This beloved account about an intrepid young Englishman on the first leg of his walk from London to Constantinople is simply one of the best works of travel literature ever written. At the age of eighteen, Patrick Leigh Fermor set off from the heart of London on an epic journey—to walk to Constantinople. A Time of Gifts is the rich account of his adventures as far as Hungary, after which Between the Woods and the Water continues the story to the Iron Gates that divide the Carpathian and Balkan mountains. Acclaimed for its sweep and intelligence, Leigh Fermor’s book explores a remarkable moment in time. Hitler has just come to power but war is still ahead, as he walks through a Europe soon to be forever changed—through the Lowlands to Mitteleuropa, to Teutonic and Slav heartlands, through the baroque remains of the Holy Roman Empire; up the Rhine, and down to the Danube. At once a memoir of coming-of-age, an account of a journey, and a dazzling exposition of the English language, A Time of Gifts is also a portrait of a continent already showing ominous signs of the holocaust to come.
Trilogie Reeks
Deze epische reisverslag-trilogie volgt een jonge man op zijn avontuurlijke voettocht door Europa naar Constantinopel, gedreven door een diep verlangen naar ontdekking. Slapend in zowel nederige schuilplaatsen als in weelderige landhuizen, begint hij aan een reis vol onverwachte ontmoetingen en poëtische contemplatie. De serie combineert meesterlijk historische landschappen met persoonlijke reflecties en vangt een diep gevoel van 'Sehnsucht' – een verlangen naar het onbekende. Het is een levendige viering van jeugd, exploratie en de grenzeloze avontuurlijke geest.
Aanbevolen leesvolgorde
Between the Woods and the Water
- 256bladzijden
- 9 uur lezen
Recounts the author's 1933 journey down the Danube to Budapest and then across the Hungarian Plain into Transylvania
The Broken Road. Die unterbrochene Reise, englische Ausgabe
- 384bladzijden
- 14 uur lezen
The long-awaited final volume of the trilogy by Patrick Leigh Fermor. A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water were the first two volumes in a projected trilogy that would describe the walk that Patrick Leigh Fermor undertook at the age of eighteen from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople. 'When are you going to finish Vol. III?' was the cry from his fans; but although he wished he could, the words refused to come. The curious thing was that he had not only written an early draft of the last part of the walk, but that it predated the other two. It remains unfinished but The Broken Road - edited and introduced by Colin Thubron and Artemis Cooper - completes an extraordinary journey.