julie12's review
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
5.0
bookpossum's review
5.0
As beautiful as the first part of the trilogy, "A Time of Gifts". Patrick Leigh Fermor writes exquisitely, and the beauty of his descriptions should be savoured. There is also the occasional reminder of the dreadful future awaiting so many of the people he met along his way in 1934:
"Every part of Europe I had crossed so far was to be torn and shattered by the war; indeed, except for the last stage before the Turkish frontier, all the countries traversed by this journey were fought over a few years later by two mercilessly destructive powers; and when war broke out, all these friends vanished into sudden darkness. Afterwards the uprooting and destruction were on so tremendous a scale that it was sometimes years after the end of it all that the cloud became less dense and I could pick up a clue here and there and piece together what had happened in the interim. Nearly all of them had been dragged into the conflict in the teeth of their true feelings and disaster overtook them all."
"Every part of Europe I had crossed so far was to be torn and shattered by the war; indeed, except for the last stage before the Turkish frontier, all the countries traversed by this journey were fought over a few years later by two mercilessly destructive powers; and when war broke out, all these friends vanished into sudden darkness. Afterwards the uprooting and destruction were on so tremendous a scale that it was sometimes years after the end of it all that the cloud became less dense and I could pick up a clue here and there and piece together what had happened in the interim. Nearly all of them had been dragged into the conflict in the teeth of their true feelings and disaster overtook them all."
rbkegley's review
4.0
The second part of Patrick Leigh Fermor's walking journey from Holland to Constantinople, this volume taking him back to the banks of the Danube past Transylvania. Beautifully descriptive as the prior book, Fermor paints a glorious picture of eastern Europe just prior to the destruction wreaked by World War II. Since this book was written long after the finish of the war, we find out the happy news that some of the friends he made on this walk survived, while others vanished. It's hard to imagine such a journey being possible today.
joecam79's review
4.0
When I was a student at University (longer ago than I’d like to think...) I decided to become a member of the Folio Society. My first order included a handsome set of fairytale collections, a few history and fiction titles, and the Society’s edition of Patrick Leigh Fermor’s [b:A Time of Gifts|4899673|A Time of Gifts|Patrick Leigh Fermor|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1223017864s/4899673.jpg|2636997]. I was no fan of travel writing. Nor had I ever heard of Leigh Fermor. But this was one of the more affordable books in the catalogue, one that didn’t unduly stretch my restricted budget.
The volume remained unopened on my shelves until, one fine day, driven by boredom and a vague curiosity, I immersed myself in its pages. It blew me away.
In 1933, aged “18 and three-quarters” Leigh Fermor set off on a daunting but enthralling voyage - a journey on foot across mainland Europe, from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople. This exploit had a whiff of the Grand Old Tour about it, tinged with a gung-ho “Boys’ Own” sense of adventure. However, Leigh Fermor’s three-volume account of these travels (starting with “A Time of Gifts”) is anything but “boyish”. It is rich in evocative descriptions of sights, smells and sounds, which manage so admirably to capture a sense of place that one is quick to forgive the author’s occasional penchant for over-ripe metaphors. The text is sprinkled with erudite asides, giving insights into the history and culture of the countries which welcomed the young hiker.
There is another element which makes the book so poignant. Leigh Fermor wrote it decades after the events described. In the meantime, the Second World War – and middle age – had intervened, digging furrows in maps and complexion. Not surprisingly, the text is saturated with a feeling of nostalgia and loss. It often reads like an elegy to freedom and youth, and to a different way of life which had disappeared forever. The wide-eyed wonder of the teenage protagonist gives way to the more knowing narrative voice of the author’s older and wiser self.
“A Time of Gifts” describes the first leg of Leigh Fermor’s journey and leaves us with the traveller on a bridge crossing the Danube between Slovakia and Hungary. It is not just a great book – it is a special and memorable one, certainly a landmark in its genre.
Years passed before I rejoined Leigh Fermor on his journey which, in “Between the Woods and the Water” winds its way through Hungary, Transylvania and into Romania. But I must admit that after the initial elation at meeting an old friend again, I started to feel disappointed. The same youthful excitement leaps from the pages, the chapters are still illuminated by the erudition of its author. However, there were some things which bothered me. The narrative momentum is often held up by digressions into the political history of the area which, as the writer himself repeatedly admits, is complex and convoluted. Moreover, despite Leigh Fermor’s open-minded enthusiasm,he sometimes gives the impression that he has not shaken off a degree of class prejudice. Long stretches of the trek are spent in castles of aristocratic friends, fondly recalled during the rougher parts of the journey. And whilst peasants and shepherds are sympathetically described (especially if they are rustic beauties not averse to close encounters in haystacks), Gypsies almost invariably come across as dirty, scheming and dangerous.
Despite my reservations, as the last pages of the book approached, I found it increasingly difficult to put it away. Evidently, the magic of Leigh Fermor’s incredible journey has not yet worn off and I hope to rekindle it soon by reading [b:The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos|16240481|The Broken Road From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos|Patrick Leigh Fermor|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364857799s/16240481.jpg|22245955], the trilogy’s posthumously published conclusion.
Ave atque vale, Paddy!
The volume remained unopened on my shelves until, one fine day, driven by boredom and a vague curiosity, I immersed myself in its pages. It blew me away.
In 1933, aged “18 and three-quarters” Leigh Fermor set off on a daunting but enthralling voyage - a journey on foot across mainland Europe, from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople. This exploit had a whiff of the Grand Old Tour about it, tinged with a gung-ho “Boys’ Own” sense of adventure. However, Leigh Fermor’s three-volume account of these travels (starting with “A Time of Gifts”) is anything but “boyish”. It is rich in evocative descriptions of sights, smells and sounds, which manage so admirably to capture a sense of place that one is quick to forgive the author’s occasional penchant for over-ripe metaphors. The text is sprinkled with erudite asides, giving insights into the history and culture of the countries which welcomed the young hiker.
There is another element which makes the book so poignant. Leigh Fermor wrote it decades after the events described. In the meantime, the Second World War – and middle age – had intervened, digging furrows in maps and complexion. Not surprisingly, the text is saturated with a feeling of nostalgia and loss. It often reads like an elegy to freedom and youth, and to a different way of life which had disappeared forever. The wide-eyed wonder of the teenage protagonist gives way to the more knowing narrative voice of the author’s older and wiser self.
“A Time of Gifts” describes the first leg of Leigh Fermor’s journey and leaves us with the traveller on a bridge crossing the Danube between Slovakia and Hungary. It is not just a great book – it is a special and memorable one, certainly a landmark in its genre.
Years passed before I rejoined Leigh Fermor on his journey which, in “Between the Woods and the Water” winds its way through Hungary, Transylvania and into Romania. But I must admit that after the initial elation at meeting an old friend again, I started to feel disappointed. The same youthful excitement leaps from the pages, the chapters are still illuminated by the erudition of its author. However, there were some things which bothered me. The narrative momentum is often held up by digressions into the political history of the area which, as the writer himself repeatedly admits, is complex and convoluted. Moreover, despite Leigh Fermor’s open-minded enthusiasm,he sometimes gives the impression that he has not shaken off a degree of class prejudice. Long stretches of the trek are spent in castles of aristocratic friends, fondly recalled during the rougher parts of the journey. And whilst peasants and shepherds are sympathetically described (especially if they are rustic beauties not averse to close encounters in haystacks), Gypsies almost invariably come across as dirty, scheming and dangerous.
Despite my reservations, as the last pages of the book approached, I found it increasingly difficult to put it away. Evidently, the magic of Leigh Fermor’s incredible journey has not yet worn off and I hope to rekindle it soon by reading [b:The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos|16240481|The Broken Road From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos|Patrick Leigh Fermor|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364857799s/16240481.jpg|22245955], the trilogy’s posthumously published conclusion.
Ave atque vale, Paddy!
marcella's review
4.0
I enjoyed this, in the end. The prose is really dense and the narrative weaves in and out of ancient history and the author's journey, but it was all very compelling and nostalgic. I thought the note at the beginning of the book was helpful for contextualizing how the whole landscape of the area changed during/after WWII. Sometimes I lost the thread a bit when we dove into a history lesson, but he always brought me back. The author noticed a lot of animals, which I liked.
halfmanhalfbook's review
4.0
This is the sequel to A Time of Gifts, and picks up where we left Fermor on the Bridge in Budapest.
In this he carries on in the same manner as before, walking and meeting people, sharing wine and food, and laughter. In the background there is the spectre that is the Nazi party, and he mentions stories of atrocities that are starting to happen to people in Germany.
He spends a few months in Rumania / Transylvania and has an affair with a married woman. And meets those peoples in this complex landscape, who come from protestant catholic, orthodox and Romany backgrounds. It is an intense time as Europe slides towards war, and this comes across in the book.
His descriptive prose is beautiful to read, he has a way of capturing what he saw in such a beautiful way. There is an awful lot of history in here too, and whilst some of it is fascinating, you can loose yourself with the all the noble families of Europe. This was written a long time after the events, and whilst he has captured the time with his masterful use of the language, I think that it lacks a little something that it may have had if it was written soon after the journey.
In this he carries on in the same manner as before, walking and meeting people, sharing wine and food, and laughter. In the background there is the spectre that is the Nazi party, and he mentions stories of atrocities that are starting to happen to people in Germany.
He spends a few months in Rumania / Transylvania and has an affair with a married woman. And meets those peoples in this complex landscape, who come from protestant catholic, orthodox and Romany backgrounds. It is an intense time as Europe slides towards war, and this comes across in the book.
His descriptive prose is beautiful to read, he has a way of capturing what he saw in such a beautiful way. There is an awful lot of history in here too, and whilst some of it is fascinating, you can loose yourself with the all the noble families of Europe. This was written a long time after the events, and whilst he has captured the time with his masterful use of the language, I think that it lacks a little something that it may have had if it was written soon after the journey.
ninjamuse's review
5.0
n brief: In 1934, at 18, Patrick Leigh Fermor set out to walk across Europe and record his experiences. In the 1980s, he finally tells the story. (Second in a trilogy, covering mostly Hungary and Romania.)
Thoughts: This was nearly as lovely as A Time of Gifts. The writing’s still excellent, the descriptions of the land and the people still bring them to life in my mind, the adventures Fermor had are wonderful and like something out of fiction. I know there’s a healthy dose of nostalgia for Old Europe there, but still. I felt like perhaps he delved more into historical contexts in this one, bringing up past kingdoms and nobles and that sort of thing, but it’s interesting to read that, all the same. Heroes riding out of the mists of time and over the landscape, and so on.
I don’t think I felt as connected to this book as A Time of Gifts, though. I’m blaming my lack of personal familiarity with eastern Europe—in the last book, he was seeing things I or my family had seen, not so much in this one—and the fact that he stays largely with wealthy families instead of average people, and see the warning please. I’m inclined to forgive him somewhat for that, since he was writing thirty-odd years ago and capturing the mindset of eighty years ago and he presents the Romani as people without over-romanticizing or getting nasty, but … he’s pretty good about calling his past self out for other uncool things and doesn’t do as great of a job here.
Other than that, this was an enjoyable and educational read, with enough adventure and nature and history to satisfy. I’m looking forward to reading the third installment at some point.
Warnings: Anti-Romani racism, mostly reported stereotypes and warnings but also persistent use of the g-slur, one fearful moment born of believing said stereotypes, and the occasional unsavory mention of skin colour; one or two uses of “oriental” to refer to Asians …and to possibly Asian-descended Europeans; a page and a half summarizing historic antisemitism.
7/10
Thoughts: This was nearly as lovely as A Time of Gifts. The writing’s still excellent, the descriptions of the land and the people still bring them to life in my mind, the adventures Fermor had are wonderful and like something out of fiction. I know there’s a healthy dose of nostalgia for Old Europe there, but still. I felt like perhaps he delved more into historical contexts in this one, bringing up past kingdoms and nobles and that sort of thing, but it’s interesting to read that, all the same. Heroes riding out of the mists of time and over the landscape, and so on.
I don’t think I felt as connected to this book as A Time of Gifts, though. I’m blaming my lack of personal familiarity with eastern Europe—in the last book, he was seeing things I or my family had seen, not so much in this one—and the fact that he stays largely with wealthy families instead of average people, and see the warning please. I’m inclined to forgive him somewhat for that, since he was writing thirty-odd years ago and capturing the mindset of eighty years ago and he presents the Romani as people without over-romanticizing or getting nasty, but … he’s pretty good about calling his past self out for other uncool things and doesn’t do as great of a job here.
Other than that, this was an enjoyable and educational read, with enough adventure and nature and history to satisfy. I’m looking forward to reading the third installment at some point.
Warnings: Anti-Romani racism, mostly reported stereotypes and warnings but also persistent use of the g-slur, one fearful moment born of believing said stereotypes, and the occasional unsavory mention of skin colour; one or two uses of “oriental” to refer to Asians …and to possibly Asian-descended Europeans; a page and a half summarizing historic antisemitism.
7/10
gengelcox's review
2.0
Fermor traveled by foot from the Hook of Holland to Constantiople; this book is the second volume of his remembrances of that trip, starting off halfway through the journey at Budapest (where the previous volume, [b:A Time of Gifts|253984|A Time of Gifts|Patrick Leigh Fermor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1321602492s/253984.jpg|2636997], left off). Oh, wait, I didn’t mention that he made this trip in 1934 when he was 18. The book is an incredibly dense package of flora and fauna, history and action, characters and settings. For someone as unfamiliar as I about this area, it provided a crash course in providing for an understanding of the region.
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