Emil Miller
07-22-2012, 03:17 PM
For some time I have been wanting to read something by H E Bates, a writer who belongs to that stream of British authors including Eric Linklater, Nevil Shute, Eric Ambler, A J Cronin etc who, while certainly not great, were reputed craftsmen who were successfully filmed.
I chose Fair Stood the Wind for France, published as a modern classic by Penguin, because I had read a fulsome review on Amazon, but was rather disappointed by the repetitive nature of the writing. It is a wartime story in which a bomber crew crash their plane in occupied France when an engine fails . The pilot who has three sergeants as his crew suffers a terrible wound to his left arm but the others are unharmed and the airmen are eventually hidden by a French family on their farm. The sergeants leave shortly after, intending to escape to Spain with false papers, civilian clothing etc. but because of his injury, Franklin, the pilot, has to stay and has his arm amputated by a doctor and his brother who is a surgeon.
The farmer's daughter, Francoise, falls in love with Franklin and decides to accompany him when he is well enough to attempt his own escape. The story relates their travels and tribulations with such repeated references to the countryside that the book appears unnecessarily drawn out and, while it doesn't exactly become tedious, it nevertheless left me with a feeling of deja vu after every couple of pages.
I chose Fair Stood the Wind for France, published as a modern classic by Penguin, because I had read a fulsome review on Amazon, but was rather disappointed by the repetitive nature of the writing. It is a wartime story in which a bomber crew crash their plane in occupied France when an engine fails . The pilot who has three sergeants as his crew suffers a terrible wound to his left arm but the others are unharmed and the airmen are eventually hidden by a French family on their farm. The sergeants leave shortly after, intending to escape to Spain with false papers, civilian clothing etc. but because of his injury, Franklin, the pilot, has to stay and has his arm amputated by a doctor and his brother who is a surgeon.
The farmer's daughter, Francoise, falls in love with Franklin and decides to accompany him when he is well enough to attempt his own escape. The story relates their travels and tribulations with such repeated references to the countryside that the book appears unnecessarily drawn out and, while it doesn't exactly become tedious, it nevertheless left me with a feeling of deja vu after every couple of pages.