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The Love-charm of Bombs
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April 2014 - The Love Charm of Bombs by Lara Feigel
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Here are my thoughts on this month's book...Lara Feigel, the author of The Love-charm of Bombs: Restless Lives in the Second World War, was one of the interviewees on a very interesting, 2013 episode of BBC's The Culture Show entitled "Wars of the Heart". "Wars of the Heart" explained that whilst for many Londoners during the Second World War, the Blitz was a terrifying time of sleeplessness, fear and loss, some of London's literary set found inspiration, excitement and freedom in the danger and intensity. The imminent threat of death giving life an immediacy, spontaneity and frisson absent during peace time.
The Culture Show documentary seems to have been inspired to some extent by The Love-charm of Bombs: Restless Lives in the Second World War as they both cover similar territory, albeit Lara Feigel's account goes into much more detail.
In this book, Lara Feigel explores the war time experiences of five writers: Graham Greene, Elizabeth Bowen, Rose Macaulay, Henry Yorke (aka Henry Green), and Hilde Spiel. During the Blitz, and with the very real chance of not surviving the next 24 hours, the social classes mingled more freely, in the underground and the streets, and, in some cases, with partners and/or children evacuated, there was the opportunity for extra marital affairs.
Between them, the writers profiled were variously ARP wardens, an ambulance driver, and an auxiliary fireman. Hilde Spiel was the odd one out, being an Austrian exile, with responsibility for her parents and a young child. Her story is an interesting and informative counterpoint to those of the other four writers.
Lara Feigel uses letters, diaries, and fiction, along with historical information, to illuminate the lives of these writers during and after the Second World War, before summarising what became of them all.
I enjoyed this book very much however I think Lara Feigel chose to go into a bit too much detail. My edition was 465 pages, with another 55 pages of notes and acknowledgements. I would have preferred a more succinct account. That said, I come away from this original book, more knowledgeable about five interesting writers, and keen to read more books by these writers, in particular these books specifically inspired by this period...
Caught by Henry Green
The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen
The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
3/5
I have ordered this one from the library and should hopefully have it in a few days. The librarian looked puzzled, though, as she thought for a moment that I'd said 'bums' instead of 'bombs', which would make quite a strange title!
Having worked as a librarian, I've had odder requests, so I wouldn't worry, Judy :)I loved this book. It is an era/place I love reading about and I adore books about authors. Three of the authors mentioned (Green, Bowen and Graham Greene) I like, so a winner for me.
Susan wrote: "It is an era/place I love reading about and I adore books about authors."Yes, yes and yes.
I didn't get around to re-reading Berlin for the fiction choice, but I enjoyed going back to this one. The thing I love about books like this is that it leads you on to other books/authors. It has certainly whetted my appetite for the Graham Greene next month and there are 2 authors featured that I haven't even tried.
Interesting review from The Guardian that I'll post here to try and stimulate more interest and discussion...The second world war has suffered in comparison to the great war of 1914-18. Readers' imaginations are still dominated by "Anthem for Doomed Youth" and All Quiet on the Western Front. Yet the sequel is just as literary, as Lara Feigel cleverly demonstrates in The Love-charm of Bombs, a title she owes to Graham Greene.
In Britain, the second world war was prosecuted with rhetorical majesty by one of the great writers of the century, Winston Churchill. After the crisis of May 1940, the prime minister became a demanding impresario to a circle of literary men with corkscrew minds and an appetite for jeopardy, from Ian Fleming to Stephen Spender. "We were a generation," Graham Greene later wrote in Ways of Escape, "brought up on adventure stories who had missed the enormous disillusionment of the first world war, and so we went looking for adventure."
Books and writers became braided into the plot of war. TS Eliot, JB Priestley, EM Forster and George Orwell all went in front of BBC microphones. The home front would never generate the electrifying poetry of the trenches, but it was still a highly charged moment for a generation of 30s writers accustomed to publishers' lunches and mistress dinners at Rules restaurant.
If there was one domestic experience to match the horror of the trenches, it was the blitz, a metropolitan trauma unknown to Wilfred Owen. The Nazis' terror bombing of London began on 7 September 1940. The novelist William Sansom captured the image of the blitz: "that black London roofscape silhouetted against what was to become a monotonous copper-orange sky".
The worst phase of the bombing continued until May 1941, when there was a lull. During these months everyday life went haywire. Many Londoners took the opportunity to play truant from their responsibilities. Malcolm Muggeridge remembered the blitz as a "protracted debauch, with the shape of orderly living shattered, all restraints removed, barriers non-existent". Here was a mise-en-scène perfectly tailored to the wartime writer's search for contemporary material, an idea Sarah Waters has also explored in her 2006 novel The Night Watch.
Lara Feigel, a young critic, has transformed this insight into an absorbing and well-researched group biography of five prominent writers who responded imaginatively to the nightly routine of sirens and barrage: Elizabeth Bowen, Graham Greene, Rose Macaulay, Hilde Spiel (an Austrian writer trapped in wartime Wimbledon) and Henry Yorke (better known as novelist Henry Green). Regrettably, Feigel does not confine herself to these lives in wartime, but tries to encompass their postwar careers as well. A shorter, tighter book might have been even more successful.
However, she does connect the making of three classic English novels – Caught, The Heat of the Day and The End of the Affair – to the blitz, and through the lives of their authors unfolds a fascinating home front story. She persuasively demonstrates that London in 1941 sponsored all the sensations usually found on the battlefield.
Above all, the blitz was lethal and remorseless. Some 40,000 civilians died, more than half of them in London. The autobiographical hero of Green's Caught confesses: "all that was real to him was his death in a matter of days". Perception traumatised reality. Everyone responded to the thrill. Bowen pictured the "inscrutable canyons" of the city under a terrifying blackout.
Graham Greene revelled in this atmosphere: "there was something rather wonderful about London in the blitz, with no street lights, no traffic and no pedestrians to speak of: just an empty dark city, torn with great explosions, racked with ack-ack fire, lit with lurid flames, acrid smoke, its air full of the dust of fallen buildings". Writers such as Bowen were also discovering that, in extremis, war is a great leveller. "We are almost a commune," she wrote. "All destructions make the same grey mess."
Feigel is particularly good on the erotic corollary to the blitz: wartime passion. All her subjects made love to the detonations of high explosives. Greene's life became so entwined with the stage designer Dorothy Glover that she was sometimes mistaken for his wife. Henry Yorke/Green used Caught to ponder the relation between love and death in the character of Prudence. "War, she thought, was sex." According to Feigel, women preparing for a night out during the blitz used to ask one another, saucily: "Is he someone you'd like to die with?"
In a telling reversal, Evelyn Waugh, fighting in Dakar, became jealous of fellow writers "fighting fires day and night". He complained that regular soldiers had become "like wives reading letters from the trenches". Certainly, Rose Macaulay, whose Towers of Trebizond had its origins in the blitz, was explicit about the larger significance of her experience. The blitz, she wrote, "was a sample of total war". Indeed, the skies of wartime London were never quite free from terror. January 1944 saw the start of "the little blitz", followed by Hitler's "secret weapon", the V1 and V2 rockets.
Strangely, Feigel, who has trawled an extraordinary range of sources to develop this story, does not mention the most significant German hit made on an English literary man. In June 1944, George Orwell's flat in Mortimer Crescent was destroyed by a doodlebug. He moved to Canonbury Square and began to write Nineteen Eighty-Four, drawing freely on London's atmosphere of terror. Winston Smith's affair with Julia must be the strangest literary love-child of the blitz.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013...
Currently reading The Ministry of Fear and love our hero, Mr Rowe, being bombed and exclaiming, "This is beyond a joke!"It was funny that most of the authors in this book viewed the blitz as an opportunity for amorous adventures, rather than anything else. Graham Greene seemed relieved when his house was bombed, so he didn't keep having to check on it.
^ Ministry of Fear is moving is waiting for me to pick it up - and that will be happening soon. Very excited.I agree about the amorous opportunities of the blitz being the priority for many. Still, the freedom and intensity that not knowing if you're going to survive the next 24 hours would give life a certain frisson and immediacy eh?
Absolutely and it is intriguing how responses were different. I once asked my mother (a child in the blitz) whether she had been scared and she said no, she loved watching the planes fight. Perhaps the abnormal just becomes normal in these situations, but I hope I don't find out!
My mother said my uncle thought it was exciting, she didn't, she wanted her Dad home (he was in the RAF, Air Sea Rescue). Both of them hated going in the Anderson shelter so they had beds made up under the dining table. My uncle would keep looking out the window when there was a raid and she could not put any lights on. My grandmother was a fire warden for the area, so she was up on the roof looking out for incendiary bombs.
I think my mother was quite pleased to see the back of her father (and not that thrilled to have him back at the end of the war in one piece). She lived near an airbase and had vivid memories of the German prisoners of war, who began by being marched through to their place of work, and ended up sitting outside the pub with their guards and turning her skipping rope. They were bombed out of their house eventually, but her real hatred later was having to shelter in the tube stations when they moved back to the East End.
I've started this book now and am racing through it - I'm really enjoying it. I love reading about writers anyway, and though I don't read a lot of non-fiction about the war I'm finding it really interesting. It is amazing how people often didn't seem to be frightened and seemed to have such a fatalistic attitude about it all. I suspect I would have been more like Hilde Speil's mother - screaming hysterically!
Great news Joanne - glad to hear you are enjoying it.
Joanne, it was interesting how differently people reacted, wasn't it? I felt so sorry for Hilde Spiel and her family. I was glad that everything worked out for her in the end. Which author's story did anyone find the most interesting? I knew a lot about Elizabeth Bowen, as I had read her biography before reading this book - and I have also read Graham Greene's biography. So, I think that personally I enjoyed reading about Henry Greene, although he didn't seem the nicest of men...
I did not know much about Graham Greene's private life, so he was the most interesting for me, although I enjoyed reading about the others as well. I thought their stories were illuminated well by the quotes she chose in each case.
So far I think I'm finding Rose Macauley's most interesting/moving. I've just reached the part where her flat is bombed and she's lost everything. This on top of her sister's death and the terminal illness of her lover! I haven't read anything by her, I'm going to look out for some of her books.
I haven't read anything by her either. I must see what her best known novels are.
This was a 5 star book for me when I read it in October, and it added a lot of novels to my TBR list but I've only managed to read one since, Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen which I didn't like as much as I hoped. I'm thinking of trying Rose Macaulay next--The Towers of Trebizond maybe? Has anyone read it?
No, although she has joined the list of authors I want to read - there are actually a few on kindle. I do love Elizabeth Bowen. I know some people found her dull, but I really like her writing style. A lot is going on beneath the surface! Perhaps I will nominate Rose Macaulay next time and, if anyone is interested, we can always have a hot read.
Inspired by the pleasure of currently reading Greene's "Ministry Of Fear" I'll read any other titles or authors inspired by this splendid book. I'm especially keen to get stuck into some Henry Green.
I have only read Party by Henry Green, but that was really interesting. I would also love to read more by him. So many authors to get to and I really enjoyed "The Ministry of Fear" which is the chosen book next month (recommended by Nigeyb). I recommend it heartily to anyone who enjoyed this book - I had never read it before and liked it so much more than "Brighton Rock."
Jaylia3 wrote: "This was a 5 star book for me when I read it in October, and it added a lot of novels to my TBR list but I've only managed to read one since, Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen..."I liked The Last September, which we read in the group some time ago, but have not read anything else of hers since.
Jaylia3 wrote: "I'm thinking of trying Rose Macaulay next--The Towers of Trebizond maybe? Has anyone read it?"
It is one of the (many) books on my TBR list, so I will join you when you do read it.
Val wrote: "I liked The Last September..." and "It is one of the (many) books on my TBR list, so I will join you when you do read it..."Thanks for your suggestion about Elizabeth Bowen, I want to try her again, and that would be great to read Towers of Trebizond together. I'm expecting to get an Amazon gift card soon and that may be one of my purchases. Or there is always the library.
Susan wrote: "No, although she has joined the list of authors I want to read - there are actually a few on kindle. I do love Elizabeth Bowen. I know some people found her dull, but I really like her writing style..."I want to try her again because I did think her writing is beautiful. I may have been in the wrong frame of mind, or expecting the wrong thing, when I read Heat of the Day right after Love Charm of Bombs
I finished this book yesterday and overall I did enjoy it. I much preferred the early part of the book, about the war, more than the second part. I can see why the author did it - to finish up the threads that started in the first part, but I found it a bit hard going. Loved the first half though.
I agree with that Joanne. I think the author could have just focused on the war years and it might have worked better.
Unlike Joanne and Nigeyb, I'm glad the author showed us how their stories ended. For many people, youth is the most exciting high point of life, especially if there is a war or other major event affecting a generation. To tell just that part of the story is tempting, but hardly the whole picture. For the writers covered in this book, their post-war years, while professionally successful, did seem a bit sad. The first-hand accounts of the Blitz were fascinating and I was interested in reading about various views of Irish neutrality. I found it interesting to see who knew who, what the personal connections were, to get a better idea of the cultural currents of the time.
Overall, the book made me keen to know more about the people who were profiled. Rose Macaulay seemed especially interesting. I've only read a couple of books by Graham Greene and nothing at all by any of the others (except one of Macaulay's poems in our WWI poetry book). For years I owned one of Elizabeth Bowen's books but somehow never got around to reading it and it didn't survive one of my periodic prunings. I'd never even heard of Hilde Spiele. Plenty of new books to add to the ever-growing pile...I'm looking forward to our Greene group read next month!
Barbara, I know what you mean about the post-war years being a little sad for some of the authors featured. I think that was the case for most of that generation of writers, who found fame between the wars - Waugh, Mitford, etc. The seismic changes of the 1950's and 1960's created a world which finally did away with what the post-WWI world almost did. The world of 'big houses' and domestic servants finally ended and you can hear in Mitford's later novels that it was a world she never understood or come to terms with. So, you see authors like Maugham go off a bit grumpily, out of favour and fashion, but the good thing is that they are re-discovered a little later down the line by a whole new readership.
The world after the war was very different and even some of the more left-wing, anti-imperialist authors found they were out of place in it. I think we can look back now and appreciate the writing in context better than people could just after the war.
Yes, very true Val. I never really gave it too much thought until I read the biography of Waugh. I really want to read Selina Hastings biography about Nancy Mitford.
I finally caved in and bought this today, after there was a delay with the library copy I'd ordered - I also think the paperback will be more convenient for me to carry around! Have started reading and I'm immediately really enjoying it - her writing style is great and the subject matter is so interesting. For me it's always easier to understand/follow books about individuals rather than history books with a wider sweep, where I find it hard to take it all in.
I hope you enjoy it Judy :)
Thanks Susan, I'm already enjoying it. Only trouble is, it will pile even more books on the TBR shelf!
I was interested to see in the introduction that Lara Feigel sees these writers as successors to the poets of the First World War - I've just finished reading the Penguin anthology of First World War poets, and was impressed by the huge variety of experience it encompasses and how powerfully so many people wrote. Looking forward to similarly powerful evocations of the very different world of the Blitz.
It does certainly paint a very evocative portrait of that time.
I've read about 200 pages now, and am finding it very interesting - the description of Rose Macaulay losing her love letters in the bombing of her house, and being so haunted by this loss as her lover was dying, is especially powerful. It's making me want to read all the books mentioned by all the featured authors and their friends too.
^ I'm so glad you're enjoying it Judy. Now then, make sure you read The Ministry of Fear, our BYT group fiction choice for May 2014, and one of the books highlighted in The Love-charm of Bombs: Restless Lives in the Second World War....
It's a perfect book: accessible, clever, beautifully written, evocative, tense, and quietly profound. A palpable sense of dread and unease runs throughout the story set in the early years of World War 2 in England, primarily London.
Here's to a great discussion.
The Ministry of Fear was an inspired nomination. I hope you will re-nominate Spike Milligan. I have it downloaded on my kindle.
^ Thanks Susan. Let's hope we get a good discussion out of it.Seeing as you've asked so nicely, I will indeed renominate...
Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall by Spike Milligan
..after all, it's a barely sane helping of military goonery and superlative Milliganese.
I've now finished The Love-charm of Bombs: Restless Lives in the Second World War, after a slight hold-up when my copy had a close encounter with a bottle of water! I thought it was a great read overall and was interested to read about the writers' post-war lives - Hilde Spiel living in Berlin and Vienna straight after the war was especially interesting. I've just been watching a TV interview with Billy Wilder which is on the DVD of 'The Ministry of Fear', and it has some footage from his film 'A Foreign Affair' showing the ruins of Berlin which are described there.
I also found myself reading Feigel's description of Graham Greene writing the story of The Third Man just after it had come up in The Ministry of Fear thread - he wrote it on holiday with Catherine, his lover who was the inspiration for the heroine of my favourite book by him, The End of the Affair. Anyway, hoping to write a proper review soon, but I just wanted to say that I did really enjoy this.
Glad you liked it Judy - I loved it too.
Bright Young Things
Books mentioned in this topic
The Ministry of Fear (other topics)The Third Man (other topics)
The End of the Affair (other topics)
The Love-charm of Bombs: Restless Lives in the Second World War (other topics)
Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Spike Milligan (other topics)Lara Feigel (other topics)
Graham Greene (other topics)
Elizabeth Bowen (other topics)
Rose Macaulay (other topics)
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Enjoy!