Product Description

From the French Abbey of St Wandrille to the abandoned and awesome Rock Monasteries of Cappadocia in Turkey, the celebrated travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor studies the rigorous contemplative lives of the monks and the timeless beauty of their monastic surroundings. In his occasional retreats, the peaceful solitude and the calm enchantment of the monasteries was passed on as a kind of 'supernatural windfall' which A Time to Keep Silence so effortlessly records.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13976 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Review
'The English language is still a superb instrument in the hands of a writer who has a virtuoso skill with words, a robust aesthetic passion, an indomitable curiosity and a rapturous historical imagination' -- Observer 'The genius of Patrick Leigh Fermor is a many splendoured thing. Soldier, traveller, writer, Phihellene ! he has already dazzled and delighted ! It is some time since more truth and beauty were distilled into a hundred pages' -- Stewart Perowne 'A brilliant book' -- Sunday Times 'Delightful ! His book is not only an admirable piece of travel writing; it is also a brilliant piece of human exploration' -- New Statesman 'Introspection, history, reportage have their balanced places in a well-written book ! measured and lucent' -- Sunday Times 'Patrick Leigh Fermor is a stylish, superb master of words, which he savours like the choicest vintage' -- The Times 'What a delight it is to read a book so beautifully and sensitively written' -- Observer 'A most successful attempt to portray the reactions of the man of the world (in the literal sense) when confronted with the monastic life' -- Daily Telegraph 'Delightful, lucidly written work of introspection that evokes the hardship and the rewards of the solitary life, as well as its beauty' -- The Glasgow Herald 20040228 'John Murray is doing the decent thing and reissuing all of Leigh Fermor's main books ... But what else would you expect from a publisher whose commitment to geography is such that for more than two centuries it has widened our understanding of the world?' -- Geographical Magazine 20040801 'A pleasure and an instruction to read' -- Irish Times 20040801 'Bringing the landscape alive as no other writer can, he uses his profound and eclectic understanding of cultures and peoples ... to paint vivid pictures - nobody has illuminated the geography of Europe better' -- Geographical Magazine 20040801

Sunday Times
‘Introspection, history, reportage have their balanced places in a well-written book … measured and lucent’

The Times
‘Patrick Leigh Fermor is a stylish, superb master of words, which he savours like the choicest vintage’

Customer Reviews

A Little Dry, with Touches of Brilliance
Leigh Fermor's narrative style can at times seem too introspective, or perhaps a little scholarly, for modern sensibilities: he describes as if through a magnifying lens, and with great erudition, making no compromises to the reader. Yet indulging him this means of expression - which if published today might seem pretentious - makes us privilege to some extremely expert writing. Leigh Fermor's prose is the sort that cannot be broken down: it is concise and evocative, free-flowing, a rare blend of terseness and poetry. He is a writer adept at creating textures of light and shade, seasonality, sounds and odours; there are times when his imagery is almost cinematic, but never obviously so.

In A Time to Keep Silence, one of his lesser-known works, he takes leave of Paris in the mid-1950s to stay in two monasteries, the Benedictine Abbey of St Wandrille de Fontanelle, near Rouen, and Le Grande Trappe, a Trappist abbey close to Alençon. Ostensibly he visits them in order to utilise their tranquility to further his writing projects, but inevitably his sojourn in the close presence of the monks makes detachedness near impossible, and he becomes increasingly fascinated by the personalities of those who have taken the 'Triple Unction of the Soul'. Despite an initial period of difficulty in adjusting to the isolation and rigour of monastic life, he begins to appreciate that a monk's existence is often far more joyful than people assume, and that rather than being exiles from the world because of past scandals, Benedictines are genuinely vocational and stem from all walks of life. In the final section he traces the history of European monasticism back to its roots with a visit to the rock monasteries at Cappadocia in Turkey, for me the best section of the book. Here Leigh Fermor's historical imagination, and great skill for describing the strange and unworldly, take force. We share his wonder at the unknown monks who left their dazzling legacy in such an arid and forbidding place. I would not be surprised if Dalrymple had been inspired by these pages.

This book is perhaps an acquired taste, and some interest in the origins and purpose of liturgy and the monastic life will add to the reader's enjoyment. At times it is slow, and at other times a touch list-like in its descriptions; yet there are certain passages that are exceptional in their imaginative quality. Overall, an elegant exploration of the progression of monasticism into the modern age.