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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
I'm honestly not quite sure where to start with this. Early on, I found myself thinking about the author's arrogant privilege of being British, but the more I kept with it the more I found myself appreciating his love and open acceptance of the rural Romanians and Gypsies. And that alone, his consistent use of the term 'Gypsies' (Tsigani or Roma is more appropriate) grated on me over and over, despite his clear passionate appreciation for them.
That said, I really appreciated his innocent bravery, living with them, and giving us an inside look at some of them. I play Romanian, Hungarian and Roma music, and it's some of my favorite music and have had the fortune to hang out with Roma musicians when they were on tour. This gave me an additional look into their lives and, in retrospect, made me wonder even more at their journey that brought them here to the US to tour.
Along with his showing us Roma life, showing us the pastoral lives of other Romanians in Breb was just so lovely and special, and a bit surreal, like traveling back into the 1800's England and Thomas Hardy. I'm amazed that he was aware of the place, and savvy enough to choose to make that leap into that window of time right after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
I have friends that travelled there before then, folk dancers, and it makes me understand just a little more about how special their trips were. And now I envy them just a little, and want to go myself even though I know that it won't at all be the same.
That said, I really appreciated his innocent bravery, living with them, and giving us an inside look at some of them. I play Romanian, Hungarian and Roma music, and it's some of my favorite music and have had the fortune to hang out with Roma musicians when they were on tour. This gave me an additional look into their lives and, in retrospect, made me wonder even more at their journey that brought them here to the US to tour.
Along with his showing us Roma life, showing us the pastoral lives of other Romanians in Breb was just so lovely and special, and a bit surreal, like traveling back into the 1800's England and Thomas Hardy. I'm amazed that he was aware of the place, and savvy enough to choose to make that leap into that window of time right after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
I have friends that travelled there before then, folk dancers, and it makes me understand just a little more about how special their trips were. And now I envy them just a little, and want to go myself even though I know that it won't at all be the same.
It was a recommendation while travelling in Romania as it portrays village life in Transylvania but the author's obsession with gypsy women, one of whom was a child when they met, really put me off.
What a lovely book. Stylistically, William Blacker is not a great writer, but he makes up for any lack in that department with his obvious love for rural Romania, the country that he adopted as his home almost by accident. His descriptions of rural life evoke a lifestyle which disappeared centuries ago in other parts of Europe. It's startling to think that peasants continued living this simple, self-sufficient life throughout the massive upheavals of the 20th century -- making their own tools, clothes, and furniture with simple hand tools, keeping pigs, travelling by horse and cart, using money only to buy the odd bit of salt or sugar. This community survived Nazism and Communism, but it looks as if capitalism will finish it off in a generation. This quote summed it up for me:
His good fortune in meeting Mihai and Maria, effectively becoming the son they never had, is remarkable, and I was moved to tears at the end.
His other encounters are with gypsies, whom he gets closer to than most other non-gypsies, looking beyond the stereotypes to find real human beings. Glancingly, the book does evoke some of the upheavals that resulted in these Romanian gypsies wandering throughout Europe, where they suffer as much prejudice as they do at home.
(edit) Further thoughts: I read a review on Amazon that criticised Blacker for his simplistic dichotomy of "old ways good, new ways bad" and for not discussing the political situation in Romania. But I think that's a book for someone else to write. Here, William truly seems bewitched by the place and the people he meets (well, he does visit a white witch!) and the broader situation in the country completely passes him by in his remote valley: he is simply living life as he finds it.
Highly recommended.
In the evening we came down from the hill through the orchards with hoes and baskets on our shoulders. I was tired and in reflective mood. How long would it be, I wondered, before these strips were abandoned? How long would it be before most of the people of Breb were lured away to work abroad or in factories in the towns, and the village houses became the holiday homes of whey-faced city dwellers? Then some of those city-dwellers might pass by the fields where we had just been working and would say to each other, "Look! You see those raised strips? They are the remnants of the old medieval field system."
His good fortune in meeting Mihai and Maria, effectively becoming the son they never had, is remarkable, and I was moved to tears at the end.
His other encounters are with gypsies, whom he gets closer to than most other non-gypsies, looking beyond the stereotypes to find real human beings. Glancingly, the book does evoke some of the upheavals that resulted in these Romanian gypsies wandering throughout Europe, where they suffer as much prejudice as they do at home.
(edit) Further thoughts: I read a review on Amazon that criticised Blacker for his simplistic dichotomy of "old ways good, new ways bad" and for not discussing the political situation in Romania. But I think that's a book for someone else to write. Here, William truly seems bewitched by the place and the people he meets (well, he does visit a white witch!) and the broader situation in the country completely passes him by in his remote valley: he is simply living life as he finds it.
Highly recommended.
This was a well written and touching book. My interest level was more like 3 stars, but I did enjoy learning about Gypsies.
slow-paced
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Travel writing has never been so good. This Romanian-dedicated memoir by Blacker is truly captivating. The sights, smells, sounds, and experiences of our author all burst through the pages with astonishing realism - I felt I was there living his life with him. Thoroughly enchanting and reminiscent of a world long gone, this tale will hook you in on the first paragraph and not let you go even long after you have finished it. I've never wanted to move to a remote Romanian village more. The two sections of photos really bring home the notion that this isn't some historical fiction dreamed up in the mind of Blacker, no, this utterly delightful story took place in the last few decades. Emotional, nostalgic, thoughtful, an excellent book to have picked up at Cărturești Carusel.
Quitting on page 70.
This book is trash.
Go ahead.
Ask me why.
This book is trash.
Go ahead.
Ask me why.
I often enjoyed Blacker’s mixture of history and culture as he explores the Romanian countryside but I couldn’t overlook his privileged view of the “noble” peasants and gypsies.
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced