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Levant Trilogy #3
The SUM OF THINGS
Book by Manning, Daina
203 pages, Board Book
First published January 1, 1981
97 people want to read
About the author
Olivia Manning
44 books169 followersOlivia Manning CBE was a British novelist, poet, writer and reviewer. Her fiction and non-fiction, frequently detailing journeys and personal odysseys, were principally set in England, Ireland, Europe and the Middle East. She often wrote from her personal experience, though her books also demonstrate strengths in imaginative writing. Her books are widely admired for her artistic eye and vivid descriptions of place.
In August 1939 she married R.D. Smith ("Reggie"), a British Council lecturer posted in Bucharest, Romania, and subsequently in Greece, Egypt and Palestine as the Nazis over-ran Eastern Europe. Her experiences formed the basis for her best known work, the six novels making up "The Balkan Trilogy" and "The Levant Trilogy," known collectively as Fortunes of War. As she had feared, real fame only came after her death in 1980, when an adaptation of "Fortunes of War" was televised in 1987.
In August 1939 she married R.D. Smith ("Reggie"), a British Council lecturer posted in Bucharest, Romania, and subsequently in Greece, Egypt and Palestine as the Nazis over-ran Eastern Europe. Her experiences formed the basis for her best known work, the six novels making up "The Balkan Trilogy" and "The Levant Trilogy," known collectively as Fortunes of War. As she had feared, real fame only came after her death in 1980, when an adaptation of "Fortunes of War" was televised in 1987.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 5, 2015
This is the third in The Levantine Trilogy, following on from, “The Danger Tree” and “The Battle Lost and Done,” and all three books in this trilogy following the first book, “The Balkan Trilogy.”
In this concluding volume, Harriet heads for Damascus, having failed to board the ship to England that Guy wanted her to take. Unbeknownst to her, the ship was torpedoed and there are only a handful of survivors. Meanwhile, Harriet has no idea that Guy imagines she is dead.
Many of the characters in earlier books also appear here, including the frivolous Edwina, Dobson, Angela Hooper, Castlebar, Aidan Pratt and the young officer, Simon Boulderstone, who was injured at the end of the last book. Guy finds his comfortable existence interrupted by news of Harriet’s death and is injured at any criticism of how he treated her. While Edwina attempts to use Harriet’s absence to integrate himself, Guy attempts to “take on” Simon.
This book follows both Harriet’s journey and her encounters, as she travels from Damascus and eventually to Jerusalem, and Guy’s continued life in Cairo. Eventually, the two are reunited and the novel concludes with how the war has changed all of the characters. This is a moving, but realistic, conclusion to the war of Guy and Harriet Pringle and the cast of supporting characters. The war has made many grow more mature, has made others attempt to use the time they have and has brought death, change and different opportunities. I enjoyed this book very much and, indeed, the entire six volumes. Harriet Pringle is certainly one of the fictional characters that will stay with me and I found her journey fascinating.
In this concluding volume, Harriet heads for Damascus, having failed to board the ship to England that Guy wanted her to take. Unbeknownst to her, the ship was torpedoed and there are only a handful of survivors. Meanwhile, Harriet has no idea that Guy imagines she is dead.
Many of the characters in earlier books also appear here, including the frivolous Edwina, Dobson, Angela Hooper, Castlebar, Aidan Pratt and the young officer, Simon Boulderstone, who was injured at the end of the last book. Guy finds his comfortable existence interrupted by news of Harriet’s death and is injured at any criticism of how he treated her. While Edwina attempts to use Harriet’s absence to integrate himself, Guy attempts to “take on” Simon.
This book follows both Harriet’s journey and her encounters, as she travels from Damascus and eventually to Jerusalem, and Guy’s continued life in Cairo. Eventually, the two are reunited and the novel concludes with how the war has changed all of the characters. This is a moving, but realistic, conclusion to the war of Guy and Harriet Pringle and the cast of supporting characters. The war has made many grow more mature, has made others attempt to use the time they have and has brought death, change and different opportunities. I enjoyed this book very much and, indeed, the entire six volumes. Harriet Pringle is certainly one of the fictional characters that will stay with me and I found her journey fascinating.
