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halfmanhalfbook's review against another edition
4.0
If you were to pop the name of Roumeli into Google maps then all it would bring up is a tiny place on the island of Kriti. For Patrick Leigh Fermor though this name brought to mind an entirely different region of Greece. For him, it is the northern counterpart to the southern Mani and is the ancient name for the lands that went from the Bosphorus to the Adriatic and from Macedonia to the Gulf of Corinth.
Even though this region isn’t known by that exotic and slightly mysterious name now, the people and places that formed it are still there, and Leigh Fermor is there to tease the stories out from them. He begins in Alexandroupolis, a town that normally elicits a groan from the civil servants who have had the misfortune to be posted there, but he had grown to like it partly because it was the first Greek town that he stayed in after a few years absence. But in this town, amongst the bored civil servants, walked a man dressed mostly in black with curving shoes that had a pompom on the end. He was a Sarakatsan shepherd and he was as out of place as a wolf walking through the streets.
This nomadic style of life still existed; part of the population moved from one area to another seeks grazing for their flocks. This practice had been honed over hundreds if not thousands of years and the rituals and traditions were deeply embedded in their culture. Even though the orthodox church had a certain amount of influence over peoples lives, the pagan spirits of old inhabited the land and still need to be placated and resisted.
This book is full of stories like this, a visit to a substantial house of yellow stone to shoes of Lord Byron, rising at dawn to travel by bus to the hinterland of Aetolia, climbing up the steps to the monastery perched onto of rocks and learning that guests used to be winched up, and the rope was only changed when it broke. This is a wide-ranging series of encounters and vignettes as he travels around the region. You can tell he deeply loves this country from the evocative writing as he travels through the landscape. As I have come to expect, it is such beautiful writing from Leigh Fermor. However, I think I of the two Mani just has the edge for me. But this is still a really special book.
Even though this region isn’t known by that exotic and slightly mysterious name now, the people and places that formed it are still there, and Leigh Fermor is there to tease the stories out from them. He begins in Alexandroupolis, a town that normally elicits a groan from the civil servants who have had the misfortune to be posted there, but he had grown to like it partly because it was the first Greek town that he stayed in after a few years absence. But in this town, amongst the bored civil servants, walked a man dressed mostly in black with curving shoes that had a pompom on the end. He was a Sarakatsan shepherd and he was as out of place as a wolf walking through the streets.
This nomadic style of life still existed; part of the population moved from one area to another seeks grazing for their flocks. This practice had been honed over hundreds if not thousands of years and the rituals and traditions were deeply embedded in their culture. Even though the orthodox church had a certain amount of influence over peoples lives, the pagan spirits of old inhabited the land and still need to be placated and resisted.
This book is full of stories like this, a visit to a substantial house of yellow stone to shoes of Lord Byron, rising at dawn to travel by bus to the hinterland of Aetolia, climbing up the steps to the monastery perched onto of rocks and learning that guests used to be winched up, and the rope was only changed when it broke. This is a wide-ranging series of encounters and vignettes as he travels around the region. You can tell he deeply loves this country from the evocative writing as he travels through the landscape. As I have come to expect, it is such beautiful writing from Leigh Fermor. However, I think I of the two Mani just has the edge for me. But this is still a really special book.
jonfaith's review against another edition
4.0
A swaddled baby in a hewn cradle like a little trough rested across her lap; it had been slung across her back like a papoose when she got in.
What a wonderful albeit strange journey, or a monument, perhaps, to several journeys or perhaps to the craggy landscape which inspired such. [b:The Songlines|76844|The Songlines|Bruce Chatwin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1642295317l/76844._SX50_.jpg|1379779] owes much to this work, given his proclivities, perhaps Chatwin slipped the essence into his pocket and fleshed out his own ideas on nomadism.
Roumeli picks up steam in a shepherds wedding and shimmers in incandescence in the pursuit of Lord Byron's shoes. This book is both mournful and reverent. It might be a better point of entry readers than [b:A Time of Gifts|253984|A Time of Gifts (Trilogy, #1)|Patrick Leigh Fermor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1632510834l/253984._SY75_.jpg|2636997] though obviously Fermor isn't for everyone. I feel enriched. Events alter us and then leave us changed but ever forgetting. I was thinking of the time Edward Thomas spent with Robert Frost earlier, how such links across time.
What a wonderful albeit strange journey, or a monument, perhaps, to several journeys or perhaps to the craggy landscape which inspired such. [b:The Songlines|76844|The Songlines|Bruce Chatwin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1642295317l/76844._SX50_.jpg|1379779] owes much to this work, given his proclivities, perhaps Chatwin slipped the essence into his pocket and fleshed out his own ideas on nomadism.
Roumeli picks up steam in a shepherds wedding and shimmers in incandescence in the pursuit of Lord Byron's shoes. This book is both mournful and reverent. It might be a better point of entry readers than [b:A Time of Gifts|253984|A Time of Gifts (Trilogy, #1)|Patrick Leigh Fermor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1632510834l/253984._SY75_.jpg|2636997] though obviously Fermor isn't for everyone. I feel enriched. Events alter us and then leave us changed but ever forgetting. I was thinking of the time Edward Thomas spent with Robert Frost earlier, how such links across time.
africker's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed sections of this book but the content on legends etc dragged for me.
sethsb's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
Roumeli is a travel memoir with deep cultural insight into the Greek people. Fermor dedicated his life's work to learning the language, lifestyles, and folklore of Greece. Roumeli ties together a boundless expanse to show the character of its inhabitants.
Far from the misconception of modern inhabitants living in ancient cities, Fermor begins with a shepherd people whose memory goes farther back than vase-painted Athens. The black wearing nomads known as the Sarakatsan once migrated to winter pastures and lived on what they carried. Fermer attended a wedding feast, the air filled with their songs of bygone eras. In mountainous strongholds, the Orthodox monasteries give another view of Greece. The author hoists the reader by rope into the humble courtyard of the Meteora. By candlelight, under a panoply of saints, the priests intone their liturgy. What does it mean to be Greek? The author reveals a personality more defined by Byzantium than by the Parthenon. There is a connection to Eastern Rome that survives through the church. Heroes of Greek independence embody this identity as Romioi more than the western view of neo-classical Hellenes. By detour into Crete, he catalogues the oratory history still remembered in the folk tale of Eritokritos. In his native England, Fermor visited a descendant of Byron, O Vyron as he has been adopted, and it sent him on a quest to locate a pair of the poet's old shoes. Elsewhere, down a sun-blasted hillside, he visited the eclectic Kravara region, found hospitality despite poverty, and traces soujourns north into foreign lands.
Fermor exhibits great skill in recall, research, journalism, and his ability to absorb language. This was built over years from his adventures in the 30's and his participation in the resistance in WWII, which is noble in its own right. These microhistories are important to record, but one must consider the balance between history and legend. He posits a theory that the Sarakatsan are frozen in time from before urbanization, which invites engagement. In his treatment of monks in the monasteries, he leaves the creaking floorboards with the impression that they will float into disarray. His final chapter is an artistic epilogue, but is the very jumble of place names that are roadblocks to unfamiliar readers. Fermor does Greece a service by interpreting stories for an English-speaking audience. The book reveals further layers of a culture that many think they already know. Roumeli is a charming book to embark on a guided adventure into the 20th century mindset of the Greek people.
Far from the misconception of modern inhabitants living in ancient cities, Fermor begins with a shepherd people whose memory goes farther back than vase-painted Athens. The black wearing nomads known as the Sarakatsan once migrated to winter pastures and lived on what they carried. Fermer attended a wedding feast, the air filled with their songs of bygone eras. In mountainous strongholds, the Orthodox monasteries give another view of Greece. The author hoists the reader by rope into the humble courtyard of the Meteora. By candlelight, under a panoply of saints, the priests intone their liturgy. What does it mean to be Greek? The author reveals a personality more defined by Byzantium than by the Parthenon. There is a connection to Eastern Rome that survives through the church. Heroes of Greek independence embody this identity as Romioi more than the western view of neo-classical Hellenes. By detour into Crete, he catalogues the oratory history still remembered in the folk tale of Eritokritos. In his native England, Fermor visited a descendant of Byron, O Vyron as he has been adopted, and it sent him on a quest to locate a pair of the poet's old shoes. Elsewhere, down a sun-blasted hillside, he visited the eclectic Kravara region, found hospitality despite poverty, and traces soujourns north into foreign lands.
Fermor exhibits great skill in recall, research, journalism, and his ability to absorb language. This was built over years from his adventures in the 30's and his participation in the resistance in WWII, which is noble in its own right. These microhistories are important to record, but one must consider the balance between history and legend. He posits a theory that the Sarakatsan are frozen in time from before urbanization, which invites engagement. In his treatment of monks in the monasteries, he leaves the creaking floorboards with the impression that they will float into disarray. His final chapter is an artistic epilogue, but is the very jumble of place names that are roadblocks to unfamiliar readers. Fermor does Greece a service by interpreting stories for an English-speaking audience. The book reveals further layers of a culture that many think they already know. Roumeli is a charming book to embark on a guided adventure into the 20th century mindset of the Greek people.
mimika9's review against another edition
5.0
Leigh Fermor is remarkable in every way. His command of the English language is thrilling.
fourtriplezed's review against another edition
3.0
I have been thinking about this book for days. Some sections, (are they chapters?) stand out. The first, The Black Departers, was so impressive I reread it immediately. The Monasteries in the Air was as enthralling. But for long periods after it all became a touch dense, hard work and even tedious. Sounds of the Greek World ended the book nicely but it was too late.
Thinking about it now I had read 4 PLF books in a row and had been enthralled. Maybe this was one too many? Maybe I will reread it in years to come and wonder what it was I missed. I hope so.
