Some people are so much larger than life that they seem to be fictional. TE Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia, comes to mind, and, in the same mould, Patrick Lee Fermor. One reviewer of his work described him as a cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond.
As a baby he was left with a random family when his mother and sister went to India to join his father. He didn’t see them again until he was 4! Oh my goodness. Rather unsurprisingly he found school difficult and limiting. He was however, undoubtedly a scholar, one who educated himself through reading the classics and learning several languages. Aged 18 he decided he would walk Europe, from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul and then write about it. His career as a travel writer began there. During the war he joined the army and worked in Italy and Crete. His daring exploits resulted in an OBE and a distinguished service order.
‘Time To Keep Silence’ is a slim volume, just 95 pages long. It is concerned with Fermor’s exploration of abbeys and monasteries in France. He stays in these places as a visitor looking for time, space and peace in which to write. I enjoyed the chunks of history that the reader is given, ecclesiastical and social and economic. I now have a clearer grasp of the differences between Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries and how these traditions have grown and developed.
It isn’t often that I get to the end of a book and want to turn back to the beginning and read it again, but this is a case in point. I love Fermor’s writing style. It is smooth and stylish and his vocabulary is incredibly wide and erudite. I learnt several new words as I read.
I need to explore his books now as I have a real taste for this mélange of introspection, history, memoir and reportage. He is a fascinating writer.