Scan barcode
A review by qqjj
Cretan Runner: His Story of the German Occupation by George Psychoundakis, Patrick Leigh Fermor
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.