December 23, 2017
An excellent end to Olivia Manning's six books about the trials and tribulations of Harriet Pringle during the second world war. I've followed Harriet and her infuriating husband Guy from Romania through Greece and in to Egypt now meeting a vast array of characters and I can honestly say I've loved every minute. All six books making up the Balkan and Levant trilogies are beautifully written putting you right there with Guy, Harriet, Yakimov, Simon, Dobson, Castlebar and all the rest of the wonderful characters. You feel the escalating tension and the German army gets closer, the boredom of waiting around, the excitement of seeing new worlds and most importantly you grow to know and love the perfectly drawn people who inhabit these books.
This final episode was a farewell and I became a little emotional at times.
I'm going to miss these people.
This final episode was a farewell and I became a little emotional at times.
I'm going to miss these people.
March 7, 2019
This book was published posthumously in 1980 and covers the period of the Second Battle of El Alamein and the start of the Allies invasion into Italy. Harriet jumps ship, luckily for her as it is torpedoed with the loss of all except three survivors, and travels through Syria, Lebanon and Palestine before returning to her hopelessly workaholic husband. The writing is on the wall that this is a failing marriage. Simon is seriously injured and is facing life as a paraplegic. There's plenty of people having sex, wanting to have sex or pining after members of the opposite sex.
Given the time between the actual events and the writing of this book there is a feeling of some distance, a detachment of the writer from the period she is recreating. Towards the end there is some of her best writing as she summarises the impact of this period. But somewhere I think there was a lost opportunity to make the trilogy better than it was. For political and social interest I preferred The Balkan Trilogy.
Given the time between the actual events and the writing of this book there is a feeling of some distance, a detachment of the writer from the period she is recreating. Towards the end there is some of her best writing as she summarises the impact of this period. But somewhere I think there was a lost opportunity to make the trilogy better than it was. For political and social interest I preferred The Balkan Trilogy.
September 21, 2016
First and foremost, Guy Pringle is a dick.
This was the final book in the Levant Trilogy, part II of the Fortunes of War sextet. I managed to finish this trilogy faster than the first (it is shorter of course, but also seemed an easier read and definitely more upfront about sex than the Balkan Trilogy) but it didn't stick with me as much. Still, I did like it and was glad to have read it. I have read some reviews criticizing the portrayal of the Egyptians. This is fair and is not dissimilar to her portrayal of Romanians and Greek in the first trilogy, although perhaps a little less topical for our current times. What was more interesting to me was that in the second trilogy, taking place in a British colony, she sets up several scenes where the idea that British rule has been a "civilizing" force is severely mocked.
Characters come and go in these books and the casual way that Manning reports the many surprising and sudden deaths is quite jarring but is also appropriate to the time and place she is writing about. Just when wartime starts to sound like fun, someone shoots themselves in the head in a train.
This was the final book in the Levant Trilogy, part II of the Fortunes of War sextet. I managed to finish this trilogy faster than the first (it is shorter of course, but also seemed an easier read and definitely more upfront about sex than the Balkan Trilogy) but it didn't stick with me as much. Still, I did like it and was glad to have read it. I have read some reviews criticizing the portrayal of the Egyptians. This is fair and is not dissimilar to her portrayal of Romanians and Greek in the first trilogy, although perhaps a little less topical for our current times. What was more interesting to me was that in the second trilogy, taking place in a British colony, she sets up several scenes where the idea that British rule has been a "civilizing" force is severely mocked.
Characters come and go in these books and the casual way that Manning reports the many surprising and sudden deaths is quite jarring but is also appropriate to the time and place she is writing about. Just when wartime starts to sound like fun, someone shoots themselves in the head in a train.
January 17, 2018
Last of the sequence - more of the same - if you enjoyed the earlier novels, you will like this one. The war has moved well beyond Cairo and the city now appears a semi-abandoned backwater. Guy believes Harriet is dead and much of the novel focuses on her attempts to survive on her own. As before there is a mix of the farcical and the poignant. There is a wildly funny scene during a miraculous feast in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which also provides a real miracle and the turning point of the novel's plot. Fittingly the novel ends with the soldier, Simon Boulderstone, as he leaves Egypt for his new posting.
September 19, 2019
So sad to have finished these six books. In this last one, Harriet was due to go to England by boat, and at the last moment, decides not to. The boat is torpedoed and all survivors lost, but Guy does not realise that she was not on it. She goes to Damascus, then Jerusalem, and meets up with Angela Hooper and Bill Castlebar. To say more would involve spoilers, but I can do nothing better than quote Anthony Burgess, who wrote that these books are 'the finest fictional record of the war produced by a British writer'.
June 12, 2021
A very satisfying end to a tremendous series of novels. Harriet Pringle, assumed to be dead by her husband Guy, is struggling with life by herself. Luckily she runs into friends Angela and Castlebar. Guy, meanwhile, is trying to resist feelings of guilt about his role in Harriet’s “death”. And Simon Boulderstone is recovering from the bomb blast that almost killed him.
There is a strong cast of characters in these books, and Manning evokes a strong sense of place and time.
There is a strong cast of characters in these books, and Manning evokes a strong sense of place and time.
June 18, 2015
I think this might be the best of the six books in the series. It does sum things up as the title states. It begins with Simon Boulderstone going to the hospital. At first he felt no pain, couldn't feel his legs and didn't realize how badly he was hurt. After finding out, he was very determined to get better and go back to the war. The Egyptian Mail, on which Harriet was supposed to be was torpedoed and sunk. Eventually Guy gets the word that Harriet is dead. Meanwhile, Harriet is in the Levant not knowing that the ship was sunk, and that Guy thinks she is dead. She finally meets up with Angela and Castlebar. I won't go any further to prevent giving everything away.
February 5, 2018
I realize, after finishing this, that it is the third rather than second volume of The Levant Trilogy. I was a little lost at first, but thought it was just time passed. Still, this was a much darker book than the first and we see much about the effects of the war on civilians as well as the soldier, Simon Boulderstone. It will be sad to leave these characters. I've grown quite attached to Harriet Pringle, though I think as Angela said, she should box Guy's ears.
February 19, 2022
I am in mourning that this series is over, particularly because this final book may have been my favorite of all of them. This series is simply brilliant and completely transported me to a time and a place that, without books, I could never experience. Olivia Manning's characters are without parallel.
I will now be trawling old bookstores for beautiful copies of this series because these are books I will return to like to old friends.
I will now be trawling old bookstores for beautiful copies of this series because these are books I will return to like to old friends.
January 25, 2023
I have loved the 6 books making up Manning's Balkan and Levant trilogies. The characters are full and rounded, the locations are beautifully described and the events are based in reality. Hard to leave, I want to know what happened to them all next.
April 25, 2024
This is the third volume of The Levant Trilogy, the second of author Olivia Manning’s two trilogies following the adventures of the young British couple Guy and Harriet Pringle in Romania, Greece, Egypt and several Mideast Asian countries during WWII.
This continues the story of the Pringles with Guy remaining in Egypt still busy administering the British Council school, having sent Harriet off on a steamer ship back to England. However, instead Harriet hitched a ride to Syria, beginning her story of surviving without Guy, getting by with a little help from her friends that she runs into in her various Mideast stops.
As in the previous books of the series, we also get chapters from the point of view of young soldier Simon Boulderstone. Once again, his perspective on the military aspects helps the reader widen their perspective of the WWII events. His chapters are even more vital this time as he has been seriously wounded and is helped in his rehabilitation by Guy, who is pleased to have Simon’s recovery as a cause.
This book contained elements and themes that I found very satisfying, such as:
First, the Setting. As the Cairo setting was getting a bit stagnant, the shifting settings of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine provided both variety and a needed change.
