2015: The Year of Reading Women discussion

A group of us will be engaging in an informal, unscheduled read of Fortunes of War: The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning beginning in February 2015 and running throughout the year. This thread will serve as a place where participants can leave comments and engage in discussion whenever they choose.

Because we are not following a schedule, it's very important to do the following:

In the beginning of a post, please specify the book and chapter you are going to discuss. Page numbers could be helpful as an additional reference, but only if you specify which edition you are reading,

Also, PLEASE be sure to use spoiler tags to avoid giving away important plot developments to participants who have not reached that point in the book yet. If you click on the link (some html is OK) located in the upper right of the comment box, you will see the spoiler tags you can use to hide spoilers.

I'm going to try to do this too. .. since it is spread out over months. Too much good reading scheduled in this group lol.

Wow I just picked this up yesterday, been meaning to read it for years, I'm in!

I'll try to get this one done too. Been meaning to read it for years. Spreading it out makes me think it's possible.

This is very tempting... but can't commit yet...

Maybe if you looked at it as three books of about 300+ pages each it would be less daunting. That's how I'm going to read it. And get to add three books to my list.:)

Good thinking, Cynthia. Adding 3 books to my total read is definitely a plus, especially since I've really been wanting to read this for a while.

Very sneaky ladies! :)

Well I started it and it's excellent. It may be fat but it's an easy read that goes fast.

I've got it sitting right here. I should start it also.

My copy just arrived today, I'll be starting it tomorrow, looking forward to it. Like so many reads in this group, I had this book on my schedule for a future year, and was a matter of moving it up. But best of all there have been quite a few books I simply didn't have on my radar, and it's a great pleasure to identify some books I may well have missed out on.

I haven't started yet, but soon.

I started this one and have read the first three chapters of book 1. I can see the characters and relationsips are going to be rich and complicated, as is the whole of Europe in 1939. I've had this for a while and am so glad to have this prod to get it read.

I bought the NYRB edition of the book, and have to say I'm enjoying it immensely. I hope others amongst you are reading this as well, if not, you're missing out on a very pleasurable read thus far.

I've started it.

Haven't begun yet but hope to soon. Where has February gone?

Sue wrote: "Haven't begun yet but hope to soon. Where has February gone?"

It's under all the snow.

Ah yes...that's where it is.

This was so good I finished quickly and immediately after read the Levant trilogy. Looking forward to the discussion!

I admit I haven't started yet. Too many obligatory reads :/

Bloodorange wrote: "I admit I haven't started yet. Too many obligatory reads :/"

Me too....I'm so glad this is planned as a months' long read.

Anyone started this yet? I'm quite far, it's rather good!

I'm snowed under at the moment with books I need to finish for my students' projects, but have every intention of starting this once I raise my head.

I've just begun and I'm finding it very interesting. The feeling of the times, the intensity of life. No one knows what is going to happen next.

I've read book 1 and loved it. Guy is a frustrating character for me, I'm hoping there is some change in his self-absorbtion in the next part. But a good story about a part of WI I that I'm not familiar with.

I started it and put it down. I'm going to have to get back to it. I keep picking up other books.

I'm reading a lot so this will continue to be a slow read but I agree with Diane re liking the attention to areas I'm far less familiar with.

I'm so tempted to join, but already have far too many books going at the moment. Hoping to clear off some of my currently-reading shelf in the next week, then Woolf's The Years, and then perhaps this one. I'd love to try to work in both this and the Levant trilogy this year -- but there are so many good books we all want to get to, it's difficult to schedule them all in!

Cynthia, did you put this down just for a similar reason as mine above, or it wasn't holding your attention?

Proustitute wrote: "I'm so tempted to join, but already have far too many books going at the moment. Hoping to clear off some of my currently-reading shelf in the next week, then Woolf's The Years, and then perhaps th..."

