A good Greek read
I mentioned that I might talk about books for a couple of days, while I am away. Well, I’ve been doing some searching around and I thought I would mention three Greece/book related items each day for the next three days. I will be starting with my own, of course – I mean, what else is the point of these pages? I know many regular readers have this already, or the kindle version, but for those who don’t, you might be interested in ‘Symi 85600.’
This is an honest account of our arriving on Symi back in 2002 and the five years following. it’s made up of actual diary entries and emails, letters and some articles that I wrote at that time.
I remember speaking to Faith Warn, who wrote ‘The Bitter Sea’ a book about sponge diving on Kalymnos and she asked if I was writing a diary about our experiences. This was within a few months of living here. I was, actually, and she told me that this (then) was the best time to do so as you are open and fresh and things are not clouded by experience as they might be later when you start to have opinions on what you see around you. So, Symi 85600 is just that. It’s also got a ‘How to’ guide at the end (How to move to a Greek island), there are some jottings from Neil and a few black and white doodles from me. You can find ‘Symi 85600’ here.
The Messenger Of Athens – Anne Zouroudi
You can’t talk about any ‘Symi based’ book without talking about this wonderfully evocative novel from Anne. Regular visitors to the island will recognise Symi places and people in the inspiration behind this book and anyone who loves Greece will love this book, and the others in the series. I mention this one particularly as it’s the first in the series and I know that it uses Symi as its backdrop. Follow this link, and then search around for other Anne Zouroudi titles, including her new short stories, here.
And the third item to consider is for Facebook users. A Good Greek Read is a group set up by John Manuel in Rhodes. John write the Ramblings From Rhodes blog where you can also find a link to his official author site. John writes novels as well as blog posts and on his Facebook group page he publicises the work of other writers who have set their novels in Greece, of which have a Greek theme. It’s a handy resource for finding good books and features on authors, and anyone who is a member can post their own thoughts and suggestions about, well, about good Greek reads.
There, there’s three or more ideas for you and I am sure you will find some extra holiday reading among the list of links above. I’ll be back tomorrow with three other Greek/Greece related ideas for summer (or winter) reading. I won’t actually be back, I’m writing this last Sunday as today I am not here; such is the wonder of time travel, or rather, scheduled blog posting. Enjoy your reading.
