Discover Greece — a country that has inspired centuries of travel — through its best modern writers. Against a superb landscape of islands, rocks, caves, villages, windmills, vineyards, cities, ports, beaches, and ruins, all bathed in the rich light of the Mediterranean, these twenty-four stories draw from the long oral and written evolution of the Greek literary tradition. Incorporating myths, the meditative tranquillity of the region, and a past full of struggle and civil war, these stories are arranged by geographical region for the traveler and provide an enriching odyssey through the Greek landscape and mind. Contributors include Elli Alexiou, Melpo Axioti, Odysseus Elytis, Michel Faïs, Eugenia Fakinou, Rhea Galanaki, Marios Hakkas, Dimitris Hatzis, Nikos Kazantzakis, Margarita Karapanou, Alexandra Papadopoulou, George Seferis, Vassilis Vassilikos, Ilias Venezis, Leonidas Zenakos, Yiorgos Chouliaras, Georgios Drosinis, Yorgos Ioannou, Christoforos Milionis, Kostas Ouranis, Thanassis Valtinos, Eva Vlami, and Manolis Xexakis.
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Greece is a heady experience, with the hot sun and whitewashed homes, the sea, the food and people, the ruins, culture, and history. No matter which guide books one takes and how well versed one is in Homer and Sophocles, who doesn't sail into Piraéus feeling woefully ill-prepared to appreciate the glories of Greece? The 24 finely crafted short stories by modern Greek writers (many appear in English for the first time), arranged geographically (by Athens, the Peloponnese, Crete, and so on), help weave together some understanding of ancient, literary, and modern Greece.
From Library Journal
The value of this work is in its Greekness: a selection of 24 pieces?stories, essays, and vignettes?that offer a lesson in contemporary Greek history and modern mythology. These are not views of a country by outsiders or expatriates-in-residence. The writers are all 20th-century literary figures in Greece, including two Nobel laureates (George Seferis and Odysseas Elytis) and Nikos Kazantzakis, best known to Western readers for his Zorba the Greek. Collectively, these writers reveal the rich complexity and mystery of the country. Editor Leontis has arranged the work by regions, which is especially handy for the traveler. Author biographies are included at the end of the book. This region is not easily understood, as illustrated in the brief piece by Manolis Xexakis titled "The Smile from the Abyss," in which village women wash the skulls of the dead on Saturday of the Souls?a simple act with a complicated history. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.?Janet N. Ross, Sparks Branch Lib., Nev.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hidden Literary Treasures,
By Alekos (Cancun, Quintana Roo Mexico) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Greece: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Traveler's Literary Companions) (Paperback)
Artemis Leontis deserves a lot of credit for compiling these twenty-four short pieces of prose transaltion. Among them we find selections by Elytis, Seferis, and Kazantzakis, but also some stunningly attractive pieces by other less well-known names. The editor says in her introduction that collections of contemporary Greek prose in English translation are scarce. If that is true, it's a real pity, because most of these selections are gems of the short story form and those that are not fiction are laden with ideas and forms of expression that dazzle one with their originality, grasp of history, and understanding of life. Elli Alexiou takes us back to the unfortunate exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey and shows us people of both ethnicities who were neighbors and friends and loved and respected one another. They say good bye at the dock knowing they will never see each other again, and they promise to write. The narrator's mother promises to take good care of the grave in which the Turkish family has buried their little son. She writes every now and then to tell them how the flowers around the grave blossom each year in due season. When the Turkish cemetery is bulldozed to make way for an apartment complex, she doesn't have the heart to tell them so, and keeps on writing year after year that the grave is still beautiful. Eugenia Fakinou looks at the City of Athens and the first day in a big city school through the eyes of a little girl who has been transplanted from the Island of Symi. Supposing, correctly, that the reader can interpret the experience for himself, the writer limits herself to recording the child's impressions and perceptions. Beautifully done. Dimitris Hatzis tells us about a tanner in Yioannina who slowly and painfully comes to realize that he himself is not necessarily a failure, but that the times have changed along with technologies and viewpoints and he has no choice but to make necessary adjustments. In the offerings by the three well known writers mentioned above, there are quite a few quotable sentences that make the reader stop and consider why and in what sense they express deep truth. All these selections are beautiful. They explore various apects of modern Greek life, urban and rural, and they examine, poetically, what most readers will acknowledge to be universal human values. For future editions, the editor might consider changing the books's title. As it is now, it gives the impression of being a guide book, while in fact it is something much more important, namely, a literary treasure trove.
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
review,
By A Customer
This review is from: Greece: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Traveler's Literary Companions) (Paperback)
This book is exactly what it says it is, a traveler's literary companion. It is filled with wonderfully written short stories which take place in various regions of Greece. I read this book as I was traveling in Greece and it enriched my visit there. The stories reveal a lot about the Greek people, their history, and their culture. The quality of the writing is excellent. The introduction to the book says it better than I could. "Good stories reveal as much, or more, about a locale as any map or guidebook...Books from Whereabouts Press are essential companions for the curious traveler, and for the person who appreciates how fine writing enhances one's experience in the world.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful guide through Greece!,
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This review is from: Greece: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Traveler's Literary Companions) (Paperback)
I bought this book as a gift for my Mother. She is planing a trip to Greece for next year. This book is walking her through everything from food, to hotels, to all the attractions one must see while there. A perfect gift!
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