Manning, Frederic - The Middle Parts of Fortune - ( Item 137041 )
Published in London by Folio Society. 2012. First Thus. Fine Hardback. No inscriptions or bookplates. Fine slipcase. Introduced by David Malouf. Illustrated by Eri Griffin. Bound in paper, printed and blocked with a design by Eri Griffin. Set in Arno Pro. 304 pages. Frontispiece and 8 colour illustrations. Book size: 9½" × 6¼". This deeply affecting novel was first published anonymously in 1929 with a print run of just 600. Describing the Battle of the Somme from the viewpoint of an ordinary soldier, it gained instant notoriety for its blunt language and graphic depiction of war. An expurgated version entitled Her Privates We was released a year later, and it was only in 1977 that The Middle Parts of Fortune was republished in the powerful original form used for this Folio edition. Frederic Manning, an Australian who served on the Somme and in Flanders, said of his book: 'the events described in it actually happened; the characters are fictitious'. Opening with a brutal offensive, it focuses on a group of soldiers as they wait, away from the front line, for the second, devastating battle with which the book ends. Their experience is distilled through the reflections of Private Bourne. Educated but unambitious, fond of his comrades but viewing himself as something of an outsider, Bourne is frank in his observations and free of illusions about the nature of war. It is this honest quality that led Ernest Hemingway to say of the novel, 'I read it over once each year to remember how things really were so that I will never lie to myself nor to anyone else about them.' Introducer David Malouf, the acclaimed Australian author, notes that, while Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen saw the war in terms of politics and 'criminal folly', Manning's view was existential. For Bourne, war is 'the ultimate problem of all human life stated barely', and it is in this light that the novel explores the paradoxes of the soldiers' condition. They are without patriotic zeal, yet show great loyalty to one another. They fill gaps between battles with the expletive-ridden pursuit of food, drink and sex, but can be sensitive and tender. They are resentful and angry – 'mere derelicts', Bourne reflects – but still possess a brutish dignity. In showing what Bourne calls 'the desolation and hopelessness of that lunatic world', The Middle Parts of Fortune also points to an innate human integrity that can survive the privations and horrors of battle. Eri Griffin has created a series of ink illustrations that evoke the contrasting sleeplessness, idleness and frenzied action of life at the front.
Price £ 16.80 (inc UK postage) Other items you may like
Others by the same author
To buy this item online using any major credit or debit card or Paypal, click the appropriate delivery option below
depending on where you are in the world.
Option 1 - Buy item for 17.30 with 1st class post TO A UK ADDRESS ONLY
Option 2 - Buy item for 16.80 with 2nd class post TO A UK ADDRESS ONLY
Option 3 - Buy item for 37.60 with Airmail TO AN ADDRESS IN USA OR CANADA
Option 4 - Buy item for 42.60 with Airmail TO AN ADDRESS IN THE REST OF THE WORLD (including the EU)
Safe and Secure Online Buying
To buy online, please click the appropriate button above. You will be transferred to secure pages hosted by Paypal, the largest online transaction processor in the world. You can pay with any major credit or debit card or by Paypal.
Money Back Guarantee, Secure Packaging and Fast Response
We are a major online trader with excellent feedback from satisfied customers on Ebay (over 25,000 customers). We will refund your costs for items returned within seven days for any reason. If we are at fault we will also refund your return postage. Items are sent in top grade book boxes for protection. Large items or multiple purchases may be boxed. Items will be despatched within a day of receipt of your order, usually on the same day if ordered before noon.
