books by Patrick Leigh Fermor     books:       They Were Counted (The Writing on the Wall: the Transylvanian Trilogy)6 reviews Miklos Banffy Arcadia Books, 2009 An outstanding epic novel I am not someone much given to extravagant praise, but I have no hesitation in awarding five stars to 'They were counted', a novel of very high quality indeed. I had only ever read of Count Miklos Banffy as foreign minister of Hungary in the 1920s. I had no idea that he was also an extremely accomplished novelist. His pace is leisurely, to be sure, but his writing is so good that this is hardly a ...             A time of gifts: On foot to Constantinople: from the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube22 reviews Patrick Leigh Fermor Readers Union, 1978 Europe in the 1930s A friend told me to buy this book, and that if I did not like it, he would refund my money. I did not ask for the refund. One gets caught up in the trek through Europe, where the author visits places many of which I have visited myself, albeit many years later. I have experienced big-time nostalgia from reading this book.             The Way of the World2 reviews Nicholas Bouvier Marlboro Press, 1994 The "Open Road" meets "The road less traveled" in a Fiat. The Way of the World takes me back to when a generation traveled the world with backpacks, motorcycles and VW buses. It is a travel log set in the late fifties, of two casual travelers in their early twenties, who set off on a trip from Europe to India to explore the backroads and see life in its essence as lived by the local people. The book paints the pictures of gypsys, artists, ...             Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece2 reviews Patrick Leigh Fermor John Murray Publishers Ltd, 2004 A beautiful book on Hellas All of Patrick Leigh Fermor's books are of an unusual beauty, but this is without doubt the most beautiful of all. But the author is not for just anyone. I have a friend who bought Roumeli and got only ten pages into it before deciding she didn't like it. But there are reasons for that. She has a journalism background and she lives in New York. Appreciating Leigh Fermor involves taking the time ...             The Cretan Runner: The Story of the German Occupation4 reviews George Psychoundakis Penguin UK, 1999 Cretan Runner. May we never forget. You will never read a story quite like this again. A true story, 59 years old, so full of inspiration and courage it will never leave you. A young shepherd boy whose homeland is invaded and ablaze, murder and desperation all around him, does all he can to help end the misery of his people... he runs. And the island of Crete is like no other place to run. With huge mountains, massive gorges ...             Between the Woods and the Water: On Foot to Constantinople: From The Middle Danube to the Iron Gates (New ...9 reviews Patrick Leigh Fermor NYRB Classics, 2005 Gar nichts! The title above is German for "Absolutely nothing!", Fermor's droll reply to "What are you studying?" when visiting a scholar with his newfound Transylvanian friend Istvan, who laughs about such blasphemy all the way back from the visit. The polymathic Fermor had contemplated his answer a few moments before answering-"Languages? Art? Geography? Folklore? Literature? None of them seemed to fit." ...             They Were Found Wanting (The Writing on the Wall: the Transylvanian Trilogy)1 review Miklos Banffy Arcadia Books, 2009 Continuing Banffy's Transylvanian Trilogy This volume continues the exploration of pre WWI Hungary - using the development of memorable characters to explain the political forces at work within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The characters are so sympathetic that I found myself reading the many pages devoted to the explanation of Hungarian politics out of a feeling of loyalty to Balint - much as a parent would listen devotedly to a ...             Between the Woods and the Water (John Murray Travel Classics)7 reviews Patrick Leigh Fermor John Murray, 2002 Exquisitely between two worlds Like most literary masterpieces this marvelous book has a outer vehicle that develops an inner theme. The vehicle is a journey on foot, horseback and barge across Europe in the 1930's when the author was 19. The inner theme is a resolution of polarities and opposites of all kinds. First there is the overriding polarity of solitude and company. He enjoys spending time with friends and friends of ...             Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece3 reviews Patrick Leigh FERMOR Harper & Row, 1966 Another Fermor Classic I first encountered Fermor in his riveting accounts of his walk across Europe as World War II began descending. I was fascinated by his encyclopedic and poetic narrative. He made you feel you were walking alongside him. Now, his travels take us to Roumeli, the old name for northern Greece and Macedonia. Again, Fermor takes us on a poetic and detailed odyssey through villages and rugged Greek ...             Mani3 reviews Patrick Leigh Fermor Harper, 1958 A WORLD OF NOW-VANISHED WONDERS MANI ... It is not for nothing that Patrick Leigh Fermor is generally considered the greatest living travel writer in English. Reading any one of his books, always a smooth, elegant and intellectually exciting undertaking, is to accept an invitation to the private world of a master observer of places and manners who is also pretty sharp in such areas of human endeavor as history, architecture, ...             