Second, the Characters. Besides continuing my interest in the main trio of Guy, Harriet and Simon, I found the secondary characters were more interesting in this book. This applies to the already introduced spoiled and aging beauty Edwina, but especially to the on-the-run couple of Harriet’s wealthy divorcee friend Angela and her married lover, the poet Castlebar. Their relationship which seemed shallow in the last volume grew deeper and more real in this book. I enjoyed the story of their relationship.
Third, the Pringle Marriage. This volume brought an even more important relationship to a climax: Guy and Harriet’s marriage. In the previous book, I found Guy’s practice of being generous to everyone but taking Harriet for granted as she was “part of him” increasingly grating. In this book, Harriet’s run-away independence along with Guy’s new-found concern over her fate brought a real poignancy to their relationship and the plot. The ultimate resolution was satisfyingly realistic.
Finally, the Dramatic Tension. This book had a level of dramatic tension not seen since the first two volumes of the series in Romania. What could or would happen to Harriet on her own in new countries, to the Pringle marriage, to Simon’s health, to the Angela/Castlebar coupling, in the war itself? All these concerns brought a very gratifying dynamic energy to this finale.
I really enjoyed this 6-book series. At its heart, it’s the story of a very real marriage relationship, with flaws and issues, often overly pragmatic but also with an underlying base of mutual respect and love. I have enjoyed similar marital stories, such as the Forsyte Chronicles’ Fleur and Michael Mont and The Pallisers’ Plantagenet and Glencora.
This book’s elevated level of dramatic tension, portrayal of the Pringle marriage and series finale status make this a 5-star book for me.
This continues the story of the Pringles with Guy remaining in Egypt still busy administering the British Council school, having sent Harriet off on a steamer ship back to England. However, instead Harriet hitched a ride to Syria, beginning her story of surviving without Guy, getting by with a little help from her friends that she runs into in her various Mideast stops.
As in the previous books of the series, we also get chapters from the point of view of young soldier Simon Boulderstone. Once again, his perspective on the military aspects helps the reader widen their perspective of the WWII events. His chapters are even more vital this time as he has been seriously wounded and is helped in his rehabilitation by Guy, who is pleased to have Simon’s recovery as a cause.
This book contained elements and themes that I found very satisfying, such as:
First, the Setting. As the Cairo setting was getting a bit stagnant, the shifting settings of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine provided both variety and a needed change.
Second, the Characters. Besides continuing my interest in the main trio of Guy, Harriet and Simon, I found the secondary characters were more interesting in this book. This applies to the already introduced spoiled and aging beauty Edwina, but especially to the on-the-run couple of Harriet’s wealthy divorcee friend Angela and her married lover, the poet Castlebar. Their relationship which seemed shallow in the last volume grew deeper and more real in this book. I enjoyed the story of their relationship.
Third, the Pringle Marriage. This volume brought an even more important relationship to a climax: Guy and Harriet’s marriage. In the previous book, I found Guy’s practice of being generous to everyone but taking Harriet for granted as she was “part of him” increasingly grating. In this book, Harriet’s run-away independence along with Guy’s new-found concern over her fate brought a real poignancy to their relationship and the plot. The ultimate resolution was satisfyingly realistic.
Finally, the Dramatic Tension. This book had a level of dramatic tension not seen since the first two volumes of the series in Romania. What could or would happen to Harriet on her own in new countries, to the Pringle marriage, to Simon’s health, to the Angela/Castlebar coupling, in the war itself? All these concerns brought a very gratifying dynamic energy to this finale.
I really enjoyed this 6-book series. At its heart, it’s the story of a very real marriage relationship, with flaws and issues, often overly pragmatic but also with an underlying base of mutual respect and love. I have enjoyed similar marital stories, such as the Forsyte Chronicles’ Fleur and Michael Mont and The Pallisers’ Plantagenet and Glencora.
This book’s elevated level of dramatic tension, portrayal of the Pringle marriage and series finale status make this a 5-star book for me.
August 14, 2024
This really tells two stories - that of Harriet finally splitting off from the emotionally incompetent husband and a kind of rites of passage story of an injured young soldier, Simon, who like so many others finds himself within Guy's circle. We think that Harriet's absence in Palestine assumed sunk on a transport ship will fix Guy. It's not quite that clear cut in the end but she seems to find some solace in the proofs of his emotion on her eventual return. Many of the other characters are really well drawn too - the good time opportunist Edwina and the rich Angela, who having lost her child and come near to madness finds her own brief solace in the company of another of Guy's friends.
