The doctor passed over his tobacco and Kokolios stuffed his nargiles contentedly. ‘What’s the news of the war?’
The doctor twisted the ends of his moustache and said, ‘Germany is taking everything, the Italians are playing the fool, the French have run away, the Belgians have been overrun whilst they were looking the other way, the Poles have been charging tanks with cavalry, the Americans have been playing baseball , the British have been drinking tea and adjusting their monocles, the Russians have been sitting on their hands except when voting unanimously to do whatever they are told. Thank God we are out of it. Why don’t we turn on the radio?’
The doctor twisted the ends of his moustache and said, ‘Germany is taking everything, the Italians are playing the fool, the French have run away, the Belgians have been overrun whilst they were looking the other way, the Poles have been charging tanks with cavalry, the Americans have been playing baseball , the British have been drinking tea and adjusting their monocles, the Russians have been sitting on their hands except when voting unanimously to do whatever they are told. Thank God we are out of it. Why don’t we turn on the radio?’
Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
(which I’m reading at a speed of three pages every other day, cause I simply don’t have time for more)
I read this bit, I smiled and I felt a twinge of homesickness and nostalgia, that made me check flights to Poland. Who knows, I just might be able to make it between the end of the PGCE and the job (provided there is a job). I just need to remember not to call my parents too often or they might make me change my mind.
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