As I - and many other reviewers - have remarked Patrick Leigh Fermor had the enviable ability to write near-lyrical prose. But he went much further and, as an historian and a skilful observer of people, his books are always engrossing, entertaining and informative.
In the preface to 'The Traveller's Tree' (written in the late 1940s) he cautions that it must not 'be mistaken for a guide to the Caribbean. It is nothing more than a personal, random account of an autumn and winter spent wandering through some of the islands ... its ultimate purpose, if it must be defined, is to retransmit to the reader whatever interest and enjoyment we encountered. In a word, to give pleasure.'
It's an accurate caveat for a book that explores the vastly different religions, languages, history, culture, agriculture and geography of several of the Caribbean islands. Leigh Fermor's description of witnessing a day-long Voodoo festival, along with a brief foray into the (hopefully now defunct) practices and rites of cannibalism, is matched by an insightful summary of the slave trade and the effect it - together with the Spanish, French, and English privateers - had on the last 200 year's history of the various islands.
Like all his other books it's an intriguing and highly enjoyable story.
I must, however, admit to being somewhat amused by the convoluted sequence of his island hopping. As any map of the Caribbean will show, Guadeloupe to Dominica via Martinique isn't a particularly logical route. Particularly when followed - again in sequence - by Barbados, Trinidad, several of the Leeward Islands and then, finally to Haiti and Jamaica.
Perhaps some of the cruise lines ought to to consider this as an itinerary?
Read and enjoy. And, if you haven't already read
A Time of Gifts - from the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube
and
Between the Woods and the Water - from the Middle Danube to the Iron Gates
, go treat yourself!
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Top reviews from United Kingdom
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 August 2013
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 March 2014
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2020
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 June 2019
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 September 2013
Top reviews from other countries
mj
If you love vocabulary & history then you'll love this book.
Reviewed in the United States on 6 January 2024
Daniel Myers
A Traveller's Rosetta Stone
Reviewed in the United States on 9 February 2011John Rossi
HESITATION I HESITATE TO JUDGE SUCH A FANTASTIC ENLIGHTENED AUTHOR AS PATRICK FERMOR
Reviewed in the United States on 30 January 2016