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Cartes Postales from Greece
THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
Cartes Postales from Greece is an extraordinary new book from Victoria Hislop, the Sunday Times Number One bestselling author of The Island, The Return, The Thread, and The Sunrise. A beautifully depicted love affair with Greece, and a spellbinding tale of love and loss. It is fiction with a distinctive photographic framework - magical and unique.
'Hislop's passionate love of the country breathes from every page' Daily Mail
'When it comes to tales about Greece, Hislop is an undisputed queen - and this is easily her best novel yet' Heat
Week after week, the postcards arrive, addressed to someone Ellie does not know, each signed with an initial: A.
These alluring cartes postales of Greece brighten her life and cast a spell on her. She decides she must see this country for herself.
On the morning Ellie leaves for Athens, a notebook arrives. Its pages tell the story of a man's odyssey through Greece. Moving, surprising and sometimes dark, A's tale unfolds with the discovery not only of a culture, but also of a desire to live life to the full once more.
'This beautiful novel is illustrated with gorgeous photos to really bring the country to life' Fabulous, Sun on Sunday
'A lavish love letter to Greece' Sunday Mirror
Cartes Postales from Greece is an extraordinary new book from Victoria Hislop, the Sunday Times Number One bestselling author of The Island, The Return, The Thread, and The Sunrise. A beautifully depicted love affair with Greece, and a spellbinding tale of love and loss. It is fiction with a distinctive photographic framework - magical and unique.
'Hislop's passionate love of the country breathes from every page' Daily Mail
'When it comes to tales about Greece, Hislop is an undisputed queen - and this is easily her best novel yet' Heat
Week after week, the postcards arrive, addressed to someone Ellie does not know, each signed with an initial: A.
These alluring cartes postales of Greece brighten her life and cast a spell on her. She decides she must see this country for herself.
On the morning Ellie leaves for Athens, a notebook arrives. Its pages tell the story of a man's odyssey through Greece. Moving, surprising and sometimes dark, A's tale unfolds with the discovery not only of a culture, but also of a desire to live life to the full once more.
'This beautiful novel is illustrated with gorgeous photos to really bring the country to life' Fabulous, Sun on Sunday
'A lavish love letter to Greece' Sunday Mirror
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
790 people are currently reading
2655 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Hislop
64 books2,098 followersVictoria Hislop read English at Oxford, and worked in publishing, PR and as a journalist before becoming a novelist. She is married with two children.
Her first novel, The Island, held the number one slot in the Sunday Times paperback charts for eight consecutive weeks and has sold over two million copies worldwide. Victoria was the Newcomer of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards 2007 and won the Richard & Judy Summer Read competition.
Her second novel, The Return, was also a Sunday Times number one bestseller, and her books have been translated into more than twenty languages. A short story collection, One Cretan Evening, was published in September and both a third novel, The Thread is published in English in October and in Greek in November 2011.
Her first novel, The Island, held the number one slot in the Sunday Times paperback charts for eight consecutive weeks and has sold over two million copies worldwide. Victoria was the Newcomer of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards 2007 and won the Richard & Judy Summer Read competition.
Her second novel, The Return, was also a Sunday Times number one bestseller, and her books have been translated into more than twenty languages. A short story collection, One Cretan Evening, was published in September and both a third novel, The Thread is published in English in October and in Greek in November 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 763 reviews
August 22, 2017
Well written stories from Greece, in recognisable Victoria's style, combined myths, legends and true stories that at the same time bring you knowledge of landscape, Greek history, culture, way of living, family relationships, traditions, customs... Pure pleasure!
Ne verujem da će biti srpskog prevoda... :(
Ne verujem da će biti srpskog prevoda... :(
December 31, 2016
No, Victoria Hislop does not appear to have learned to write better since her first book. If anything, this one is even worse in its writing. Admittedly she is observant, and the grains of interesting-ness scattered through the pages were just enough to keep me hanging in there and reading until the end. Skipping whole paragraphs but still reading. Silently cursing and getting annoyed with the writing but still reading. V.Hislop sees things but does not seem to know how to present them with good enough style.
So. "Cartes Postales from Greece" starts with obvious preparation for a cozy adventure: first a Welsh woman in London with no ties (no close family or friends, no serious job) leaves everything behind on a whim and goes off on a solitary tour of Greece.
Then a man with no obvious ties (no family or friends, no job) abandoned by his beloved, embarks on a solitary tour of Greece.
They are both without a plan, simply drifting around the country. Their thought processes are expressed in very similar writing, without any distinct individuality; the lives of both of them are portrayed in the same way, by piling descriptions of repetitive routines paragraph after paragraph:
"In the following weeks and months, everywhere I stopped people talked to me. Most were warm and kind and, if they were not immediately so, then my attempts to speak Greek would often break the ice. Many of them told me stories. I listened and noted it [sic] down, each day learning surprising things about this country, and new things about myself. The voices of strangers poured into the void, filling the silence you'd left." (p.19) By the way, who writes a diary immediately or shortly after the events but makes them sound as if they took place years ago?!
