Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Iron in the Soul - post V

As the pages start to run out you start to realise that maybe the first part of the book was about the futility of fighting the Germans and has seen the end of Mathieu and the second part is going to be about Brunet and his similar battle to accept the obvious that France is not ready for a communist uprising, partly because the Soviets clearly don't care about them.

Bullet points between pages 272 - 318

* Brunet almost falls by the wayside because of starvation but he manages to last long enough for the food to arrive and save him from dying and ten he starts to try and recruit a group to undermine not just the Germans but also the priests

* But the Germans are clearly in control and Brunet can talk all he likes about the need for agitation and controlling those around him but it makes no difference to the conditions in the barracks and as Brunet starts to get paranoid with cleanliness all he manages to di is alienate those around him

* He ends up having a confrontation with Schneider, who has been one of his constant friends, and despite being given numerous home truths Brunet still believes that t is not his fault but those of the French people

More tomorrow...