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A review by duncanshaw
A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople: From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube by Patrick Leigh Fermor
adventurous
informative
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
This book was exactly my sort of book. I really enjoyed the adventurous aspect; the idea of just walking across a huge distance, across countries and landscapes. The descriptions of the landscape allow you to come with the author on his journey. But it wasn't just a travel book.
The cultural, historical, and artistic tangents were really interesting and added a whole new depth to the book that made it stand apart. They were so eloquently and well done. What I will say is that sometimes the descriptions or tangents were really quite technical or specific, so I found myself skimming them and not really taking them in, but I feel that was okay as most were genuinely intriguing and added to the journey and greater book.
I think the journey and book, especially the specific style of the book, was particularly enjoyable as I had little experience with the extremely historic areas he was traveling through. I loved discovering the culture and historical geography of these areas: Bavaria, Bohemia, Moravia, Swabia, etc. I also got to see the specific peoples and their interactions with other cultural and ethnic groups, often with the historical explanation for this provided articulately by the author, or the people he met.
Overall this was a gripping read. I enjoyed almost all of it and had a genuine sense of adventure while reading it. This adventure was accompanied by interest and intrigue in the places the author was passing through, just as the author did: he made it infectious. The descriptions were vivid and unique; the language and tone was eloquent and engaging... most of the time. There were occasions where it bordered on pretentiousness and I felt he would go on a little too long about something slightly too specific, to the point where I lost interest, and then he would just keep going! It sometimes felt like, as he lingered on something too long, it would break up the pace or excitement of the narrative, making me lose interest in the adventure slightly. In these instances, there was relief when he got going again. Despite this though (which is preventing it from getting 5 stars), the vast majority of the book was really amazing: would reccomend!
The cultural, historical, and artistic tangents were really interesting and added a whole new depth to the book that made it stand apart. They were so eloquently and well done. What I will say is that sometimes the descriptions or tangents were really quite technical or specific, so I found myself skimming them and not really taking them in, but I feel that was okay as most were genuinely intriguing and added to the journey and greater book.
I think the journey and book, especially the specific style of the book, was particularly enjoyable as I had little experience with the extremely historic areas he was traveling through. I loved discovering the culture and historical geography of these areas: Bavaria, Bohemia, Moravia, Swabia, etc. I also got to see the specific peoples and their interactions with other cultural and ethnic groups, often with the historical explanation for this provided articulately by the author, or the people he met.
Overall this was a gripping read. I enjoyed almost all of it and had a genuine sense of adventure while reading it. This adventure was accompanied by interest and intrigue in the places the author was passing through, just as the author did: he made it infectious. The descriptions were vivid and unique; the language and tone was eloquent and engaging... most of the time. There were occasions where it bordered on pretentiousness and I felt he would go on a little too long about something slightly too specific, to the point where I lost interest, and then he would just keep going! It sometimes felt like, as he lingered on something too long, it would break up the pace or excitement of the narrative, making me lose interest in the adventure slightly. In these instances, there was relief when he got going again. Despite this though (which is preventing it from getting 5 stars), the vast majority of the book was really amazing: would reccomend!