Their story, covering a couple of years in the late 1930s, is in some way the negation of the opening phrase of the novel: "In the Danube fields, a few years before World War II, it seemed that time was very patient with people; life was going on here without major conflicts".
Their story, spanning several years in the late 1930s, is a direct opposition to the novel's opening statement: "In the Danube fields, a few years before World War II, it seemed that time was very patient with people; life was going on here without major conflicts".