Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky – a book with an incredible history, the author, Jewish -Ukrainian, has been killed in the Holocaust, and many decades later, the book would be published, this was possible because her daughters kept the manuscript…also, this is included on The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list - 9 out of 10

 

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky – a book with an incredible history, the author, Jewish -Ukrainian, has been killed in the Holocaust, and many decades later, the book would be published, this was possible because her daughters kept the manuscript…also, this is included on The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list

 

9 out of 10

 

With hindsight, I would say that this tragic, paradoxical, and such a sad omen, if the author writes about the love between defeated French, Lucile in particular, but also the hatmaker, and German occupiers (evidently, along with many other issues) Irene Nemirovsky would be taken by the Nazis and killed at Auschwitz

 

Early on, we have the description of the fall of France, in World War II, people leave Paris, they have to find petrol for the cars, also to get them repaired when possible, everything is hard, or impossible to find, at one point, Madame Pericaun is desperate and offers money to a man who has a donkey, to take them away

Also, this character had her father -in-law with her, but in the turmoil, she simply forgets him, left behind, the old, now disabled man is taken to a shelter, and the nuns in charge would inform the daughter-in-law that the ailing refugee would have died like a Christina, and peacefully, Alhamdulillah, to make a joke, and include Allah

 

One fault line – actually, another line, the most important is between the Germans and the occupied population – is setting the rich versus the less wealthy, this bank manager insists they will be there, in Paris, unlike the others, they will not leave, but then a sudden change of mind, and he orders an evacuation

He does not provide exit means, except for a few, so instead of offering solace, regrets, compassion to the left behind, he actually scolds, attacks them and imperiously goes with ‘you need to step up, get a hold’ things like that, and one of them is even jocular, ‘so this is the way, push the ones you are discarding’, and it gets worse

 

They only get severance of a modest sum, explained by the fact that they did not show, which they could not, but this is about more than a few personages, we also have the Viscount de Montmort, and in particular his wife, who stay protected during the occupation, no Gemrans reside at their chateau, and show cruelty

The villagers want to pay for game, fish from their lake, but they are refused, the Viscountess is out of a joke I know from Fawlty Towers, perhaps the best comedy series ever, with ‘pretentious, moi?’ https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/11/waldorf-salad-by-john-cleese.html she is pompous, arrogant and selfish

 

Not only they are free of occupiers, the husband becomes mayor and tends towards collaboration, and when she finds a poacher, Benoit Sabarie, she screams thief, he defends himself ‘we wanted to buy, and you denied us’, anyway, she has the Germans arrest him for the gun, he takes it, kills the nineteen years old Kurt Bonnet

Benoit shoots the dog, Bubi, and that was especially mean, I mean, jealous of the young enemy, alright, but what was wrong with the dog, was French and saved by the Germans – the center of the story is the love between Lucile and lieutenant Bruno von Falk, the latter is assigned to the farm where she lives with her mother-in-law

 

Lucile Angellier is married, her husband, Gaston, had been taken prisoner, and nevertheless, he had been cheating on her, he had a mistress in Dijon, and a child with the latter, the infidel spouse spent half his time there, furthermore, he had been dissatisfied with the fortune he expected upon marrying, and the loss of it.

In other words, Lucile is vulnerable, it is not her home – when Bruno von Flak asks about the house, when it was built, she says she does not know, she can tell him about her own place, but not this – worse still, Madame Angellier is not just hostile, she hates it when she thinks the ‘wretched woman is friendly with the foe’

 

She did not say that, but she wants the invader dead, and that makes sense on some levels, only, what about poor Lucile, after all, the latter divulges the secret, how the son sends money to the mistress, and the reader is clear on that – damn you Gaston, you neglect the spouse, so what do you expect from her philanderer?

The woman is loyal, despite the fact that she is impressed by the officer, who is gallant, offers help, shows respect, acts with nobility, has nice hands, looks handsome, is polite, and offers support – spoiler alert – eventually, he might even offer the pass needed for Benoit Sabarie, albeit he does not know it would be for him

 

After the murder of the lieutenant Kurt Bonnet, the French man has to flee, and he is hidden for a while, until they arrive, his wife Madeleine, that is at the door of…Lucile, villagers know everything, and they are aware that ‘their German’ would protect her, and thus they want the fugitive to be hiding in the Angellier house

Lucile agrees, in spite of the death sentence – the occupiers have announced that whoever helps the killer, will be executed by firing squad – and then her mother-in law finds, in the first place, the old woman is so vile, she insults Lucile, when she is carrying food and some wine, saying ‘romantic dinner’, sure it is for the lieutenant…

Alas, we have two major wars, in Ukraine and Middle East, plus the civil one in Sudan, and Orange Jesus is given 2 in 3 chances to win next week, at the betting houses, so we might be in for some momentous, calamitous years to come…

 

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.”