A Levant Journal

by George Seferis

Cultural writing. Biography and Memoir. Edited and translated from the Greek by Roderick Beaton. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Greek poet and diplomat George Seferis stands as one of the giants of twentieth-century literature. This book presents for the first time in English selections from the journals he kept while traveling in the Middle East. With characteristic vividness and concision, Seferis reflects both on what he sees and what lies behind (and ahead of) the visible, as the journals include superb passages of travel writing and meditations on the Levant's Hellenistic legacy, the holy sites of the region, the history of prominent British women travelers to the area, and of course the turbulent politics of his day. As such, they move between private and public dimensions of the poet's life and provide an intimate look into his world.

Genres: Poetry, Diary, Greece

173 pages, Paperback

First published December 6, 1988

About the author

George Seferis, pen name of Georgios Seferiadis,
Greek: Γιώργος Σεφέρης

Awarded the 1963 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture."
First Greek to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgos...

Reviews

[J. Tayler Smith]

A collection of journal entries from George Seferis, a poet and Greek diplomat during and after World War II who also won the Noble Prize in Literature.

I fairly enjoyed this collection and observations of the poet during his exile from Greece and exploration of the Levant region. I didn’t find them overly thought provoking, but it was refreshing to simply read another person’s simple, yet artistic, impressions of the world around him.

A person interested in that particular region of the world between the 1940s and 50s may find this book particularly interesting - but most others won’t find much value here. It’s an easy and short read, that reminds a person to simply observe the world around them.

[Peter]

A slight volume really, but it works best when able to set the poetry into the context provided by Seferis' journal entries. The travels in Cyprus before Engomi:

Scents of lentisk
began to stir upon old hillsides of memory
bosoms among foliage, moistened lips;
and everything became dry at once in the flatness of the plain
in the stone's despair the eroded power
in the empty land of sparse weed and thorns
where carefree on its way a snake glides by
and where much time is taken up with dying

[Peter]

If you know his poetry a really interesting view of him and his diplomatic and poetic activities during and just after WWII.

[Rita]

Publisher: "an intimate look into the world of Nobel Prize wining poet and diplomat". Winner of a translation prize as well [Roderick Beaton]

[l]

Puts the poems in the context of them time in which they were written. Very interesting.