Definitely the same reason. I pick up something else for whatever reason and then the previous book gets pushed to the end of the line. I started again last night and now The Oppermanns will have to wait. :) I have three waiting for April groups. I may have overextended myself but I'm really enjoying the Year of the Women!

And added to everything, I have some great ARCs ahead too. Great year of reading.

I'm definitely over-extended, but unlike financial problems or job responsibilities, having too much to read keeps me OUT of trouble.

Diane wrote: "I'm definitely over-extended, but unlike financial problems or job responsibilities, having too much to read keeps me OUT of trouble."

I want to "like" this comment.

Well, I've been enjoying it. The portrait of pre-WWII Eastern Europe it paints is quite vivid, and despite the occasionally unlikable characters they are still compelling.

I agree Will. We also see these different types of people acting/reacting under the enormous pressures of the times. It's interesting to see the various prejudices, etc that are held about nations, people's,...

I just wanted to say I finally started reading it today:)

I'm glad you've begun, Bloodorange. I'm almost finished with book one, enjoying my slow approach because I look forward to picking the book up. Always a good sign. The political complexity of eastern Europe is even more than I had been aware of previously.

I'm hoping to start book 2 sometime next month. Like Sue, the Eastern Europe involvement is an education for me. And I love the complexity of the characters.

I finished book 2, "The Spoilt City". It's better than the first book, because now you really get to know the characters much better. Harriet sees Guy in a more realistic light, no more idealization. Also with the German Occupation of Bucharest, there is danger everywhere. I'm really looking forward to the conclusion of this trilogy. Hopefully I can get to it later in the summer.

Sounds good Diane. I hope to begin chapter 2 next month.

I read this trilogy a few years back, so the details are not at my fingertips, but I do remember thinking that Olivia Manning deserved to be better known. I went to Bucharest a few times on business, and came to love the country despite all the problems. The Romanians cannot restore good government because they've never had it. But they do develop a talent for creating beautiful if emphemeral moments. I felt Manning captured the crosscurrents of history, but also the texture of Romania as a culture.

Thanks for the insight, Elena.

I definitely got the idea that Harriet appreciated much about Bucharest and the Rumanians, despite the cultural differences and lack of comforts she was used to in England.

I completed book 2 today. I liked this second book better. It seemed that the prose and the story itself flowed better perhaps because Manning was now a more experienced writer---or perhaps she simply knew these characters better. Guy and Harriet's relationship continues odd but also more interesting now as feelings are revealed on both sides.

I see we're at the same place in this one, Sue. I was hoping to read Part 3 this month, but don't know if it will happen. It seems we'll be on to Greece now.

I'm looking forward to reading the next section, Diane, but I think it won't be for a few weeks. Perhaps we will actually read it at the same time!

I finished! Loved the trilogy, still not fond of Guy. His true colors are more pronounced in this third part, but I have much more respect and sympathy for Harriet. I really liked the education I received on WWII in the Balkan peninsula. Manning has much to say here about the inadvisability of hurried wartime marriages, and mixes it with the history of the region into a remarkable story. Now I'll move on to "The Levant Trilogy" which takes Guy and Harriet to Cairo for the remainder of the war. I also ordered the BBC production of this, "The Fortunes of War". It was filmed in 2001 and stars Kenneth Branaugh as Guy.

I just started the third book last night Diane, and find I am glad to be back in the story. I'm looking forward to the Levant Trilogy too. Enjoy. As you mention, this book has given me insights into aspects of WWII that I was unaware of previously.

It will probably be much later this fall when I start Levant. I think the BBC production encompasses that as well.

Oh good. Perhaps I will be able to join you then. I have to look up the BBC production to watch..

Okay,ladies, you have inspired me to start the second book today. I've already bought Levant so I better get a move on. Speaking of insights into other aspects of WWII that you weren't that aware of, I just read a YA about Stalin and Lithuania. I've always been so focused on Hitler that this was an eye opener. I highly recommend it. "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys.