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Patrick Leigh Fermor

A Time to Keep Silence (New York Review Books Classics) Paperback – October 30, 2007

by Patrick Leigh Fermor (Author), Karen Armstrong (Introduction)

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While still a teenager, Patrick Leigh Fermor made his way across Europe, as recounted in his classic memoirs, A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water. During World War II, he fought with local partisans against the Nazi occupiers of Crete. But in A Time to Keep Silence, Leigh Fermor writes about a more inward journey, describing his several sojourns in some of Europe’s oldest and most venerable monasteries. He stays at the Abbey of St. Wandrille, a great repository of art and learning; at Solesmes, famous for its revival of Gregorian chant; and at the deeply ascetic Trappist monastery of La Grande Trappe, where monks take a vow of silence. Finally, he visits the rock monasteries of Cappadocia, hewn from the stony spires of a moonlike landscape, where he seeks some trace of the life of the earliest Christian anchorites.

More than a history or travel journal, however, this beautiful short book is a meditation on the meaning of silence and solitude for modern life. Leigh Fermor writes, “In the seclusion of a cell—an existence whose quietness is only varied by the silent meals, the solemnity of ritual, and long solitary walks in the woods—the troubled waters of the mind grow still and clear, and much that is hidden away and all that clouds it floats to the surface and can be skimmed away; and after a time one reaches a state of peace that is unthought of in the ordinary world.”

Print length

96 pages
Language

English
Publisher

NYRB Classics
Publication date

October 30, 2007
Dimensions

4.98 x 0.29 x 7.97 inches
ISBN-10

1590172442
ISBN-13

978-1590172445
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	A Time of Gifts	Between the Woods and the Water	The Broken Road	A Time to Keep Silence	Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese	Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece
About this book	In this work, Patrick Leigh Fermor recounts the first leg of a 1934 cross-continental walk.	Patrick Leigh Fermor recounts the second leg of his 1934 trek to Constantinople.	The third and final volume of Patrick Leigh Fermor's legendary trek across Europe.	Patrick Leigh Fermor chronicles his several sojourns in some of Europe's oldest and most celebrated monasteries.	Patrick Leigh Fermor on his journeys amongst the peoples of the southern-most parts of Greece.	Patrick Leigh Fermor tells of his wanderings in and around Northern Greece.


	The Traveller's Tree: A Journey through the Caribbean Islands	The Violins of Saint-Jacques	Patrick Leigh Fermor: A Life in Letters	In Tearing Haste: Letters between Deborah Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor	Abducting a General: The Kreipe Operation in Crete	Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure
About this book	Patrick Leigh Fermor on his travels around the Caribbean.	Patrick Leigh Fermor's only novel, about disaster on a small, fictional island.	Letters spanning almost seventy years of Patrick Leigh Fermor's life.	The punchy correspondence between Patrick Leigh Fermor and Deborah Mitford, the Duchess of Devonshire.	Patrick Leigh Fermor's account of kidnapping General Kreipe, the German commander in Crete, on April 26, 1944.	Artemis Cooper's celebrated biography of the intrepid travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Delightful…His book is not only an admirable piece of travel writing; it is also a brilliant piece of human exploration." — The New Statesman

"Prose lapidary and evocative enough to please even the hardiest skeptic." — The Washington Post

"His shortest book (and to my mind his best)…its hammered terseness is…a good match for the sobriety of the subject." — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

"Fermor writes logbooks of discovery, keenly meandering through architecture, music, art, history and the minutiae of everyday life…[His] erudition and courage are matched by his discerning compassion, which shapes the probing character sketches that populate his books, including A Time to Keep Silence." — Los Angeles Times

"A most successful attempt to portray the reactions of the man of the world (in the literal sense) when confronted with the monastic life." — Daily Telegraph (UK)

Praise for Patrick Leigh Fermor:

"One of the greatest travel writers of all time”–The Sunday Times

“A unique mixture of hero, historian, traveler and writer; the last and the greatest of a generation whose like we won't see again.”–Geographical

“The finest traveling companion we could ever have . . . His head is stocked with enough cultural lore and poetic fancy to make every league an adventure.” –Evening Standard

If all Europe were laid waste tomorrow, one might do worse than attempt to recreate it, or at least to preserve some sense of historical splendor and variety, by immersing oneself in the travel books of Patrick Leigh Fermor.”—Ben Downing, The Paris Review

