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Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
a lyrical meander through Europe The simple concept of this journey was to walk from the hook of Holland to Istanbul following the two main arteries of Europe: the Rhine and the Danube. The book was written from pre-war notebooks so some of the language is slightly unfamiliar at first. Once you get over your modern cynicism the gentle pace and detailed descriptions will pull you through the slowly changing landscape of Europe. You will feel the cold of blizzards through dense woodlands and then warm up to drink schnapps in a Bavarian Inn.... more info
Deserves its reputation as a classic At first I had trouble adjusting to Leigh Fermor's extremely descriptive style. He furnishes his writing with rarely-used words and is happy to hold up the story for pages while he sidetracks us with art historical or architectural speculations. However, his charm and learning prove irresistible. This is an unforgettable book.
A work of literature rather than a travel book Less of a travel book, more of a vehicle for the author's literary pretensions. His frequent descents into ponderous descriptions of architectural minutiae meant that I found myself skipping whole pages, something that is a rare event for me.
Great travel classic and much more Leigh Fermor's great classic is extraordinary. His language is immensely beautiful, but I beleive that the secret to understand the book is that he is actually painting pictures with words. There are some great set pieces: the walk in Holland, breakfast in Rottterdam, the cold, the chateau life he began to lead after Munich. He is a polymath and the book is not really travel literature at all, or if it is, it is of a totally different order to anything I have ever read. Will Leigh Fermor write the promised... more info
