starts. Yakimov is escaping from a Poland being overrun by Nazi Germany and Guy Pringle is returning to teach English at the
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university with his new bride, Harriet. This is part of the history of the Second World War that I did not know.The story is told alternatively by “poor Yaki” and Harriet. Both Yakimov and Guy have annoying personalities, representing extreme self-interest and selflessness, with Harriet observing matters as a more typically “bourgeois” viewpoint.
The book ends with the set piece of an amateur performance of Troilus and Cressida put on by the British, which helps Harriet understand Guy better and brings out a more likeable side of poor old Yaki, following his fall portrayed throughout most of the book. Overall I felt that this book fulfilled less than its potential and this is perhaps due to the lack of empathy that you feel for the main characters.
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LibraryThing member dbsovereign
From the first sentence, this book is so real because it is so detailed. How does one tell the story of a war except to have it pervade the lives of your main characters? A mismatched couple struggles to make do (and stay together) through the trials of war (WW2). First in Bucharest and then in
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Athens, the garrulous husband surrounds himself with friends and the more withdrawn wife tries to sniff out her own companions – all the while fighting off feelings of abandonment. Show Less
LibraryThing member hemlokgang
Reading this novel was a deeply satisfying experience. I learned about WWII actions in Romania and Greece that I had not known about. The author's take on the life of government workers living abroad during a time of war came from her own experiences, so I felt that they were authentic. The
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characters represented types to be found everywhere, but were brought to life so that I felt connected to them. The theme of commitment, whether in marriage, in political or personal beliefs, or to community was thoroughly explored, and was thought provoking. Most of all, I felt I gained some insight into the experience of being at the mercy of the fortunes and misfortunes of war. Entire countries, not just the characters in the story, lived with moment-to-moment anxiety of which way the proverbial wind would blow, and whether their troops would prevail, and what their choices were if they did not. I certainly was reminded to be grateful for the stability of my life in the United States. Show Less
LibraryThing member burritapal
"Marry in haste repent at leisure"-- that's an old saying and in this case it's no less true. A young English woman named Harriet meets another young English person named Guy while on summer vacation and marries him a month later. His post is an English professor at Bucharest University in Romania.
A wonderful description of Bucharest and its many types of inhabitants and Athens and the many historical sights of its surroundings. Superb on characterization, this book will have you chortling to yourself at the behavior of the many characters drawn from the real-life experiences dreawn from Manning's own life.
They don't give a damn about animal well-being in Bucharest in 1937:
P.132
"An assistant was shearing off the legs of live frogs, throwing the still palpitating trunks into a dustbin. Yakimov was upset by the sight, but forgot it at once as he peered into a basket of button mushrooms flown that morning from Paris."
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She returns with him to Bucharest when the fall term is to begin, and begins right away to find out who the man is that she really married. This is at the beginning of World war II, and it doesn't take long before they have to leave Bucharest with the threat of Germans invading hanging over them. Harriet manages to get on an airplane to Athens, and her husband trails her a month later. They're not done with war though--life in Athens is faced with an everyday worry that the Germans will appear there.meanwhile Harriet gets more and more disillusioned with her husband.A wonderful description of Bucharest and its many types of inhabitants and Athens and the many historical sights of its surroundings. Superb on characterization, this book will have you chortling to yourself at the behavior of the many characters drawn from the real-life experiences dreawn from Manning's own life.
They don't give a damn about animal well-being in Bucharest in 1937:
P.132
"An assistant was shearing off the legs of live frogs, throwing the still palpitating trunks into a dustbin. Yakimov was upset by the sight, but forgot it at once as he peered into a basket of button mushrooms flown that morning from Paris."
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LibraryThing member LARA335
Re-visited 2024 (this time in a radio adaptation, narrated by Joanna Lumley). Wonderful and sometimes satirical evocation of being a newly-married wife trailing her eng-lit teacher husband around Europe, trying to keep ahead of Nazi invasion.
Harriet is loyal to her husband, but increasingly
Great characterisations & sense of being an ex-pat at that time in history. Loosely based on Olivier Manning’s own experiences in Europe during the war.
Harriet is loyal to her husband, but increasingly
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exasperated by his neglect when it becomes apparent his time and loyalty belong seemingly to everyone else first. Guy is a good man, but myopic in every sense of the word.Great characterisations & sense of being an ex-pat at that time in history. Loosely based on Olivier Manning’s own experiences in Europe during the war.
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Awards
Language
Original publication date
1960
Physical description
924 p.; 20 cm
ISBN
0140059369 / 9780140059366