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A review by sethsb
Roumeli by Patrick Leigh Fermor
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.