About the Author

Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011) was an intrepid traveler, a heroic soldier, and a writer with a unique prose style. After his stormy schooldays, followed by the walk across Europe to Constantinople that begins in A Time of Gifts (1977) and continues through Between the Woods and the Water (1986), he lived and traveled in the Balkans and the Greek Archipelago. His books Mani (1958) and Roumeli (1966) attest to his deep interest in languages and remote places. In the Second World War he joined the Irish Guards, became a liaison ofﬁcer in Albania, and fought in Greece and Crete. He was awarded the DSO and OBE. He lived partly in Greece—in the house he designed with his wife, Joan, in an olive grove in the Mani—and partly in Worcestershire. He was knighted in 2004 for his services to literature and to British–Greek relations.

Karen Armstrong, a historian of religion, spent seven years in a Roman Catholic religious order; she has written about this experience in Through the Narrow Gate and The Spiral Staircase. She is also the author of many books, including A History of God, The Great Transformation, and, most recently, The Bible: A Biography.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ NYRB Classics; Illustrated edition (October 30, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1590172442
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1590172445
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.98 x 0.29 x 7.97 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #246,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #391 in General Europe Travel Guides
- #403 in Travel Writing Reference
- #723 in Travelogues & Travel Essays

Customer Reviews:
4.3 317 ratings

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ScrawnyPunk

Very enjoyable, very erudite

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 18, 2008

Verified Purchase

Another great book by a great travel writer. This is a very quick read, but absolutely stuffed with erudition. For all but the most educated, it wouldn't hurt to read this with Wikipedia as a companion piece. As with his other travel books, the mix of architecture, history, linguistics, and an obvious personal touch lend an air of familiarity which, in the end, help give the impression that you have experienced these things yourself.

I once read a review which stated this book concluded that the vow of silence and other retreats from secular life were not effective or warranted in some circumstances. In my opinion, this conclusion was not reached by the author. The opposite appears to be true - Fermor's return to secular life seemed to be more traumatic than his adjustment period during his first visit. His understanding is remarkable and serves as a good lesson to the casual reader - his hosts honestly believe they are suffering in order to atone for the sins of the world, and they ask for nothing in return.

33 people found this helpful

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Not done yet...

A retreat you can carry in your pocket

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 5, 2017

Verified Purchase

I had to read this book for a book group—and absolutely loved it. It's like a little retreat that you can carry around in your pocket. Fermor describes the physical effects of being temporarily secluded in a cloistered monastery rather than the spiritual ones, but even those are very powerful, and they produce a deep effect on the reader. To his great surprise, the only regret that he ever heard from any of the monks was that they waited too long to join.
Unusual in that it was written by an agnostic, it has the beauty of seeing through the eyes of a true outsider. But agnostic though he was, Fermor was a poet with a keen eye and an appreciation for love and beauty that is not sullied by cynicism. My book came via Sweden Post, and is evidently the UK version. It lacks the pompous, bland, and nearsighted introduction by Karen Armstrong (which accompanies the American version). That intro has about the same effect as trying to visit a beautiful cathedral with someone who won't stop talking. This book does not need an introduction.

19 people found this helpful

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Carolyn Simons

Understanding acceptance

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 5, 2013

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Patrick Leigh Fermor needed quiet to write so he retreated to a French monastery, and thereby hangs the tale . . . It is a wonderful meditation and description of monastic life with addenda expanding his basic subject. Fermor did not begin with an allegiance to monastic life, and I don't think he ended with one--but his appreciation is another thing. I read his book and came away with complete admiration for the lives of the monks; a great desire to participate in their services; and a respect for their motives.
All of Fermor's books are worth both the read and then the study they provoke, but if one does due diligence, they may take time. This is a little easier than most. I read it in one day, and will read it again. It is easy to recommend this book as a rewarding exploration of the holy calling as practiced by monks, and a melodic Fermor read.

4 people found this helpful

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zorba

The World of Silence

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 11, 2008

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I'm a big fan of Fermor's writing and this little gem of a book is a departure from the classic travel works he has given us. In this short book, Fermor describes life in several monasteries where silence defines the world of the monk. Fermor stipulates that as a guest in these places he will never achieve the level of faith and monastic practice that the monks do, but he shines a light on their world, giving the reader a glimpse of an existence we've always wondered about but rarely got to know.

