"To compensate a little for the treachery and weakness of my memory, so extreme that it has happened to me more than once to pick up again, as recent and unknown to me, books which I had read carefully a few years before . . . I have adopted the habit for some time now of adding at the end of each book . . . the time I finished reading it and the judgment I have derived of it as a whole, so that this may represent to me at least the sense and general idea I had conceived of the author in reading it." (Montaigne, Book II, Essay 10 (publ. 1580))

Thursday, March 21, 2013

A Time of Gifts (Patrick Leigh Fermor, 1977)

Fermor intended to write a three-part story of his walking tour from Holland to Constantinople in the 1930s. As it turns out, part three was never written. I so much liked part two - summarized here, with lots of explanation about what Fermor was up to.

So now we come to part one - which lived up to very high
expectations.  I don't think I missed much by reading the two books out of order - though it was useful to have a better understanding of why the youthful Fermor decided to go walking across Europe.  Starting in December 1932.  (Book written 45 years later!)

This is the kind of well-read, highly inquisitive person with whom I would love to travel - seems impossible for him to view a landscape (or cityscape) without it conjuring up visions of related historical occurrences, depictions by artists, local music and customs, etc.  Nonstop provocation of one's imagination - which is the best thing, after all.

As with the other book of his - once you read it, you simply have to visit the area.  (Kind of the way this book required me to make this trip.)

Thoughts:

1.  Compact writing style - makes me jealous, I would love to write in that manner.

2.  On a barge he was given a meal of baked beans garnished with speck - basically just fat - he found it frightful.  Now I know what Grandpa Bormann was referring to when he used the word - 50 years ago.

3.  Interesting theory of how the "Landsknechts" (a term I hadn't heard before) set the tone for architecture in the area.  Who knows?

4.  I never really had bothered to figure out how the Danube flows, or why it was the ultimate runway for Asian invaders over the centuries.  Fascinating to trace its west-east run from Germany (eventually heading south into the Black Sea).  I  can see that leisurely travel in this area would be a delight.

5.  Melk.  Regensburg.  He loves Prague (though, it not being on his route, required a side trip).

6.  German towns.  Nazi activities - early phases of its hold on power.

7.  He knew the Dutch landscape painters very well - and passing through on foot gave him constant reminders of their work.  A wonderful Christmas story with a kind family.

8.  Long-term occupation by Roman empire - near-mythical the frontier with the deep woods.

9.  I'm interested in learning more about Bohemia - the under-appreciated but majority bloodline for my little wife.  This book is a good assist in this regard.

10.  Was reading this in the latter stages of Lent . . . the author arrives in a small Hungarian town just as evening services begin on Holy Thursday . . . just a great, evocative recounting of the ceremony, the evening of the Betrayal, etc.  Wonderful scene.

11.  He reaches Budapest, which is where the next book starts.

I need this as a reference, so just bought it.  It is a delight.


Monday, March 11, 2013

The Catastrophist (Ronan Bennett, 1998)


[Re-read for book club (per CPG) in 2014; below discussion is from original read in 2013.]

Something very different for me:  a modern novel.  Nothing really wrong with this book, though it reinforces my decision to focus on catching up with works that have stood the test of time.

Writer from Northern Ireland (Seamus n/k/a James) is in love with Italian communist (Ines) resident in the Congo at the time of independence from Belgium; he joins her there.  She sort of loves him but ultimately is more interested in causes than anything else - supporting Patrice Lumamba.  There is a CIA-type character working connections - opposed to Lumamba due to his leanings toward Communism.  Also various Belgian folks.

Generated some interesting thoughts about the transition to independence and the dire situation in these countries.  Somewhat useful followup to discussions in book like this about the way King Leopold abused the Congo.