I know it must be beautifully written, it's Durrell after all. But when I open this oversized paperback (sort of the love child of a coffee table book and a regular Penguin), my eyes are caught by the photos, and there I go drifting away, unable to read a thing. Although this is terrifically dated by now, Durrell lived in Greece in the 1939s and 40s I think, it's also completely undated because it's about ruins, landscapes, hills, graveyards, olive trees, and elderly people who still do things the old fashioned way. What we all dream of when we think of rural Greece.
Beautifully written with fine description throughout of landscape, people and culture. He comprehensively covers the surprisingly wide variety of the islands and the breadth of history, ancient and modern, that permeates the archipelagos from the Ionian Sea to the mouth of the Dardanelles. Durrell brings his personal knowledge to nearly every corner and links his stories and description together in a magical tapestry while remaining surprisingly down to earth and honest in his appraisals. Have a list of places I now want to visit!!!
