Reviews
Cretan Runner: His Story of the German Occupation by George Psychoundakis, Patrick Leigh Fermor
ianbanks's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to enjoy this a lot more than I did. It features an aspect of life during wartime that is always fascinating - people surviving with their honour intact while being occupied by a hostile force - but while I found some aspects of it fascinating, there were others that just seemed to make the narrative falter.
geraldpbear's review against another edition
4.0
A great memoir for anyone interested in World War II. So many history books benefit from seeing a large view of the conflict, so reading just a single persons perspective from that moment was enlightening. Readers get a better idea of the "fog of war" and what the day to day of a resistance movements look like. Having little experience with Greek and Cretan culture, this was an interesting introduction, and some of the names gave me difficulty. It's important to remember this is a historical document, and not a book meant for entertainment, as the pacing is accurate to what happens and not meant to keep the reader engrossed.
qqjj's review
3.0
I was unfamiliar with pretty much everything that was happening during WW2 in Crete, so I appreciated this perspective. It is complete with petty arguments, daily routine, local culture, and mildly comic insights about the Allied forces the author (a local Cretan resistance member) encounters. It is refreshing and not smoothed to align with a victorious narrative, although I am still interested in reading some of the available accounts written by the translator and other British men who are mentioned in this account for another perspective.
This reads very much as a journal chronicling everyday events as well as an uncommon time. This means that parts are repetitive (think about your own daily life—many people get up, go to work at various but similar tasks, and then go home each day). George was a messenger who hiked through rugged country carrying notes, sometimes without incident, sometimes encountering danger. He was not the commander writing these messages and his understanding of the overarching Allied forces strategy was limited.
There are a lot of people and places (included map of limited help since many villages weren’t on it), but I didn’t get too hung up on trying to keep track of everything. I just enjoyed the casual narration and sense of Crete during this time. You can tell the author loves adventure and telling stories.
This reads very much as a journal chronicling everyday events as well as an uncommon time. This means that parts are repetitive (think about your own daily life—many people get up, go to work at various but similar tasks, and then go home each day). George was a messenger who hiked through rugged country carrying notes, sometimes without incident, sometimes encountering danger. He was not the commander writing these messages and his understanding of the overarching Allied forces strategy was limited.
There are a lot of people and places (included map of limited help since many villages weren’t on it), but I didn’t get too hung up on trying to keep track of everything. I just enjoyed the casual narration and sense of Crete during this time. You can tell the author loves adventure and telling stories.
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