February 6, 2021
Enjoyed this, the final volume inThe Levant Trilogy. More action and tension in this volume than the others but that's relative. It's mainly a different perspective on life during WW2: that of posh Brits living overseas and with nothing much to do. The trilogy as a whole is a beautifully written examination of a new marriage with all its difficulties, a look at friendships, and we also follow soldier Simon into battle and beyond. I've spent so much time with the dear things lately I feel I shall miss them all terribly.
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December 27, 2022it never rise up from the flatness it has fallen into, despite death and drama. i'm starting to wonder if it's really because of the writing. this endless summary explaining what has happened in balkan. it's like levant trilogy exists in remembrance of balkan. i think it'd have been better also to write it as a single book and edit the hell out of it. also all those coincident meetings...
will stay away from manning for a while
will stay away from manning for a while
December 2, 2020
The end of the Fortunes of War series does bring some resolution and realisation, but it perhaps lacks the subtle comedy of the earlier novels. However, it’s worth a read; Manning writes very well and conveys the way that war impacts on ordinary lives very well.
October 31, 2023
Going to miss this series 😓
June 23, 2025
i will miss them all!
July 14, 2025
The Balkan Trilogy is scintillating but the Levant Trilogy is largely middling, and not worth the read. This, the third volume, is perhaps the most middling of the three.
January 27, 2014
And so to the final volume of Manning's 'Fortunes of War' sequence. Harriet is in Syria, unaware that Guy in Cairo believes her dead after the Queen of Sparta (on which Harriet was to sail) was torpedoed with the loss of all but three lives; Simon Boulderstone meanwhile is beginning the long road to recovery following the bomb blast at the end of the previous volume. Although there are themes running through the novel (of recovery; of characters gaining or asserting their independence) Manning's attention flits around too much for the themes to be fully explored - there is a tendency here (as elsewhere in the sequence) towards the episodic and soapy, not assisted by the fact that the War has now moved on to new battlefields (Tunisia and Italy) which robs the story of the tension that had made 'The Spoilt City', 'Friends and Heroes' and 'The Battle Lost and Won' so compelling.
As ever it is Harriet and the story of her marriage that holds the book together - Guy's reaction to Harriet's survival is wonderfully in character and utterly infuriating. I also very much enjoyed Simon as a character throughout the Levant trilogy, in the main because he had a clearly defined arc that seemed more novelistic than much of the thinly disguised autobiography that makes up the novels.
I particularly liked the writing about Syria and Palestine and would have loved more of that, and I suspect that Manning had probably planned further novels after the Levant trilogy to take her characters through to the end of the war. Alas, she died in 1980, the year 'The Sum of Things' was published so we are left with a rather open ending and a disappointing paragraph-long coda. How I wish there had been a Jerusalem Trilogy to read next. Still, despite some of the disappointments of the final two novels, I have thoroughly enjoyed 'Fortunes of War' and will not soon forget Harriet and Guy.
As ever it is Harriet and the story of her marriage that holds the book together - Guy's reaction to Harriet's survival is wonderfully in character and utterly infuriating. I also very much enjoyed Simon as a character throughout the Levant trilogy, in the main because he had a clearly defined arc that seemed more novelistic than much of the thinly disguised autobiography that makes up the novels.
I particularly liked the writing about Syria and Palestine and would have loved more of that, and I suspect that Manning had probably planned further novels after the Levant trilogy to take her characters through to the end of the war. Alas, she died in 1980, the year 'The Sum of Things' was published so we are left with a rather open ending and a disappointing paragraph-long coda. How I wish there had been a Jerusalem Trilogy to read next. Still, despite some of the disappointments of the final two novels, I have thoroughly enjoyed 'Fortunes of War' and will not soon forget Harriet and Guy.
June 2, 2020
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2020...
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2020...
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews