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nwhyte's review
4.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2844587.html
I really knew Patrick Leigh Fermor only for his teenage odyssey; I had forgotten, if I had ever known, that he was a very well-known travel writer already before A Time of Gifts was published, winning awards for his accounts of the Caribbean and Greece. This all came after an extraordinary incident in the war, immortalised in the film Ill Met By Moonlight, where he mastermninded and carried out, at huge personal risk, the kidnapping of the German general in charge of the occupation of Crete. He swam the Hellespont at the age of 69.
Cooper is the daughter of John Julius Norwich and grand-daughter of Lady Diana Cooper, who were close friends of Leigh Fermor's, but she maintains a critical distance from her subject - notably, his inability to take orders which meant that he never successfully worked for anyone else (apart from his military career, though even that was constant chafing with authority) and his complex love life, which eventually settled down into a long-term open relationship with Joan Monsell, who he finally married after more than twenty years together. He seems to have been very happy, and generally charming (though there is a horrendous account of a disastrous set of exchanges with Somerset Maugham, in which Leigh Fermor was clearly at fault), and lived doing the things that he loved doing, leaving the world generally a better place for his existence.
I really knew Patrick Leigh Fermor only for his teenage odyssey; I had forgotten, if I had ever known, that he was a very well-known travel writer already before A Time of Gifts was published, winning awards for his accounts of the Caribbean and Greece. This all came after an extraordinary incident in the war, immortalised in the film Ill Met By Moonlight, where he mastermninded and carried out, at huge personal risk, the kidnapping of the German general in charge of the occupation of Crete. He swam the Hellespont at the age of 69.
Cooper is the daughter of John Julius Norwich and grand-daughter of Lady Diana Cooper, who were close friends of Leigh Fermor's, but she maintains a critical distance from her subject - notably, his inability to take orders which meant that he never successfully worked for anyone else (apart from his military career, though even that was constant chafing with authority) and his complex love life, which eventually settled down into a long-term open relationship with Joan Monsell, who he finally married after more than twenty years together. He seems to have been very happy, and generally charming (though there is a horrendous account of a disastrous set of exchanges with Somerset Maugham, in which Leigh Fermor was clearly at fault), and lived doing the things that he loved doing, leaving the world generally a better place for his existence.
booktwitcher23's review against another edition
3.0
I found the beginning of the book which coincided with his youthful travels more interesting. However, as the book progressed , I found him to be selfish.
hcastle's review against another edition
5.0
Patrick Leigh Fermor is always in good company. With friends such as 'Debo' & Diana Cooper. Up until his middle years, he lived off his charm, penniless, the constant house guest, shifting around Europe. Even Artemis Cooper, his biographer, is pedigree: wife of Anthony Beevor, daughter of John Julius Norwich & granddaughter of Diana Cooper. She provides a great narrative - his long walk across Europe, years in Rumania & war years in Crete - which is not stifled by her rigorous research. She tells it CRABS & all. He might have been a great dinner party guest, but not so terrific if you were his partner or his editor. He delivered manuscripts years late, several times over the word count, as handwritten scribblings.
halfmanhalfbook's review against another edition
5.0
Until I heard this book on Radio 4's Book of the Week, their non fiction book slot, I had never heard of Patrick Leigh Fermor.
Cooper has written a comprehensive and sensitive biography about Fermor. He was a very talented writer, most famous for a travel books, and in particular for one on a walk across Europe in-between the wars. He wrote about other countries, and numerous articles. He was a very complex character, troubled in lots of ways, and carefree in others. The people he met either jelled with him straight away or would end up taking a dislike to him fairly soon after meeting him, one individual even tried to stab him.
He bristled against authority, and through contacts managed to get a position at Sandhurst in the guards. Illness meant that he couldn't continue and was sought and signed up for intelligence corp and departed to his beloved Greece. He had what was sometimes known as a good war, and is also well know for the abduction of a German general.
He took many lovers through his life, but he met a lady called Joan Rayner at the very end of the war in Cairo. She was to become a lover at fist, dazzled by his adventures and wartime records, she eventually became the woman that became his lifelong companion; they married in 1968.
Even though he had travelled and written extensively about other countries his first love was Greece. With Joan's inheritance they bought and renovated a place in Kardamyli, and it became their refuge. Tragically Joan died after a fall at the property. One of the saddest part of the book is when he realises that he want to tell Joan something or write something to her and can't anymore.
Excellent biography. Really enjoyed it.
Cooper has written a comprehensive and sensitive biography about Fermor. He was a very talented writer, most famous for a travel books, and in particular for one on a walk across Europe in-between the wars. He wrote about other countries, and numerous articles. He was a very complex character, troubled in lots of ways, and carefree in others. The people he met either jelled with him straight away or would end up taking a dislike to him fairly soon after meeting him, one individual even tried to stab him.
He bristled against authority, and through contacts managed to get a position at Sandhurst in the guards. Illness meant that he couldn't continue and was sought and signed up for intelligence corp and departed to his beloved Greece. He had what was sometimes known as a good war, and is also well know for the abduction of a German general.
He took many lovers through his life, but he met a lady called Joan Rayner at the very end of the war in Cairo. She was to become a lover at fist, dazzled by his adventures and wartime records, she eventually became the woman that became his lifelong companion; they married in 1968.
Even though he had travelled and written extensively about other countries his first love was Greece. With Joan's inheritance they bought and renovated a place in Kardamyli, and it became their refuge. Tragically Joan died after a fall at the property. One of the saddest part of the book is when he realises that he want to tell Joan something or write something to her and can't anymore.
Excellent biography. Really enjoyed it.
strickvl's review
3.0
The life of Patrick Leigh Fermor was full of adventure and exploration, a big reason why this is an entertaining book to read. For some reason I didn't warm to his character, though; perhaps one had to meet him in person, as so many did.
The book also felt a little long and slightly clunkily written.
The book also felt a little long and slightly clunkily written.
lnatal's review
4.0
From BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week:
Biography by Artemis Cooper charting the extraordinary life story of the celebrated travel writer and war hero. Read by Samuel West.
Biography by Artemis Cooper charting the extraordinary life story of the celebrated travel writer and war hero. Read by Samuel West.
fmclellan's review
5.0
A lovely biography of an extraordinary man. Thoroughly enjoyed this.
Two of my favorite bits--among many--from this book. A quote from one of his friends: "Wouldn't it be lovely if Paddy came in pill-form, so you could take one whenever you felt depressed."
And this note, which Paddy wrote in a book he was reading when he felt his end was near: "Love to all and kindness to all friends, and thank you for a life of great happiness."
What a blessing to be able to write that!
Two of my favorite bits--among many--from this book. A quote from one of his friends: "Wouldn't it be lovely if Paddy came in pill-form, so you could take one whenever you felt depressed."
And this note, which Paddy wrote in a book he was reading when he felt his end was near: "Love to all and kindness to all friends, and thank you for a life of great happiness."
What a blessing to be able to write that!
halfmanhalfbook's review
5.0
Until I heard this book on Radio 4's Book of the Week, their non fiction book slot, I had never heard of Patrick Leigh Fermor.
Cooper has written a comprehensive and sensitive biography about Fermor. He was a very talented writer, most famous for a travel books, and in particular for one on a walk across Europe in-between the wars. He wrote about other countries, and numerous articles. He was a very complex character, troubled in lots of ways, and carefree in others. The people he met either jelled with him straight away or would end up taking a dislike to him fairly soon after meeting him, one individual even tried to stab him.
He bristled against authority, and through contacts managed to get a position at Sandhurst in the guards. Illness meant that he couldn't continue and was sought and signed up for intelligence corp and departed to his beloved Greece. He had what was sometimes known as a good war, and is also well know for the abduction of a German general.
He took many lovers through his life, but he met a lady called Joan Rayner at the very end of the war in Cairo. She was to become a lover at fist, dazzled by his adventures and wartime records, she eventually became the woman that became his lifelong companion; they married in 1968.
Even though he had travelled and written extensively about other countries his first love was Greece. With Joan's inheritance they bought and renovated a place in Kardamyli, and it became their refuge. Tragically Joan died after a fall at the property. One of the saddest part of the book is when he realises that he want to tell Joan something or write something to her and can't anymore.
Excellent biography. Really enjoyed it.
Cooper has written a comprehensive and sensitive biography about Fermor. He was a very talented writer, most famous for a travel books, and in particular for one on a walk across Europe in-between the wars. He wrote about other countries, and numerous articles. He was a very complex character, troubled in lots of ways, and carefree in others. The people he met either jelled with him straight away or would end up taking a dislike to him fairly soon after meeting him, one individual even tried to stab him.
He bristled against authority, and through contacts managed to get a position at Sandhurst in the guards. Illness meant that he couldn't continue and was sought and signed up for intelligence corp and departed to his beloved Greece. He had what was sometimes known as a good war, and is also well know for the abduction of a German general.
He took many lovers through his life, but he met a lady called Joan Rayner at the very end of the war in Cairo. She was to become a lover at fist, dazzled by his adventures and wartime records, she eventually became the woman that became his lifelong companion; they married in 1968.
Even though he had travelled and written extensively about other countries his first love was Greece. With Joan's inheritance they bought and renovated a place in Kardamyli, and it became their refuge. Tragically Joan died after a fall at the property. One of the saddest part of the book is when he realises that he want to tell Joan something or write something to her and can't anymore.
Excellent biography. Really enjoyed it.