≫ [PDF] Free In the Light of Morning 9780434022748 Books

In the Light of Morning 9780434022748 Books

Download As PDF : In the Light of Morning 9780434022748 Books

In the Light of Morning 9780434022748 Books

Tim Pears writes wonderful novels. This is an excellent example of war propaganda versus reality.


Tags : In the Light of Morning on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.,In the Light of Morning,William Heinemann Ltd,0434022748

In the Light of Morning 9780434022748 Books Reviews

On May 15 1944 a group of three British soldiers, Major Jack Farrell, Lieutenant Tom Freedman and Corporal Sid Dixon are dropped into an area of southern Slovenia which is more or less controlled by the partisans, whom they are to help. Sid is a radio operator who communicates with British planes to arrange drops of supplies - ammunition, explosives, food and medicine - for the partisans. The mission of this particular group is to blow up railway lines in the German-occupied part in the North. It's a long way to get there, over rough terrain, through forests and meadows and over mountains (the landscapes and its scents are beautifully described) since they cannot use the main roads; and we have a day-by-day account, written throughout in the present tense, of what happens each day. One gets the feeling that the author is describing an experience he has had himself - the short chapters, each describing one day, are almost like observations jotted down in a diary. But the author was born in 1956, and although he has himself visited area (hence his marvellous descriptions of the landscape and its scents), his bibliography makes clear that his vivid story is based on a mass of histories and on the memoirs of people who were there at the time. (What it does not say is that his father had been a liaison officer with the partisans in Slovenia.)

At one point, fairly early on, the group split into two. The rather unpleasant upper-class Farrell went with one; Tom, aged 26, who, while studying Modern Languages at Oxford, had volunteered and had been chosen for this mission because he is a good linguist, and Sid went with the other, and it is Tom through whose eyes the story is now told. He is a diffident young man, and relies on Jovan Vaskovic, who is the commander of the group of seven other partisans - five men and two women. Tom and Jovan become very close; but then an awkward relationship develops between them, as they are both in love with Marija, one of the tough female partisans.

Tom gradually learns about the complexities of the resistance movements in Yugoslavia communists and anti-Communist Chetniks, the pro-German "Home Guard" and their dreaded section, the "Black Hand"; Serbs and Slovenes.

The little group moves, zigzag, from one local guide to another, joining up temporarily with other units of partisans, whom they supply with the supplies dropped by air. They are always alert for enemy patrols. In lonely farm houses peasants provide them with food and shelter, but are always anxious from them to move on as quickly as possible, fearing reprisals from the fascists; and indeed once they come across a scene of a massacre carried out by them; and they also see a nearby farm bombed by the Germans from the air, and watch through binoculars a village where the Germans are taking terrible reprisals. Several times they or the other units manage to blow up parts of railway lines. Jovan holds his group, straining at the leash, back from engaging in firefights their main responsibility is to protect the Englishmen who are their link with the aircraft who drop supplies to them. But on one occasion he fails to restrain them, with serious results they now become hunted, encircled, yet manage to break out and manage to join a body of partisans large enough to overrun a German garrison.

A Soviet liaison officer is with this group, and Jovan has to take his orders from him. Major Farrell is there as well Tom and Sid are back under his orders. Farrell (unlike Tom) is in touch with British government thinking like the government, he does not trust the communist partisans, and the communists know that British are still supporting the Chetniks. Tom has for weeks experienced the comradeship of the partisans; now he is more aware than he was before of the political tensions that are becoming severe as the war nears its end. It is not only their rivalry for Marija that will put a strain on his friendship with Jovan.

All know that Germany's defeat is imminent; but the Germans and the Home Guard fight ferociously, and the book ends, on September 7, 1944, on the bleakest of notes. I find the significance of the novel's title difficult to understand. It is a gripping, involving read.
It is May 1944 and three British parachutists are dropped into occupied Slovenia. There is Major Jack Farwell, a confident and rather brash former MP- the eldest of the trio at fifty eight – young Devon farm worker, Sid Dixon, who is the radio operator, and Lieutenant Tom Freedman; who previously worked in intelligence and who is an academic gifted with languages. They are welcomed by the Partisans, who they are supposed to assist in their resistance against the Germans. Yet, things turn out to be less clear cut than Tom previously imagined.

Before long, Tom finds that he is unexpectedly the senior British officer in a small group, which contains Sid, but not Jack, as well as the charismatic Commander Jovan and beautiful Marija; a Jewish intellectual whose husband has abandoned her to go into hiding. Marija’s feelings for Tom, as well as Jovan’s obvious admiration for the brave and resourceful Marija, cause tensions in a group beset by its own half humorous bantering over ethnic differences within the Partisans - Jovan being a Serb, while the majority of the group are Slovenes. Tom himself has his own conflicting emotions about both Marija and Jovan, who he is drawn to as both a friend and a man. Indeed, the country, and the situation, is so much more complicated than Tom first imagined, with many realising that the war is coming to a close and the inevitable post-war squabbling over borders rearing its ugly head. What initially seemed a straight forward mission of helping the Partisans to blow up the railway network suddenly seems to have different connotations and Tom wonders whether he has merely been a distraction for Jack’s real mission.

As well as being both a novel about the Balkan war and people, plus a love story, this is also a snapshot of a country under occupation. A small number may rebel, a small number may collaborate, but most people are simply trying to survive, a fact that Tom mulls over as he tries to cope with his first mission in the field. As the occupier weakens, then the people may rise to chase him out, but the problems will not be solved by the German exit. Indeed, there is a wonderful scene when Tom witnesses a group of German prisoners being chased from a town; not the Aryan heroes he has expected, but a huddle of men as bedraggled and exhausted as his own. The author writes with great skill and deftness, allowing you to almost witness events as though you were there- the scenes in the forest are beautifully written, atmospheric, but also realistic.

Although people sense that the German occupation will not go on forever, there are still reprisals for helping the Partisans. Retribution and danger surround them -always on the run from German patrols and ‘The Black Hand.’ The group also resent their role as protector of their British Allies and their all important wireless; by which they arrange drops of weapons and supplies and which often causes them to turn and run when they want to fight. The Partisans are also aware that they are not only trying to liberate the country from the Germans, but also the feudal past – times have changed as women have been left to farm the land and fight alongside the men and have shown themselves as capable and strong. As events culminate in one, final attack, Tom must come to terms with his feelings about the people and the place that he has been fighting for.

This is an intelligent, interesting, thought provoking novel which would be ideal for reading groups – with lots to discuss. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review..
Tim Pears writes wonderful novels. This is an excellent example of war propaganda versus reality.