All of this is the groundwork for the unrelated stories that will be taking place within stories within stories (top score is 5 if you count the reader reading about Ellie reading about Anthony writing about Ariadne narrating about Icarus's dad). As I've said elsewhere, I am not a fan of the story-within-a-story approach: I think it shows an inability to maintain a plot which is sufficiently interesting in itself.
As for the sub-stories, the opening one is based on the premise that a bride runs off with another man while the groom waits for her with the guests in the church. Well, I don't know about Greece but I know how these things are traditionally conducted in its neighbouring (and culturally very similar if a bit less religiously extreme) Bulgaria: the groom DOES NOT wait in the church. He goes to the bride's home with the best man and a bunch of mates, plus a gypsy orchestra for good measure, and "abducts" his bride. There is no waiting around for her to turn up at the church; he barges into her parents' house and takes her to the church himself so there is no chance she can run away on the morning of the wedding. From that nonsense onwards I was not convinced by this tale.
The story of the violinist had some promise: "Antonio S-t-r-a-", and I thought, yes please, please leave it at that, let there be a bit of subtlety, but then, like a bull in a china shop, Victoria Hislop screams it out loud in case some reader's been dumb enough not to work it out. It's like this throughout the book: there is no room left for the reader's imagination; everything is told once in the sub-stories and analysed over again by Anthony.
Je Reviens - This is for me the best story, about belonging to a nation and about national identity. The problems I have with it though are two: 1. I can't understand why Penelope of the present day would decide to tell this story to a total stranger; and 2. How does she know the intimate details of what exactly happened inside the taverna during the German occupation between two people, or in the head of the grandmother Evangelia at the flag-waving parade. The story itself is good, or shall I say both sub-stories in it are good, but they are clumsily inserted in the frame of Anthony's collection of anecdotes. This recurring problem has been spoiling the whole book, even more irritatingly than it did in "The Island".
There are some continuity errors among the stories too, which also undermine the value of the whole work. In "Honeymoon" (which stems from the highly unlikely scenario in which a rented "top-of-the-range" Landrover runs out of petrol before the passengers notice!), the first night it's "gone nine thirty" (p.296) but the woman notices the pastel colours of the buildings and the pots of basil hanging from the balconies. Later on we read that the streets are unlit that night, so how does she see the colours and the basil if there's no daylight? The second night, it's only 9 p.m. but it's already too dark (p.314)
In the beginning of Anthony's notebook, the Turkish occupation of Greece lasted for almost five hundred years, and yet on p.240 it is "nearly four centuries"! A hundred years here or there, free or occupied, what does it matter, hey?
The monasteries of Meteora are at six hundred metres on p.217 but next thing we read is they are a thousand metres up (p.225). Remarkable!
I shall remember not to go anywhere near Victoria Hislop's books again, for they are not worth the time. Hopefully I've saved someone else a day or two so they can read something better.
So. "Cartes Postales from Greece" starts with obvious preparation for a cozy adventure: first a Welsh woman in London with no ties (no close family or friends, no serious job) leaves everything behind on a whim and goes off on a solitary tour of Greece.
Then a man with no obvious ties (no family or friends, no job) abandoned by his beloved, embarks on a solitary tour of Greece.
They are both without a plan, simply drifting around the country. Their thought processes are expressed in very similar writing, without any distinct individuality; the lives of both of them are portrayed in the same way, by piling descriptions of repetitive routines paragraph after paragraph:
"In the following weeks and months, everywhere I stopped people talked to me. Most were warm and kind and, if they were not immediately so, then my attempts to speak Greek would often break the ice. Many of them told me stories. I listened and noted it [sic] down, each day learning surprising things about this country, and new things about myself. The voices of strangers poured into the void, filling the silence you'd left." (p.19) By the way, who writes a diary immediately or shortly after the events but makes them sound as if they took place years ago?!
All of this is the groundwork for the unrelated stories that will be taking place within stories within stories (top score is 5 if you count the reader reading about Ellie reading about Anthony writing about Ariadne narrating about Icarus's dad). As I've said elsewhere, I am not a fan of the story-within-a-story approach: I think it shows an inability to maintain a plot which is sufficiently interesting in itself.
As for the sub-stories, the opening one is based on the premise that a bride runs off with another man while the groom waits for her with the guests in the church. Well, I don't know about Greece but I know how these things are traditionally conducted in its neighbouring (and culturally very similar if a bit less religiously extreme) Bulgaria: the groom DOES NOT wait in the church. He goes to the bride's home with the best man and a bunch of mates, plus a gypsy orchestra for good measure, and "abducts" his bride. There is no waiting around for her to turn up at the church; he barges into her parents' house and takes her to the church himself so there is no chance she can run away on the morning of the wedding. From that nonsense onwards I was not convinced by this tale.