Between the Woods and the Water5 reviews Patrick Leigh Fermor Viking Adult, 1986 Not just a travel book, it takes you through history, life As a restless young man in the 1930s, Patrick Leigh Fermor made a trip on foot from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople. As an older man, he returned to his diaries and wrote the account of his journey. This second of the series takes us from Budapest across the Hungarian plain and through the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania. It is much more than a travelogue, however: the book contains ...             The Violins of Saint Jacques (Twentieth-Century Classics)3 reviews Patrick Leigh Fermor, Simon Winchester Oxford University Press, USA, 1985 Perfect "Book Vacation" Patrick Leigh Fermor is better known for his Travel Non-Fiction works, all of which are wonderful, but this book is one of the few I know that I would describe as perfect. It is the kind of fiction that magically transports you to another place and time. The delicacy and evocative power of Fermor's narrative voice is perfect for a story that occupies (like Dunsany's Elfland)the gray and ...             THE TRAVELLER'S TREE2 reviews Patrick Leigh. Fermor John Murray., 1950 Vintage Fermor Warning: this book is so good that it will make you want to visit the Caribbean, even if you didn't want to before. Especially noteworthy are the book's detailed descriptions of Haitian voodoo ceremonies.             LOOSE AS THE WIND2 reviews Patrick Leigh Fermor Penguin Books, 1996 Our best travel writer This slender tome contains excerpts from a longer master work, a work that depicts the author's monumental walk, as a young man, from Ostend to Istanbul in 1932-3(?). The writing is elegantly terse and evocative (as usual). Of special interest is the author's account of his trip through southern Germany on the threshold of you-know-who. The world described in this doughty journey has mostly ...             A Time of Gifts8 reviews Patrick Leigh Fermor Harpercollins, 1977 Marvellous reading Patrick Leigh Fermor possesses the bard's gift, transporting his reader into the time and place he tells of. This wonderful book, which should be read along with "Between the Woods and the Water", recreates his travels across 1930s Europe in spell-binding fashion. He is at once wonderfully erudite and refreshingly spare of phrase. Another reviewer requested details of his exploits in war-time ...             Empty Throne Quest for an Imperial Heir2 reviews Tony Scotland Penguin Putnam~trade, 1994 Truly enjoyable As well as the author once did, I have often wondered about "who" was next in line after the Hsuan Tung Emperor (Aisin Gioro Pu-yi) and what happened to "Little Jui", his chosen heir, and Mr. Scotland's book offered an answer to these and many other questions. Besides, the book is very enjoyable to read, and gives the reader a most interesting view of many sides of today's China -as well as a ...             Three Letters from the Andes2 reviews Patrick Leigh Fermor John Murray Publishers Ltd, 2005 A 'pot boiler' but enjoyable nonetheless I enjoyed these letters only because I have to admire someone who can write letters as interesting and informative as this. Sadly though they are not on the same level as 'A Time of Gifts' or 'Between the Woods and the Water' in terms of historical content or romantic detachment. The book is simply a commentary of a trip Leigh Fermor and some friends of his made in the Andes, nothing of any ...             Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese (New York Review Books Classics)8 reviews Patrick Leigh Fermor NYRB Classics, 2006 Brilliant, heroic travel writing! What a marvelous book! And written by a true, heroic genius. Fermor, a still living legend, seems to have disdained self-promotion, but upon reading a few pages of this book, you realize you have encountered a rare individual. First, his writing. Encyclopedic, detailed, sensual, and imaginative. It exemplifies the finest characteristics of travel writing, and best of all, he explores a ...             Gigi, Julie de Carneilha, and Chance Acquaintances: Three Short Novels2 reviews Colette Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001 Collected Stories By A French Master Gabrielle Colette died in 1954. She is most famous for writing "Gigi" which became a Broadway musical and Oscar winning film. Gabrielle was a talented, gifted writer, with aesthetic skills and a charming perception of humans, particularily the society she grew up in early twentieth century France. A fascinating woman, she wrote mainly short stories, dealing with women coming of age, older women ...             A Time to Keep Silence (New York Review Books Classics)6 reviews Patrick Leigh Fermor NYRB Classics, 2007 Very enjoyable, very erudite Another great book by a great travel writer. This is a very quick read, but absolutely stuffed with erudition. For all but the most educated, it wouldn't hurt to read this with Wikipedia as a companion piece. As with his other travel books, the mix of architecture, history, linguistics, and an obvious personal touch lend an air of familiarity which, in the end, help give the impression that ...              search for books acquaintances, between, carneilha, century, classics, constantinople, counted, holland, imperial, jacques, letters, murray, northern, occupation, peloponnese, review, roumeli, silence, southern, throne, transylvanian, travel, traveller, travels, trilogy, twentieth, twentieth-century, violins, wanting, writing books:    Kindle - Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device This is the future of book reading. I have used it and love it! randomly chosen music: Handel - Almira / Monoyios, Rozario, Gerrard, Fiori musicali, Lawrence-King we recommend Best Overall Dive Manual home  impressum - about us