The hardest working book group in Hove gathered in their traditional haunt in Hove's glamorous Poets Corner district to focus their prodigious intellects on "Between The Woods and the Water" by Patrick Leigh Fermor.
Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915–2011) was an intrepid traveler and a heroic soldier who is widely considered to be one of the finest travel writers of the twentieth century. 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) and The Broken Road (published posthumously in 2013), he lived and traveled in the Balkans and the Greek archipelago. His books A Time to Keep Silence (1957), Mani (1958) and Roumeli (1966) attest to his deep interest in languages and remote places.
 |
| The controversial book cover |
Nigel, who had selected the book, was predictably enthusiastic. He explained how he was already "in deep" with Paddy and listed the other books he had read by, or about, the man, including the biography by Artemis Cooper.
Nigel had revelled in "A Time of Gifts", the first volume in the trilogy that recounts Patrick Leigh Fermor's extraordinary journey, which commenced in 1933, when he was 18 years old, and during which he set out to walk from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople. At the end of "A Time of Gifts" Nigel had left Paddy in Hungary, and this is where "Between the Woods and the Water" picks up the journey. In "Between The Woods And The Water", Paddy travels to Budapest and thence across the Great Hungarian Plain, before travelling through Transylvania and the upper Carpathian Mountains, variously walking, riding on horseback, by car, on a boat, and by train. Paddy continues to share his enthusiasm for life, language, history, nature, religion, people, music, food and anything else that piques his interest. His gift for making friends knows no bounds. In this volume, alongside the usual array of aristocrats, Paddy befriends two communities of Gypsies, young women harvesting, Transylvanian shepherds, an Orthodox rabbi and his sons, and various other people and groups he encounters. It appears there is no one with whom he cannot find common ground despite the differences in language, circumstance and culture.
 |
| Nigel "revelled" |
Robin's body language and demeanour suggested the Paddy love-in was about to abruptly end - and so it came to pass. Robin felt disengaged by much of the book and found himself frequently zoning out. Robin loves Laurie Lee. There, he's said it. He wants to shout about his love for Laurie Lee from the rooftops. The downside of his love for Laurie is that it leaves little leeway for alternative attractions.
 |
| Robn - loves Laurie Lee |
Robin demands that his travel writers rough it every night - not just when the writer is not staying in castles and playing bicycle polo. Horses, boats, cars? Come on Paddy. Rough it man. Rough it. 4/10
Tristan hailed Paddy as "a remarkable person" with a "prodigious intellect". He shines a light on a lost Europe and we all benefit from this illumination.
There is also the occasional reminder of the dreadful future awaiting so many of the people he met along his way in 1934:
"Every part of Europe I had crossed so far was to be torn and shattered by the war; indeed, except for the last stage before the Turkish frontier, all the countries traversed by this journey were fought over a few years later by two mercilessly destructive powers; and when war broke out, all these friends vanished into sudden darkness. Afterwards the uprooting and destruction were on so tremendous a scale that it was sometimes years after the end of it all that the cloud became less dense and I could pick up a clue here and there and piece together what had happened in the interim. Nearly all of them had been dragged into the conflict in the teeth of their true feelings and disaster overtook them all."
Tristan was able to further enhance his splendid review with reference to his own recent visit to Transylvania. He regaled us with slides of his visit that included a ex-Salt Mine now used for table tennis, an abandoned and highly toxic chemical factory and his legendary re-enactment of The Matrix. Confused? So were we. But delightfully so.
Sadly Tristan could exclusively that the Water Buffalo are no longer a regular sight and the diversity of wildlife is in steep decline.
 |
| Tristan - re-enacted The Matrix in Transylvania |
Well played PLF. 7.5/10
Keith described the book as "genre busting" and a highly intelligent account of Paddy's teenage travels. How much of what Paddy reported reflected his teenage musings? And how much was a lifetime of learning superimposed onto the journey? Keith raised a quizzical eyebrow whilst surveying his HBG bredren. Either way, Paddy revels in his powers of observation, his historical awareness, and his magnificent prose. Landscape came alive, the people whom he encountered were described and what shone through was their humanity. The historical and philosophical digressions enchanted Keith and illuminated the reading experience. Keith was there, alongside Paddy, on the vast eastern plain, and he loved it.
 |
| Keith - nationalism schmationlism |
Hamish went above beyond the call of duty by reading A Time of Gifts before starting this one (although he had to abandon it before finishing in order to read this volume before our discussion). Once the cheering had died down, Hamish stated he loved the accounts of Paddy's walk. From the moments in Budapest, with the “noctambulistic” smart set (cellar nightclubs, scotch-and-soda, American jazz) whose country-housed, horse-lending population extended deep into Hungary and Romania, along the still-twitching nerves of the old empire. With these connections, much of 1934 was a Summer sojourn amongst old Hapsburg nobility. Paddy pausing for weeks at a time to sample the “learning, munificence, and douceur de vivre” of that soon-to-be-swept-away class. Suddenly, the daunting hike described in this book and A Time of Gifts became more extended holiday filled with picnics, bicycle polo, and undisturbed hours in manorial libraries in which the lore and languages of the region.
 |
| Hamish - went beyond the call of duty |
The complimentary film selection was...
 |
| The Grand Budapest Hotel - complimentary |
The Grand Budapest Hotel is a 2014 comedy film written and directed by Wes Anderson and inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig. It stars Ralph Fiennes as Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous hotel from the fictional Republic of Zubrowka between the first and second World Wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.
Nigel enjoyed it, and the echoes of the old Hapsburg nobility and the pre-war era with its ominous storm clouds darkening a world of culture and sophistication. 8/10
Keith, who barely knows how to operate a television, was underwhelmed. 6/10
Tristan called it a very good film which ticked all his boxes. 9/10
Robin loved it 7/10
And, to round things off, we enjoyed...
Muzsikás Feat. Marta Sebestyen "Fly Bird Fly - Very Best of"
Nigel's lovingly crafted YouTube playlist (good innit)
...all except Hamish who borrowed the CD and was able to bring some sanity to the discussion by praising the merits of this Hungarian group who mainly play folk music from Hungary and the other countries of the region. The perfect soundtrack to Paddy's journey. Thanks Hamish. The textbook response.
And on that high note the Hove Book Group bade each other farewell with much hearty slapping of backs and kissing of cheeks.
