An Uncivil war. (A Moment of War - Laurie Lee)

Member Name: Bryn Pearson

Product:	A Moment of War - Laurie Lee
Date:	18/07/01 (161 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: a moment of hitory captured by a poet.

Disadvantages: Better to read the other two books first.

A moment of war is the third book in Laurie Lee's autobiographical set. I would recomend reading it after the other two if you want any sense of who the writer is and what is going on - much of the motivation behind "A MOment of War" comes from experiences in "As Istepped out one Midsummer morning." I will outline the first two books in this serieis before talking about a moment of war.

"Cider with Rosie" a very well known tale of a young lad growing up in rural Gloucestershire. Quite romaintic and nostalgic for a lost past. Not vital for reading "A Moment..." but well worth looking at in it's own right and will contribute to your understanding of Lee as a person.

"As I stepped out one Midsumer morning." Laurie Lee, with only a small knapsack and a violin set out to travel. He went first to London, and then to Spain, earning his way by busking. His journey across Spain is captiviating and he falls in love with the land. This forms his understanding of the Spanish people and gives him a feel for their cause, which impacts on his later choices.

"A moment of War." when the civil war broke out in spain, Laurie Lee felt drawn to go back and do his bit - people from all over the world signed up to fight in a war that was as much about ideology as it was about power. Once again he set off with his sack and violin, a romantic young poet looking for adventure and understanding little about what war would actually mean. He travelled down through France and nearly died getting into Spain through the mountians. His desire to fight against Franco is met with distrust, he is locked up, sentenced to death, and then hussled from place to place as the struggle breaks down into chaos. Lee's writing captures the insanity of war and the brutality of all the happened in Spain. Finally the effort seems futile. For me, this book also brought home the impact of the Spanish civil war on the en
suing world war.

This book has all the poetry and perception of Lee's previous work, but is also charged with a desire to impact as well as to observe - Lee is out in Spain trying to make a difference, although ultimatly he has little hope of that. I would strongly recomend reading this book.

Recently, some critics have cast doubt upon the reliability of Lee's tale, but accurate or not, it conveys a strong set of impressions and reading it is a valuable expereince. Like Lee, I expected adventure and excitment and found the reality of his war frustrating and difficult to accept.

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