A Time of Gifts - 5 down, 175 to go

There will be plenty of periods like this as I slowly work toward Book Shelf Zero. I've stuck myself with some less than thrilling reads that take a little while to get through. I'm going to go through long periods where nothing gets finished while I slowly chip away at some decent but very slow going book. That is the case for A Time for Gifts. It's not bad. It just gets a little redundant and repetitive about half way through the book. Long descriptions of churches and other buildings are extremely dull. The language is different and interesting, but there is just nothing much to keep me engaged with Fermor's long walk other than a desire to finish the book. He's happy to dawdle. I just wanted to get to the end. I'm happy to have this one behind me. Five down. 175 to go.

The most interesting thing about A Time of Gifts is the way it captures what life was like for an ordinary person in late 1930's Europe. Thinking about what somebody following in Fermor's steps walking from Holland to Constantinople (or Budapest, which is where this book ends, the rest of his journey is in a second book, which I don't own) would experience in 2017 is an interesting exercise. I don't think a dirty 19 your old would be received quite so readily these days (assuming that the memories and stories in the book are accurate). He wouldn't have to worry about losing his diary because each stage of the walk would be captured on social media and I wouldn't have to worry about reading long descriptions of buildings because there would be numerous pictures for every site he visits. There may still be some mountain trails that a person could walk on between villages in the Austria or Germany, but roads and railroads have likely taken much of that ground. The world is very different. Of course, Fermor spends plenty of time thinking about the great historical moments (mostly the ancient Roman historical events) that happened in the different places he passes through. He notes the way cultures and people migrate and move over time. He sees echoes of that ancient time. His book grabs the moment he experienced and holds it for the future.