I discovered him on a rainy day in New York City in 2008. My friend Louisa recommended him to me on the corner of 2nd Ave and 10th street and I promptly bought his most famous book, A Time of Gifts, at Three Lives & Company Bookstore in Greenwich Village.
While reading his books, the thought that he was still alive gave me a sense of camaraderie with this adventurous soul. My travel imagination was set free, and I felt brilliant and invincible at the same time.
At the age of 18 he walked from Holland to Istanbul spending the night in haystacks, hostels and castles along the way. 1933 wasn't the safest year to be walking around Europe, but he did it anyway, and captured astonishingly intimate images of the people he met and places he travelled--Nazis and Hitler Germany among them.
He published two novels about his journey across Europe, with a third promised. The end of his second novel, Between the Woods and the Water, left us in Romania with a full vision of the mystical Eastern sunrise soon to come.
I count it among the greatest literary tragedies that the third book will not be completed by the author.
I feel a deep sense of gratitude for discovering the writings of this intrepid man.
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Brief Obit from the Daily Telegraph
Gardian Obit
Beautiful, Chris. After your text I was headed to write some myself before stopping here. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAfter, not before. Smiling.
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to read A Time to Keep Silence. With such an endorsement from you, perhaps I'll move that towards the top of my to-read list.
ReplyDeleteA time to keep silence is not only an excellent book, it is also quite short. You can't go wrong moving it to the top.
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