Fair Stood The Wind For France by HE Bates, author of Love For Lydia https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/08/love-for-lydia-by-he-bates-is-one-of.html - 10 out of 10

 

Fair Stood The Wind For France by HE Bates, author of Love For Lydia https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/08/love-for-lydia-by-he-bates-is-one-of.html

 

10 out of 10

 

Fair Stood The Wind For France is a spectacular novel, and if I were religious, I would say thank God for that, for it comes at the right time, after trying to enjoy Joseph Andrews, The Castel of Otranto, and The Connecticut Yankee and failing, this is a miraculous reminder that I can still read with immense pleasure a wondrous novel

 

I have already found exulting Love for Lydia, by the same mesmerizing author, and both books are included on the list of 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, though one in the Love, and the other the War section – the narrative takes place during World War II, in France, as the title suggests, where an airplane crash lands

John Franklin is the hero of the saga, and the pilot who has his arm so badly injured that it will pose a great threat – I am already anticipating, and a spoiler alert might have to be included, oh, there it is – and eventually, will have to be cut off, thus threatening the passion of the protagonist who desperately wants, needs to fly

 

The crew find their way to a French farm, where they receive help, under incredibly hard conditions, the hero needs a doctor, and the latter would be shot dead, together with others, by the Nazis, however, we do not know clearly about the reasons, it seems to be a case where they want somebody prominent, to make their gruesome message clear

John Franklin is in such serious condition that he loses conscience, they speak about him getting to a hospital, but that would mean imprisonment, so he decides against it (nay, I think he does not take time, it had been the only possibility all along) and then when he knows his arm will be cut, he takes precautions

 

He wants his comrades to be unaware, so that they can try and find their way to England, he insists he has to rest some more, and they need to go that night, when he will have to go through the procedure (he could have died, we later know from the other main character, Francoise) they would later meet again, two of them

The pilot falls in love with the daughter of the farmer, Francoise, and it is reciprocal and almost (or completely) instantaneous, making one thing of the Thin Slicing Theory, explained in the classic of psychology Blink The Power of Thinking Without Thinking https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/blink-power-of-thinking-without.html

 

There is however another tragedy that falls on the house of the girl, John had had a pistol that he kept with him, as much as he could, for a last resort, to defend himself, and presumably fight the enemy, if need be, only with him so ill, the gun remained in the possession of the farmer, who uses it to kill himself with it

 

When the moment to leave the farm comes, to try and reach England, Francoise insists she will come with him, she loves him so much, the discussion is first about the bravery, recklessness of the act, then it concerns the border, only she does not want to travel along only to that point, she is determined to come all the way

Worried about the family, she asks if they will dislike her, the English do not like the French, but the lover responds that there are some, just like a number of French are not mad about his compatriots, they are so happy to go together nevertheless, it is a feeling of wonder, in the middle of calamity, horror, you have joy and bliss

 

It is a dangerous journey, they use a boat, and they row, even if for the one arm man it is more strenuous, he is young, resilient – another glimpse into the next chapters, he will confront a gendarme, using his hand – they have to stop in towns to get some food, the one they took finished, and they face the peril of getting caught by Germans

They come across a man who is involved in smuggling, he is not one of those Resistance fighters, but he will be good enough, what with haggling – crazy enough, this reminds me of the haggling scene in hilarious Monty Python’s Life of Brian https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/03/monty-pythons-life-of-brian-bymonty.html

 

Brian is a symbol of Christ there – and what a mad dispute, anathemas this has brought on the cast and creators – he is in the market place, trying to flee the Romans out to get him, and he gets started on buying something, but the seller wants haggling, you are supposed to do that, and he is very furious, when that was done just for appearances, he wants the real thing, you read Flow to see more about that, the book about Maximum Experience

Coming back to the Fair Wind of France, the couple will get help, but they have to provide something, and since they do not have money, the smuggler wants the boat, but he offers 300 francs, and the girl insists it is worth a thousand, they come to some agreement, they get bicycles to get them to Marseille and then Spain

 

This works as a thriller, for there are many situations where the reader thinks this is it, I was even considering the odds, if this were a Hollywood fare, then we would know the ending, but what if here they both, or all die at the end, the bicycles tempt two ruffians, and it is breathtaking, they could take them

The hero is alone, and it is four hands against one, so we read with emotion and fear, until we see him out of this, only to be near the end with the gendarme, and then he is in a run for his life, we even have occasion to feel less for him, in the moments when it looks as if he may take a fast route out and forget about Francoise…

 

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”