A Time of Gifts: "one of the great masters of English prose at the height of his powers", (Literary Review); "the grandeurs, the courtesies, all are recalled with a sweep and verve that are almost majestic", The Spectator; "A masterpiece", Jan Morris...
Never judge a book by it's cover. This book group failed to be impressed by PLF's poetic prose, love of big words and obscure architectural terms. Tellingly, I thought, only one member had actually finished it. This represents something of a record. It limited the discussion of the book and pretty swiftly we were on to the Jimmy Saville scandal, Donald Trump's bullying ways in the North East and that fantasy programme with lots of boobs in it that Thomas(Game of Thrones) likes to watch.
The book's proponant Martin had really enjoyed the first 40pages he'd read although there was a hint of suspicion that they had caused him a migraine too.
Thomas evinced a genuine admiration for the man though once more seemed to have been reading a different book having got stuck into Artemis Cooper's new HB biography of the man & regaled us with tales of PLF's daring exploits as a guerilla fighter in Corfu during WW2. TQ was also impressed by the effect this book would have had on its publication with its praise for German people at a time when Basil Fawlty's "don't mention the war" attitude still prevailed on these shores. With his tabloid hack background Thomas distilled PLF's travel masterpiece into 'a "shag-athon" across Europe' and sniffed out possible cover-ups in the narrative where the young protaganist had clearly bedded several of the young female supporting characters met along the way.(Surprisingly no reference to homosexuality, necrophilia or boy scouts were made. Give it time).
Lisa voiced the communal feeling of the group that many passages of the book were difficult to understand and quipped that the explanatory footnotes needed footnotes themself!
No one had the courage to come out and say it was awful- Arabella was in self-imposed quarantine- but George's discreet silence & self-confessed 'difficulty with travel books' and Mark's polite praise were damning enough.
It is no secret that I like this book immensely and rate it amongst my all time favourites.
This is a rich book full of detail- perhaps too much. Architecture, art, history, language, geography, ethnology all come into the mix. It is a glimpse of a Europe poised between two great conflicts. It is a marvellously recalled account of a young man's coming of age: "articulate enthusiasm". It is an insight into the relationship between a 60yr old narrator and his teenage self which reminds one of Beckett's monologue "Krapp's Last Tape". It is an exercise in detecting how much of the story is accurate, how much is made up & how much of it has been polished and perfected over countless dinner parties over the intervening 30years.
Above all it is an unashamed romp through the marvellous lexicon of the English language.The author doesn't always strike the balance right but when he does the prose scintillates, his choice of words is perfect and ideas and thoughts are expressed and interlock with breath-taking poetry and clarity.
(Ok now shoot me.)
***I did think of posting this in a Cyrillic Font in honour of PLF but the blog doesn't have this option***
Never judge a book by it's cover. This book group failed to be impressed by PLF's poetic prose, love of big words and obscure architectural terms. Tellingly, I thought, only one member had actually finished it. This represents something of a record. It limited the discussion of the book and pretty swiftly we were on to the Jimmy Saville scandal, Donald Trump's bullying ways in the North East and that fantasy programme with lots of boobs in it that Thomas(Game of Thrones) likes to watch.
The book's proponant Martin had really enjoyed the first 40pages he'd read although there was a hint of suspicion that they had caused him a migraine too.
Thomas evinced a genuine admiration for the man though once more seemed to have been reading a different book having got stuck into Artemis Cooper's new HB biography of the man & regaled us with tales of PLF's daring exploits as a guerilla fighter in Corfu during WW2. TQ was also impressed by the effect this book would have had on its publication with its praise for German people at a time when Basil Fawlty's "don't mention the war" attitude still prevailed on these shores. With his tabloid hack background Thomas distilled PLF's travel masterpiece into 'a "shag-athon" across Europe' and sniffed out possible cover-ups in the narrative where the young protaganist had clearly bedded several of the young female supporting characters met along the way.(Surprisingly no reference to homosexuality, necrophilia or boy scouts were made. Give it time).
Lisa voiced the communal feeling of the group that many passages of the book were difficult to understand and quipped that the explanatory footnotes needed footnotes themself!
No one had the courage to come out and say it was awful- Arabella was in self-imposed quarantine- but George's discreet silence & self-confessed 'difficulty with travel books' and Mark's polite praise were damning enough.
It is no secret that I like this book immensely and rate it amongst my all time favourites.
This is a rich book full of detail- perhaps too much. Architecture, art, history, language, geography, ethnology all come into the mix. It is a glimpse of a Europe poised between two great conflicts. It is a marvellously recalled account of a young man's coming of age: "articulate enthusiasm". It is an insight into the relationship between a 60yr old narrator and his teenage self which reminds one of Beckett's monologue "Krapp's Last Tape". It is an exercise in detecting how much of the story is accurate, how much is made up & how much of it has been polished and perfected over countless dinner parties over the intervening 30years.
Above all it is an unashamed romp through the marvellous lexicon of the English language.The author doesn't always strike the balance right but when he does the prose scintillates, his choice of words is perfect and ideas and thoughts are expressed and interlock with breath-taking poetry and clarity.
(Ok now shoot me.)
John, were you writing this on an old fashioned mobile phone with keys, or did one of the children show you how to use a computer?
ReplyDeleteWell done on posting such a succinct summary of an evening of ribaldry and fun. I particularly liked it when George stood up and shouted: "For Harry and For England" at the nonplussed waitress.
Fermor will never make my top ten or my desert island books, but nevertheless I thought it a valuable and important addition to our book group list.
And, no doubt, a bit cheerier than the next one. Come on McCarthy.... give it all ya got!
Wax tablet Thomas. I upgraded from my old sand one. Then yes the kids transcribed it using Google Translate Antediluvian Fossil Speak--> Plain English.
ReplyDelete