9 people found this helpful

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Prof. Butterworth

The kind of book you don't want to finish...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 12, 2010

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because it's so beautiful. Lovely, inspiring, all too brief. I want to know much more about this man and these monasteries. I tried to read Thomas Merton's Seven Story Mountain because I'm interested in monastic life and I couldn't get through it. Leigh Fermor, on the other hand, isn't on a faith journey. He's a writer looking for a quiet place to work. Yet he manages to tell me more about why one might choose to leave the world and become a monk than I got from Thomas Merton.

14 people found this helpful

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Matt

Simple, nice book. But not awesome

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 14, 2014

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This is a very short book, and if you like Fermor's mixture of anachronistic romanticism and incredible historical awareness, you will like it. There is no profound learning, and it is a little sophomoric. But it is an interesting counterpoint to someone like Alain de Bouton, who is in some ways a successor in style.

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Joseph J. Hauser

Great book that is well written using vocabulary that is ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

Great book that is well written using vocabulary that is very unusual to everyday use. A story in fact that reflects on some religious practices not for the fainthearted. The subject matter is probably not for every one but should one wish to enjoy the story telling (based on real life journey), that is true to fact, then this presents a present read.

One person found this helpful

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Caraculiambro

nothing special

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

Bought it and read it.

There's a lot of terse reviews here saying this is "nothing special." Since they don't say anything else, they're getting downvoted to oblivion. But the fact that there's so many of those should tell you something: this is not a remarkable book. It's not memorable; it's not evocative; it's not profound. For a second I thought we were on to something with the Duchess's head, but that was quickly dropped.

Short, too. Text itself coming in at about 92 pages. If you focused, you could read it in a single hour.

I've read several of the NYRB series. This is the first one where I shook my head wondering why someone felt this was worthy of resuscitation.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Gloria A. Gibbins

Patrick Leigh Fermor always a pleasure

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 6, 2018

Verified Purchase

Another favourite author who is always a pleasure to read. His use of English is both lyrical and pragmatic. Loved it

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in Australia 🇦🇺 on May 19, 2016

Verified Purchase

Brilliant!

Stephen Hasbrouck Jr.

Great book!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

Fermor is a genius.

Bryn Griffith

Insufficient for a book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 21, 2020

Verified Purchase

Although this author is celebrated and can certainly put a sentence together I found this book unsatisfactory.
When reviewing a book it is usual to talk about the quality of the writing and story, but in this case I think it is reasonable to question the quantity. There is just not enough here to warrant a book; really it should be a section within a larger publication.
Additionally, I didn't feel that the reader was sufficiently considered with quotations in both French and Latin going untranslated or without explanation.
I also felt that the author didn't make enough effort to understand the monks who were giving him a place to rest his head and write. He seems to find it difficult to understand why anyone would want to live such an austere life whilst conceding that they do however seem very happy and trouble free, but there is no attempt to understand this apparent contradiction.
I haven't been entirely put off from reading other works by this author because, despite the above criticisms, he is a very erudite write. I just felt that in this 'book' he just hasn't tried very hard.

5 people found this helpful

Damaskcat

Thoughtful and thought provoking

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 10, 2011

Verified Purchase

I came across this book mentioned in Susan Hill's Howards End is on the Landing and was intrigued by what she said about it. The author spent some time in different monasteries in an effort to find peace and to write a book - not this one - that came later. What I enjoyed about the book was the author's marvellous grasp of the English language. The book is lyrical and evocative and fascinating to anyone who is interested in alternative ways of life.

I found the book interesting for its insights into different ways of monastic life from the very strict Trappist orders of Cistercian monks at Le Grand Trappe near Alencon to the rather more relaxed orders of Benedictines with whom he stayed for many months at St Wandrille de Fontanelle near Rouen.

The author was surprised at how happy all the monks were and the sense of peace, calm and joy they all exude. Monasteries are places of spiritual healing and quiet and the author found peace and quiet. No one questioned his own beliefs and they accepted him as he was.

The mystery of the rock monasteries in Cappadocia which are described in the last section of the book was intriguing as well and it is likely that no one will ever discover who they were built by or for what purpose. This is a book which is well worth reading for the use of language alone and I shall be reading it again at some point for that reason.

35 people found this helpful

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