Thinking about it now I had read 4 PLF books in a row and had been enthralled. Maybe this was one too many? Maybe I will reread it in years to come and wonder what it was I missed. I hope so.
halfmanhalfbook's review against another edition
4.0
If you were to pop the name of Roumeli into Google maps then all it would bring up is a tiny place on the island of Kriti. For Patrick Leigh Fermor though this name brought to mind an entirely different region of Greece. For him, it is the northern counterpart to the southern Mani and is the ancient name for the lands that went from the Bosphorus to the Adriatic and from Macedonia to the Gulf of Corinth.
Even though this region isn’t known by that exotic and slightly mysterious name now, the people and places that formed it are still there, and Leigh Fermor is there to tease the stories out from them. He begins in Alexandroupolis, a town that normally elicits a groan from the civil servants who have had the misfortune to be posted there, but he had grown to like it partly because it was the first Greek town that he stayed in after a few years absence. But in this town, amongst the bored civil servants, walked a man dressed mostly in black with curving shoes that had a pompom on the end. He was a Sarakatsan shepherd and he was as out of place as a wolf walking through the streets.
This nomadic style of life still existed; part of the population moved from one area to another seeks grazing for their flocks. This practice had been honed over hundreds if not thousands of years and the rituals and traditions were deeply embedded in their culture. Even though the orthodox church had a certain amount of influence over peoples lives, the pagan spirits of old inhabited the land and still need to be placated and resisted.
This book is full of stories like this, a visit to a substantial house of yellow stone to shoes of Lord Byron, rising at dawn to travel by bus to the hinterland of Aetolia, climbing up the steps to the monastery perched onto of rocks and learning that guests used to be winched up, and the rope was only changed when it broke. This is a wide-ranging series of encounters and vignettes as he travels around the region. You can tell he deeply loves this country from the evocative writing as he travels through the landscape. As I have come to expect, it is such beautiful writing from Leigh Fermor. However, I think I of the two Mani just has the edge for me. But this is still a really special book.
Even though this region isn’t known by that exotic and slightly mysterious name now, the people and places that formed it are still there, and Leigh Fermor is there to tease the stories out from them. He begins in Alexandroupolis, a town that normally elicits a groan from the civil servants who have had the misfortune to be posted there, but he had grown to like it partly because it was the first Greek town that he stayed in after a few years absence. But in this town, amongst the bored civil servants, walked a man dressed mostly in black with curving shoes that had a pompom on the end. He was a Sarakatsan shepherd and he was as out of place as a wolf walking through the streets.
This nomadic style of life still existed; part of the population moved from one area to another seeks grazing for their flocks. This practice had been honed over hundreds if not thousands of years and the rituals and traditions were deeply embedded in their culture. Even though the orthodox church had a certain amount of influence over peoples lives, the pagan spirits of old inhabited the land and still need to be placated and resisted.
This book is full of stories like this, a visit to a substantial house of yellow stone to shoes of Lord Byron, rising at dawn to travel by bus to the hinterland of Aetolia, climbing up the steps to the monastery perched onto of rocks and learning that guests used to be winched up, and the rope was only changed when it broke. This is a wide-ranging series of encounters and vignettes as he travels around the region. You can tell he deeply loves this country from the evocative writing as he travels through the landscape. As I have come to expect, it is such beautiful writing from Leigh Fermor. However, I think I of the two Mani just has the edge for me. But this is still a really special book.
kingjason's review against another edition
3.0
Patrick Leigh Fermor comes across as a master of language, picking up new dialects and quickly getting to grips with made up languages. He also comes across being part of the British Empire, he fully immerses himself in the culture but steps back a bit in his writing. He meets some very interesting groups, some on the verge of disappearing altogether as Greece embraces the modern world, he gets them to reveal secrets about their people and to tell some great stories. When writing these bits there is a lot of passion in the writing, as soon as he moves on to what he is doing or where he is going the writing becomes very clinical, he will happily reel of names of people, places, language that they use and he goes very in-depth with the history of a place. I found it hard going at times, desperately wanting to skip ahead but sticking with it incase I missed something.
The book is an enjoyable read if you stick with it, hearing stories by Uncle Elias is well worth it. There is a wonderful map at the beginning featuring countries that no longer exist, seeing Yoguslavia on a map is quite a shocker. This is the first book I've read by Fermor so it probably just takes a while to get into his work, personally I prefer it when the writer becomes part of the story, I am intrigued to read more by him. This is a good read and would get 3.5 stars if I did half stars....but I don't.
Blog Review> https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2019/07/09/roumeli-by-patrick-leigh-fermor/
The book is an enjoyable read if you stick with it, hearing stories by Uncle Elias is well worth it. There is a wonderful map at the beginning featuring countries that no longer exist, seeing Yoguslavia on a map is quite a shocker. This is the first book I've read by Fermor so it probably just takes a while to get into his work, personally I prefer it when the writer becomes part of the story, I am intrigued to read more by him. This is a good read and would get 3.5 stars if I did half stars....but I don't.
Blog Review> https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2019/07/09/roumeli-by-patrick-leigh-fermor/