The sponge divers

by Charmian Clift, George Johnston

Synopsis coming soon.......

Genres: Greece

320 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1992

About the author

Charmian Clift was an Australian writer and essayist during the mid 20th century. She was the second wife and literary collaborator of George Johnston.

Reviews

[Liv Uebergang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful! The descriptions were so rich that it vividly brought to mind a full and clear picture of the characters and town. However, it was quite slow at first and I was a bit worried that although well written, it was going to be a bit of a drag. Instead of this, by halfway I was completely hooked.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I'd reviewed this book already, but it might have been on the predecessor to Goodreads. Chairman Clift had a pretty interesting life, she actually ran away from Australia to live on a Greek island and by the sounds of it, it didn't end well. This book is a collaborative production with her husband George Johnston, and the detail of daily life in a poverty-stricken village is taken from harsh personal experience. I have tremendous admiration for the divers. It is astonishing what the human body is capable of.

[David Bluff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written book by author of My Brother Jack, and an interesting insight into the post war period in Europe (Greece in this case) and an island and industry in decline, and how this impacts the characters. I also now know something about where sponges came from before chux!

[Carmel Vermeltfoort · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found my copy of this book in a little street library. It is a tattered and stained old hardcover published in 1955 by Collins. How could I resist?

The main theme - the elemental versus modernity, is explored through the five sections, each named for one of the Kalymnos island's inhabitants. There are some brilliant passages, and the descriptions of landscape are transporting. It prompted me to read up a bit on the history of the island of Kalymnos and of Greece in general to get a feel for how the contemporary readers could have understood this book.

During and after the second world war (the book was originally published in 1955) Greece crashed headlong into the modern world. Through civil war and periods of instability, Greece cast off the monarchy and a flirtation with communism and joined the European Economic Community. The community of Kalymnos is a picture of the old world, where the people pull directly from nature what they need to live. The EEC is the modern world where the chemistry lab run by scientists in far-away labs are defining the future.

My concerns with the novel relate to the characters. I felt that they were more like caricatures. The dialogue didn't ring true, there was no accounting for the language barrier that must have been in place, and there was no development arc for any of the characters. The book is in the nature of a tableau vivant, describing the main conflict of the piece.

The grinding poverty and hunger that were so prevalent on Kalymnos when the story of The Sponge Divers was set seems now to have gone. Kalymnos is now known for the wealth of the islanders, who all probably belong fully in the modern, global, connected world of the 21st century. And where is nature now?

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would rather watch animals defecating for the rest of my life than have to try to read this book again. Absolute drivel!