One of the
great travel writers of the twentieth century, Patric Leigh Fermor provides an
elegant and intoxicating view of Europe during the 1930s. In December 1933,
just months after Hitler became chancellor of Germany, the 18-year old Leigh
Fermor sets out to walk across Europe from Holland to Istanbul. Forty years
later he revisits his journals, the treasured mementos of any traveler, and
begins to construct a planned three-volume remembrance of that fateful journey.
A Time for Gifts is the first of
those three volumes and it takes us to a world lost because of time, war and
practice. Each time I picked up the book, a respite in my busy schedule, I
found that a smile crept across my face.
Rather than an
interesting time-capsule approach to the subject, Leigh Fermor relies on his
journals and memories, he contextualizes what he thought, saw and experienced.
The book does so without the heavy foreshadowing one might expect. Obviously, the
reader knows what is coming. Yet, there are no overburdening allusions to the
tragedies or events that are about to come;
we know that bad things are going to happen to some of the people he
encounters and we are free to speculate without the author telling us what
happened.
In an introductory letter to his
friend Xan Fielding, Leigh Fermor sets the context for his journey. He notes,
writing decades later, that the impulses and desires of youth works to keep us
unfocused and in trouble. Leigh Fermor gives perspectives and can better
explain some of his actions. His tendency to engage in social activities, his
attention to connections with women, and the temptation of constant parties,
all conspire to allow his talents to go to waste. He decides to take a radical
step, to break out of a life set to be wasted.
One of the primary
interests of the author in A Time for
Gifts is an earlier history of Europe that most of us are aware of today.
While not specifically mentioned, the gathering clouds of the First World War
casts long shadows over the book. Leigh Fermor concentrates on the bloodletting
that surrounded the Thirty Years’ War, but conveniently neglects the more
recent devastation that was World War I. Perhaps it is all too fresh and raw.
The continent convulsed during the war and the monuments, even a hundred years
later, are ubiquitous; every small town has a monument or cairn commemorating
those who fell during the Great War. Since the journey takes place in the interwar
years, his trip, the countries he visits and the politics of the time are all
shaped by the aftermath of the First World War and the impending gloom of the
coming Second World War.
Nevertheless, from the perspective
of the reader, there is a sense of uneasiness and concern about the fate of the
people the author meets on his journey. Toward the end of one chapter I had a
sense of foreboding about Baron Pips that he did not survive the war (as he was
Jewish). But by the final paragraph of the chapter, we are relieved to find
that Pips survives and thrives. The book does an excellent job of building
tension and creating empathy for the people he meets. But the story does
highlight what is lost: six million Jews, as well as several million others,
die. Sure, Baron Pips is unique, but who is not?
At one point the young Briton is
confronted, chastise and ridiculed by a supporter of Hitler in a beer hall;
however, many other people come to his defense. It is an example of how fanatic
supporters often hold individuals accountable for the actions of their group or
government. It is also an example of how some people internalize the messages
of their leaders or governments, while others overcome their cognitive
dissonance to come to his aid. Leigh Fermor finds a tremendous amount of
kindness throughout his trip. In another example, in Heidelberg, after he is
taken in by an elderly couple during the middle of a snowstorm. He quite
rightly asks if a German traveler would be treated the same in England. It is a
question that haunts many of the students who travel to Europe with me.
The simple gift of a five-year old
daughter of a German innkeeper in Bingen early on Christmas morning was very
touching. I was sympathetic to his inability to think of a gift with which to
reciprocate. Leigh Fermor’s description of beautiful faces of the innkeeper’s
daughters, aged 5 to 15, led me to immediately consider what will happen to
these young girls ten years down the road. Germany will is be pummeled by
Allied planes; deprivation and devastation will be widespread. I am sure it was
on Leigh Fermor’s mind as he edited his notes years later. What happened to
that sweet five-year old, who would have been about seventeen, when the war
ended? Her sweet and kind gesture was unlikely saved her from the deprivations
suffered a dozen years later.
Other encounters offer interesting
travel insights and observations. Leigh Fermor ruminates on the importance of
eggs. There one point in which he describes the delight in carefully removing
the egg from the shell with a spoon and having it with buttered bread. Another
incident has him riding in the back of a lorry with a fifteen-year old girl who
gives him a birthday gift of a dozen eggs. For those of us who are drawn to
travel by foot, Leigh Fermor offers quotable passages to explain our passion to
others. When he is tempted to take a ride to go further down the Danube, he
reminds himself that “all horsepower corrupts.” I have often noted that to walk
provides an opportunity to observe. Walking at three miles an hour, as opposed
to traveling by auto at sixty-plus or by train at 120-mph, allows for a study
rather than a glance. If you see something of interest, walking affords the
chance to study rather than a fleeting glimpse. Leigh Fermor concurs noting
that while walking it is impossible to be out of touch.
A
Time for Gifts is a difficult book to describe, yet at the end of the day
it is a book about the joys of travel, walking and meeting people. I smiled
knowingly when Leigh Fermor writes that he would wander the city and kept
repeating to himself, “I’m in Vienna.” There are so many times when I have
found myself in exotic or remote locations and have had to remind myself to
take time to remember where I am – to enjoy the experience or to embrace my
travel achievement. Leigh Fermor offers sage advice and valuable insight. He is
a polymath who is both steeped in literature and enjoys a Laurel and Hardy film
at the same time. For those of us who are interested in travel, history and
thinking, A Time for Gifts is essential
reading.
Patric Leigh
Fermor, A Time for Gifts: On Foot to
Constantinople: From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube (New York
Review Books, 2005; originally published, London: J. Murray, 1977).
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