On master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge

Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge is a truly breathtaking novel. A story is based on real events: the Crimean War (1853-1856) fought between Imperial Russia on one side and an alliance of France, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire on the other. But unlike other literary works describing this war [Karen - What about Tolstoy!!!!] the author shows it from the “inside”, through the history of common people who occurred there as fate had willed. The writer reveals all the uselessness of every war in the book.

The events are shown through the eyes of the main characters: Myrtle , Dr Potter and Pompey Jones. Each of these characters writes 2 chapters in the book. To my mind it is a splendid means to show the inner state of the characters without excess descriptions, their nature, priorities and world outlook, their reactions toward the war happening around them. At first the family of Master Georgie thought that this trip would be a voyage to a resort, picturesque places near the sea. But the reality was different from what had been expected.

The author transmits her knowledge with the help of Dr Potter who is a connoisseur of art, well - educated and intelligent person. He knows history and has a great life experience. Dr Potter uses a lot of

Latin phrases and words in his speech: “Nemo potest personam diu ferre fictam” (Seneca). These allusions help the author to create so-called “contacts of time”. The author connects two periods: ancient and the nineteenth century.

The novel can be considered to be a trustworthy historical document because there are a lot of established facts in it: names of places, commanders of the British army. The author gives brilliant descriptions of the beautiful landscapes: Balaclava, Sebastopol, Varna, mount Inkerman, “the Sweet waters of Europe". All the facts are given accurately. Due to these detailed descriptions we can imagine these places without seeing them with our own eyes: “The town of Balaclava is situated on an inlet running deep into the land. Behind lies a basin of dark waters, surrounded, with the exception of a narrow gorge, by precipitous rocks which rise to an elevation of a hundred feet.”

For Russian readers it is of great interest for one more reason. The war that it is devoted to is one we are aware of from school: the Crimean War. Before reading this book I thought the Crimean war to be something remote and bookish. This novel helped me to realize how much common people suffered in it.

Every war is useless because common people die. The life of every individual is of the greatest value for Bainbridge. The novel evokes deep philosophical ideas, reflections: about war and peace, love, life and death, fate, the cost of human life. George dies. Myrtle loses her sense of life.

The scene of burial of the British soldiers impressed me greatly. It was narrated by Potter who called the dead soldiers “a row of mummies about to be consigned to the mud” and “the poor dead”. Unfortunately these descriptions were close to the reality.

After reading the novel by Bainbridge we understand the eternity of the nature and the temporariness of different wars, conflicts and so on. 1 think this novel is outstanding. It combines historical events, war chronicles, histories of love, brilliant descriptions of nature and deep philosophical ideas.