The story of the violinist had some promise: "Antonio S-t-r-a-", and I thought, yes please, please leave it at that, let there be a bit of subtlety, but then, like a bull in a china shop, Victoria Hislop screams it out loud in case some reader's been dumb enough not to work it out. It's like this throughout the book: there is no room left for the reader's imagination; everything is told once in the sub-stories and analysed over again by Anthony.
Je Reviens - This is for me the best story, about belonging to a nation and about national identity. The problems I have with it though are two: 1. I can't understand why Penelope of the present day would decide to tell this story to a total stranger; and 2. How does she know the intimate details of what exactly happened inside the taverna during the German occupation between two people, or in the head of the grandmother Evangelia at the flag-waving parade. The story itself is good, or shall I say both sub-stories in it are good, but they are clumsily inserted in the frame of Anthony's collection of anecdotes. This recurring problem has been spoiling the whole book, even more irritatingly than it did in "The Island".
There are some continuity errors among the stories too, which also undermine the value of the whole work. In "Honeymoon" (which stems from the highly unlikely scenario in which a rented "top-of-the-range" Landrover runs out of petrol before the passengers notice!), the first night it's "gone nine thirty" (p.296) but the woman notices the pastel colours of the buildings and the pots of basil hanging from the balconies. Later on we read that the streets are unlit that night, so how does she see the colours and the basil if there's no daylight? The second night, it's only 9 p.m. but it's already too dark (p.314)
In the beginning of Anthony's notebook, the Turkish occupation of Greece lasted for almost five hundred years, and yet on p.240 it is "nearly four centuries"! A hundred years here or there, free or occupied, what does it matter, hey?
The monasteries of Meteora are at six hundred metres on p.217 but next thing we read is they are a thousand metres up (p.225). Remarkable!
I shall remember not to go anywhere near Victoria Hislop's books again, for they are not worth the time. Hopefully I've saved someone else a day or two so they can read something better.
November 11, 2018
Αν και σταμάτησα για ένα διάστημα την ανάγνωση βιβλίων, το συγκεκριμένο με έκανε να θέλω να ξεκινήσω ξανά.
Πρόκειται για ένα καταπληκτικό μυθιστόρημα, που κάθε ιστορία του σε μεταφέρει στον χώρο και στο χρόνο που όλα συμβαίνουν. Διαθέτει εξαίσιες περιγραφές!
Ένα μαγευτικό ταξίδι στην Ελλάδα, με δυνατές ιστορίες!
Πρόκειται για ένα καταπληκτικό μυθιστόρημα, που κάθε ιστορία του σε μεταφέρει στον χώρο και στο χρόνο που όλα συμβαίνουν. Διαθέτει εξαίσιες περιγραφές!
Ένα μαγευτικό ταξίδι στην Ελλάδα, με δυνατές ιστορίες!
September 2, 2017
I expected a novel, with a story line. It starts well, I had hope, but I felt disappointed on both counts. Basically a book of short stories .. maybe I should have done my research before reading this. For me Victoria definitely peeked with The Island. I haven't enjoyed any of her other books since ....
September 26, 2016
I can't actually believe it myself but "Cartes Postales from Greece" is my first book by Victoria Hislop - but what an introduction to this author it was! I've read this book in one day, which for me is like a world record, not because I am reading so slowly or something but because life always gets in the way. However, this time, I put everything aside as this book has just drawn me in and I didn't want to put it down for a single second.
This novel doesn't contain a storyline per se, as it consist of short stories. It starts introducing us to Ellie who is receiving postcards from Greece - postcards addressed to someone other but still coming through her letterbox, postcards signed with "A". Ellie pins all of them on her wall - they are a real sunbeam in her otherwise grim and cloudy life. But one day, on the spur of the moment, she decides that she will travel to Greece - there is nothing that keeps her in London. On the day of her departure, a notebook arrives - a notebook that she takes with her on her travels and discovers that it is also written by "A". And here is where the short stories, told by A, start - stories of his travels through Greece, recounts of his meetings with the Greek people and his re - telling the stories that the locals shared with him after offering him a place to sleep and something to eat.
This book only confirmed my beliefs that I want to see Greece. It was like reading partly myths, partly fiction and partly non - fiction and I loved this perfect mix. The stories were so different, funny, sad, heart - breaking, seeming possible or not possible to happen. It deals not only with feelings, relationships, family bonds, tradition but also with the very present state of economy or politics, and the powerlessness and anger of the characters are so realistically portrayed.
What is also so exceptional for this book is the fact that it is full of photos, illustrating the scenes or places that A visits. The photos are beautiful and they helped me to imagine and see the places even better - it was great to not only imagine things but also see them how they really are.
The author has a brilliant way describing the nature, places and bringing all the scents, sunsets to life. You could easily see that Victoria Hislop loves Greece and Greek people and that she very well understands them, their history and their tradition and that she has a lot of respect to all of the above mentioned.
This book is written in the most unusual way and it worked incredibly well for me. It is like reading stories within a story. They are so different and they are about different issues but I think that there are some things that they have in common - there is always a message in them, there is always love and hope and that in the battle of good against evil it is usually good that wins. They are inspiring and they are beautiful, those stories, and they are written in incredibly vivid and descriptive way. I think I can't say that I have my favourite story as I loved all of them. They are all unforgettable, poignant and so true to life. It was quite emotional, unique book and I am incredibly happy that I was able to read it - it is for sure going to stay with me for a long time and I will be getting back to it. Highly recommended, not only if you love Greece!
Copy provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.
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August 2, 2019Αυτό είναι το πρώτο βιβλίο της Χίσλοπ που αγόρασα, πέρσι Ιούλη μήνα, αλλά το δεύτερο που διάβασα, πρόλαβα και διάβασα την Ανατολή τον Μάρτη.
Είναι γνωστό πως η συγκεκριμένη Αγγλίδα συγγραφέας δεν ενδιαφέρεται για την Αγγλία και τον παγωμένο Βόρειο Ατλαντικό αλλά για τη Μεσόγειο και τις ηλιόλουστες χώρες της, όπως η Ισπανία (1 βιβλίο), η Κύπρος (1 βιβλίο) και κυρίως η Ελλάδα (5 βιβλία).
Το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο το πήρα πέρσι από ένα παζαράκι στα Public όπου έπαιρνες καινούρια και μεταχειρισμένα βιβλία για μόνο €1,00 δίνοντας όμως και ένα δικό σου βιβλίο που ήθελες να ξεφορτωθείς.
Έτσι όταν είδα αυτό το βιβλίο με τιμή €17,99 και ήξερα ότι θα γλίτωνα €16,99 το πήρα.
Είναι ένα όμορφο βιβλίο, γεμάτο εικόνες, φωτογραφίες από τα μέρη που εξελίσσονται οι ιστορίες, και ωραία μυρωδιά (αυτό πού το βάζετε).
Μπορείς να το πεις και συλλογή διηγημάτων, τα οποία διηγούνται στον κοινό πρωταγωνιστή οι διάφοροι άνθρωποι που συναντά, σε Ναύπλιο, Καλαμάτα, Θεσσαλονίκη, Άνδρο και λοιπά.
Αυτός ο πρωταγωνιστής με άλλα λόγια ταξιδεύει σε όλη την Ελλάδα, μαζεύει ιστορίες και εμπειρίες και τις καταγράφει στο ημερολόγιό του, το οποίο ταχυδρομείται κατά λάθος στην άλλη πρωταγωνίστρια η οποία κατεβαίνει από Αγγλία Ελλάδα για να βρει αυτό τον αποστολέα.
Αυτή η άλλη πρωταγωνίστρια ταξιδεύει μόνο μέσω των ιστοριών στην Ελλάδα, ενώ επισκέπτεται μόνο Ναύπλιο και Αθήνα, τις δύο πρωτεύουσες της Ελλάδας.
Με άλλα λόγια ήταν ένα αρκετά συμπαθητικό και ανάλαφρο βιβλίο, χωρίς βάθος και φιλοσοφία βέβαια αλλά με το οποίο πέρασα καλά, και λάτρεψα τις όμορφες φωτογραφίες με άρωμα από ελλάδα, αλμύρα, πεύκο, και φέτα.
Αυτός είναι άλλωστε και ένας κύριος λόγος της λογοτεχνίας, να περνάς καλά, κι όχι να κάνεις διατριβή σε ένα συγκεκριμένο θέμα:
«Η ψυχογεωγραφία των ελληνικών προαστίων και το αντίκτυπό του στον μέσο Άγλλο τουρίστα»
Βαθμολογία: 7/10
Είναι γνωστό πως η συγκεκριμένη Αγγλίδα συγγραφέας δεν ενδιαφέρεται για την Αγγλία και τον παγωμένο Βόρειο Ατλαντικό αλλά για τη Μεσόγειο και τις ηλιόλουστες χώρες της, όπως η Ισπανία (1 βιβλίο), η Κύπρος (1 βιβλίο) και κυρίως η Ελλάδα (5 βιβλία).
Το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο το πήρα πέρσι από ένα παζαράκι στα Public όπου έπαιρνες καινούρια και μεταχειρισμένα βιβλία για μόνο €1,00 δίνοντας όμως και ένα δικό σου βιβλίο που ήθελες να ξεφορτωθείς.
Έτσι όταν είδα αυτό το βιβλίο με τιμή €17,99 και ήξερα ότι θα γλίτωνα €16,99 το πήρα.
Είναι ένα όμορφο βιβλίο, γεμάτο εικόνες, φωτογραφίες από τα μέρη που εξελίσσονται οι ιστορίες, και ωραία μυρωδιά (αυτό πού το βάζετε).
Μπορείς να το πεις και συλλογή διηγημάτων, τα οποία διηγούνται στον κοινό πρωταγωνιστή οι διάφοροι άνθρωποι που συναντά, σε Ναύπλιο, Καλαμάτα, Θεσσαλονίκη, Άνδρο και λοιπά.
Αυτός ο πρωταγωνιστής με άλλα λόγια ταξιδεύει σε όλη την Ελλάδα, μαζεύει ιστορίες και εμπειρίες και τις καταγράφει στο ημερολόγιό του, το οποίο ταχυδρομείται κατά λάθος στην άλλη πρωταγωνίστρια η οποία κατεβαίνει από Αγγλία Ελλάδα για να βρει αυτό τον αποστολέα.
Αυτή η άλλη πρωταγωνίστρια ταξιδεύει μόνο μέσω των ιστοριών στην Ελλάδα, ενώ επισκέπτεται μόνο Ναύπλιο και Αθήνα, τις δύο πρωτεύουσες της Ελλάδας.
Με άλλα λόγια ήταν ένα αρκετά συμπαθητικό και ανάλαφρο βιβλίο, χωρίς βάθος και φιλοσοφία βέβαια αλλά με το οποίο πέρασα καλά, και λάτρεψα τις όμορφες φωτογραφίες με άρωμα από ελλάδα, αλμύρα, πεύκο, και φέτα.
Αυτός είναι άλλωστε και ένας κύριος λόγος της λογοτεχνίας, να περνάς καλά, κι όχι να κάνεις διατριβή σε ένα συγκεκριμένο θέμα:
«Η ψυχογεωγραφία των ελληνικών προαστίων και το αντίκτυπό του στον μέσο Άγλλο τουρίστα»
Βαθμολογία: 7/10
August 8, 2022
Με αυτό το βιβλίο ταξίδεψα σε όλη σχεδόν την Ελλάδα, μέσα από τα μάτια των πρωταγωνιστών. Γλυκόπικρες ιστορίες, μα βαθιά συγκινητικές. Μακράν η αγαπημένη μου η "je reviens".
Want to read
April 6, 2020[March 19, 2018] Almost in the middle of the book and as much as I adored the beginning, I wasn't expecting short stories without the main one. Here's what I want, I want the girl who traveled from England to Greece to vacation and meet a postal sending guy to actually meet him. The stories are not weird, the author says they are but to me they are normal. I felt really sorry for the state of modern Greece and its economic situation. This is a country that depends entirely on tourism, so I expect that things are going to get even worse for them if the people remain silent.
[August 19, 2019] I'm planning on finishing the story, I suppose my favorite short story from what I read is "Air on a G String", I like the photos in the book, it gives the short stories a sense of reality, especially that the stories move from one town to the next.
1- The Boy in the Silver Suit ★★☆☆☆
"A" the mysterious sender of postcards sent Ellie a book he wrote journaling his Journey through Greece but it's not meant for Ellie to read but for his ex "S" who jilted him for unknown reasons and didn't travel to Greece to join him. "A" is hurt, heartbroken but is still in love with "S" so he decides to take their trip without her starting with Nafplio. There while sitting in a cafe alone, an old couple tell him a story of a man who sat in a cafe every day for 25 years alone... the man was jilted by his bride on their wedding day, and though his clan takes revenge instantly he waited for 25 years, then killed her father and brother. It's a sad story.
2- Et in Arcadia Ego ★☆☆☆☆
Afterward "A" heads to Arcadia and Tripoli, he's bewitched by the beauty of the region's nature and to rest goes to a local bar where an angry artist serves there, she is tired of the state of Greece, and on the walls of the bar, she has drawn and written a story. A woman goes in search for the grave of a father she never knew in a village ruled by unfriendly men, her car gets stolen. The woman comes to the conclusion that Arcadia isn't a place for women.
3- Air on a G String ★★★☆☆
Feeling refreshed after his trip to Arcadia, "A" heads to Kalamata, and in a cafe, another old couple tells him about the best musician to have come to play in their town. A violist they named Antoni, who was so good that they served him lunch and dinner for entertaining them with his music. The most beautiful woman in town is named Magda, she is barren and a spinster but she and the musician fall for each other and have a one night stand, he gives her his G string and she gives him herself.
4- Never on a Tuesday ★★★☆☆
"A" heads to Patras, Olympia. He also shares that he hasn't been able to listen to music for months since his heartbreak and for the first time, he started to listen to music again. There he also meets another old couple who tell him that Tuesdays are considered sort of cursed in Greece because it's the day that Mehmed the Conqueror conquered Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and brought an end to the Byzantine Empire (I'm actually proud of that as a Muslim, but I get how they feel but making it into a cursed day is a bit too much). On 29 May, the people of Greece consider the date cursed, so a rich man who owns a chain of hotels reached the old age of 75 and wanted to retire and give his empire to one of his sons so that the business stays as one, his two sons are spoiled, he tasks them of making each a hotel and runs it for two years, the one with the highest profit will get the whole fortune. As an Arab, I think the man is stupid. He didn't teach his sons the business and didn't guide them but wanted them to succeed all at once, adding that I don't believe in this way of writing the inheritance, I think that's why many businesses finish there. Both children fail, one loses his hotel and reputation because he was cheap, the other became a man in debt and a killer. People superstition blamed the date, but again that's stupid, it's the father's fault that he lost EVERYTHING he worked for.
5- Lead Us Not Into Temptation ★★☆☆☆
"A" heads to a church of a saint who spread Christianity in Greece. I don't understand how people think in any religion that praying to the dead whoever they are can grant them anything. They are just human, good or bad, and they are not even granting themselves miracles. Pray to God, it's better for you for He stays alive and never dies. The old woman who cleans the new church gets sick so her granddaughter who is young and healthy cleans it for her, all the men start going to church in the time she cleans until she finishes to admire her, the priest is happy, candles are selling, the wives, however, weren't.
6- Eyewitness 1824 ★☆☆☆☆
The story of the English poet Lord Byron who was against the Othman empire and wanted Greece to be set free.
7- Holy Water
8- In Love with Love
9- Man on a Mountaintop
10- Je Reviens
11- Laterna, Poverty and Honour
12- Honeymoon
13- Know Thyself
14- The Lonely Wife
15- Waiting in the Wings
[August 19, 2019] I'm planning on finishing the story, I suppose my favorite short story from what I read is "Air on a G String", I like the photos in the book, it gives the short stories a sense of reality, especially that the stories move from one town to the next.
1- The Boy in the Silver Suit ★★☆☆☆
"A" the mysterious sender of postcards sent Ellie a book he wrote journaling his Journey through Greece but it's not meant for Ellie to read but for his ex "S" who jilted him for unknown reasons and didn't travel to Greece to join him. "A" is hurt, heartbroken but is still in love with "S" so he decides to take their trip without her starting with Nafplio. There while sitting in a cafe alone, an old couple tell him a story of a man who sat in a cafe every day for 25 years alone... the man was jilted by his bride on their wedding day, and though his clan takes revenge instantly he waited for 25 years, then killed her father and brother. It's a sad story.
2- Et in Arcadia Ego ★☆☆☆☆
Afterward "A" heads to Arcadia and Tripoli, he's bewitched by the beauty of the region's nature and to rest goes to a local bar where an angry artist serves there, she is tired of the state of Greece, and on the walls of the bar, she has drawn and written a story. A woman goes in search for the grave of a father she never knew in a village ruled by unfriendly men, her car gets stolen. The woman comes to the conclusion that Arcadia isn't a place for women.
3- Air on a G String ★★★☆☆
Feeling refreshed after his trip to Arcadia, "A" heads to Kalamata, and in a cafe, another old couple tells him about the best musician to have come to play in their town. A violist they named Antoni, who was so good that they served him lunch and dinner for entertaining them with his music. The most beautiful woman in town is named Magda, she is barren and a spinster but she and the musician fall for each other and have a one night stand, he gives her his G string and she gives him herself.
4- Never on a Tuesday ★★★☆☆
"A" heads to Patras, Olympia. He also shares that he hasn't been able to listen to music for months since his heartbreak and for the first time, he started to listen to music again. There he also meets another old couple who tell him that Tuesdays are considered sort of cursed in Greece because it's the day that Mehmed the Conqueror conquered Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and brought an end to the Byzantine Empire (I'm actually proud of that as a Muslim, but I get how they feel but making it into a cursed day is a bit too much). On 29 May, the people of Greece consider the date cursed, so a rich man who owns a chain of hotels reached the old age of 75 and wanted to retire and give his empire to one of his sons so that the business stays as one, his two sons are spoiled, he tasks them of making each a hotel and runs it for two years, the one with the highest profit will get the whole fortune. As an Arab, I think the man is stupid. He didn't teach his sons the business and didn't guide them but wanted them to succeed all at once, adding that I don't believe in this way of writing the inheritance, I think that's why many businesses finish there. Both children fail, one loses his hotel and reputation because he was cheap, the other became a man in debt and a killer. People superstition blamed the date, but again that's stupid, it's the father's fault that he lost EVERYTHING he worked for.
5- Lead Us Not Into Temptation ★★☆☆☆
"A" heads to a church of a saint who spread Christianity in Greece. I don't understand how people think in any religion that praying to the dead whoever they are can grant them anything. They are just human, good or bad, and they are not even granting themselves miracles. Pray to God, it's better for you for He stays alive and never dies. The old woman who cleans the new church gets sick so her granddaughter who is young and healthy cleans it for her, all the men start going to church in the time she cleans until she finishes to admire her, the priest is happy, candles are selling, the wives, however, weren't.
6- Eyewitness 1824 ★☆☆☆☆
The story of the English poet Lord Byron who was against the Othman empire and wanted Greece to be set free.
7- Holy Water
8- In Love with Love
9- Man on a Mountaintop
10- Je Reviens
11- Laterna, Poverty and Honour
12- Honeymoon
13- Know Thyself
14- The Lonely Wife
15- Waiting in the Wings
September 17, 2016
Everyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of Greece. I fell in love with that beautiful country, and its people twenty years ago and have been lucky enough to visit twice a year ever since. I haven't really gone off the beaten track, sticking to the islands such as Corfu, Crete, Zakynthos, Kos, Rhodes, Ithaka, Kefalonia, Lefkada and Kos. We always travel early in the season, and then later on and as it's usually fairly quiet, we get to know the locals. Our friends in Arillas, in north-west Corfu are almost like family, we've been visiting them for ten years.
During our late-night discussions, usually over countless glasses of village red wine and shots of Metaxa, or Ouzo, but never, never Tsipouru (evil stuff!), we talk about the economy, politics, family, tradition and generally put the world to rights. In Cartes Postales From Greece, Victoria Hislop brings to life those people that I've come to love, with their incredible hospitality and their zest for life. Their anger at what is happening to their country, their despair about the past, are quite perfectly portrayed.
"Everywhere I stopped strangers talked to me, and many of them told me a story. Their voices poured into the void, filling the silence that you had left.
You will recognise some of the places in the stories, from the postcards.
Who knows if the tales people told me are true or false? I suspect that some of them are complete fabrications, others are exaggerations - but perhaps some of them are real. You can decide."
The story begins with Ellie, and the mysterious postcards that arrive through her letterbox. Addressed to S Ibbotson, and each signed with just an initial - A. Ellie realises that S Ibbotson was the previous occupant of her dreary flat in London, and wonder who A is, and what was their relationship, and why do the messages on the back of the cards sound so sad? The cards are all from Greece. Ellie pins them up in her kitchen, they bring a splash of sunshine into her otherwise dull life.
On the spur of the moment, Ellie decides that she will travel to Greece. She wants to experience the places on the front of the postcard, she's desperate for something more than her boring job, in wintry London. On the morning that she leaves, a notebook is delivered to her flat, she stuffs it into her bag and departs for Athens.
From there, Cartes Postales From Greece becomes the story of 'A', his stories of his travels through Greece, all detailed in the notebook. He recounts how he meets the locals, he re-tells the stories that they share with him. He opens his heart to S Ibbotsen, with honesty and quite painfully at times.
Cartes Postales From Greece is beautifully illustrated with scenes from the places that A visits. Victoria Hislop worked with Greek photographer, Alexandros Kakolyris to create beautiful photographs to go with her words, they are stunning and add so much to this gorgeous story.
The author has brought together stories from Grecian history and modern-day tales and has created a novel that will delight her readers. Anyone who has been to Greece will recognise these characters, those sunsets, those smells. She does not shy away from the troubles that this country has suffered, now and throughout history, and her words go some way to explain why the Greek people are angry, but also why they continue to love their homeland so much.
Wonderful storytelling. Cartes Postales From Greece evokes such a brilliant sense of place. Rich, vivid and beautifully told.
http://randomthingsthroughmyletterbox...
During our late-night discussions, usually over countless glasses of village red wine and shots of Metaxa, or Ouzo, but never, never Tsipouru (evil stuff!), we talk about the economy, politics, family, tradition and generally put the world to rights. In Cartes Postales From Greece, Victoria Hislop brings to life those people that I've come to love, with their incredible hospitality and their zest for life. Their anger at what is happening to their country, their despair about the past, are quite perfectly portrayed.
"Everywhere I stopped strangers talked to me, and many of them told me a story. Their voices poured into the void, filling the silence that you had left.
You will recognise some of the places in the stories, from the postcards.
Who knows if the tales people told me are true or false? I suspect that some of them are complete fabrications, others are exaggerations - but perhaps some of them are real. You can decide."
The story begins with Ellie, and the mysterious postcards that arrive through her letterbox. Addressed to S Ibbotson, and each signed with just an initial - A. Ellie realises that S Ibbotson was the previous occupant of her dreary flat in London, and wonder who A is, and what was their relationship, and why do the messages on the back of the cards sound so sad? The cards are all from Greece. Ellie pins them up in her kitchen, they bring a splash of sunshine into her otherwise dull life.
On the spur of the moment, Ellie decides that she will travel to Greece. She wants to experience the places on the front of the postcard, she's desperate for something more than her boring job, in wintry London. On the morning that she leaves, a notebook is delivered to her flat, she stuffs it into her bag and departs for Athens.
From there, Cartes Postales From Greece becomes the story of 'A', his stories of his travels through Greece, all detailed in the notebook. He recounts how he meets the locals, he re-tells the stories that they share with him. He opens his heart to S Ibbotsen, with honesty and quite painfully at times.
Cartes Postales From Greece is beautifully illustrated with scenes from the places that A visits. Victoria Hislop worked with Greek photographer, Alexandros Kakolyris to create beautiful photographs to go with her words, they are stunning and add so much to this gorgeous story.
The author has brought together stories from Grecian history and modern-day tales and has created a novel that will delight her readers. Anyone who has been to Greece will recognise these characters, those sunsets, those smells. She does not shy away from the troubles that this country has suffered, now and throughout history, and her words go some way to explain why the Greek people are angry, but also why they continue to love their homeland so much.
Wonderful storytelling. Cartes Postales From Greece evokes such a brilliant sense of place. Rich, vivid and beautifully told.
http://randomthingsthroughmyletterbox...
August 20, 2017
I heard Victoria Hislop talking about this book on the radio and it sounded fascinating so I rushed out to buy.
What a disappointment (despite loving Greece). It read to me like a succession of poorly written essays on "What I did in the holidays" joined together by the equivalent of the worst sort of radio links.
Safe to say that this writer is not for me.
What a disappointment (despite loving Greece). It read to me like a succession of poorly written essays on "What I did in the holidays" joined together by the equivalent of the worst sort of radio links.
Safe to say that this writer is not for me.
October 22, 2021
Η ιστορία μας αφορά τις καρτ ποστάλ που λαμβάνει η ηρωίδα μας, Έλι, από τον άγνωστο Α. από διαφορετικά μέρη της Ελλάδας. Όταν μετά από καιρό πείθεται να ταξιδέψει και η ίδια στην χώρα που την μάγεψε, λαμβάνει και ένα ημερολόγιο από τον ίδιο αποστολέα. Μέσα στο ημερολόγιο αυτό ο ήρωας μας εξιστορείται κάποιες ιστορίες που άκουσε από διάφορους ανθρώπους κατά τη διάρκεια της παραμονής του στην Ελλάδα.
Το βιβλίο αυτό είχε μια ιδιόμορφη γραφή, η οποία στην αρχή με μπέρδεψε λίγο, ωστόσο στη πορεία κατάλαβα τον τρόπο που ήταν γραμμένο και ήταν όντως πιο φανερά χωρισμένο σε κεφάλαια που έδειχναν την οπτική γωνία της Έλι , άλλα έδειχναν τα λόγια που άφηνε ο ήρωας μας Άντονι στο ημερολόγιο του και τέλος τα κεφάλαια με τις ιστορίες που διηγούνταν.
Προσωπικά μπορώ να πω ότι δεν το βρήκα ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρον, ειδικά τα κεφάλαια με τις ιστορίες. Δεν βοήθησαν σε εμένα να το απολαύσω και μάλιστα κάποιες ήθελα να τις προσπεράσω. Δεν θεώρησα ότι επηρέσαν την πλοκή τόσο, καθώς εμένα το ενδιαφέρον μου ήταν κυρίως στη ζωή του Άντονι και την Έλι και αν και εφόσον θα γνώριζε ο ένας τον άλλον και αν θα υπήρξε ανάπτυξη κάποιας σχέσης. Ίσως δεν ήταν αυτό το νόημα του βιβλίου, αλλά εγώ προσωπικά θα ήθελα περισσότερο να επικεντρωθεί εκεί, παρά σε ιστορίες που άκουσε από τρίτους και τις μετέφερε αλλού.
Εν ολίγης, θα έλεγα ότι ήταν ένα βιβλίο με αρκετά απλοϊκή γραφή, χωρίς κάποια ανατροπή, χωρίς κάτι το συναρπαστικό.
Το βιβλίο αυτό είχε μια ιδιόμορφη γραφή, η οποία στην αρχή με μπέρδεψε λίγο, ωστόσο στη πορεία κατάλαβα τον τρόπο που ήταν γραμμένο και ήταν όντως πιο φανερά χωρισμένο σε κεφάλαια που έδειχναν την οπτική γωνία της Έλι , άλλα έδειχναν τα λόγια που άφηνε ο ήρωας μας Άντονι στο ημερολόγιο του και τέλος τα κεφάλαια με τις ιστορίες που διηγούνταν.
Προσωπικά μπορώ να πω ότι δεν το βρήκα ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρον, ειδικά τα κεφάλαια με τις ιστορίες. Δεν βοήθησαν σε εμένα να το απολαύσω και μάλιστα κάποιες ήθελα να τις προσπεράσω. Δεν θεώρησα ότι επηρέσαν την πλοκή τόσο, καθώς εμένα το ενδιαφέρον μου ήταν κυρίως στη ζωή του Άντονι και την Έλι και αν και εφόσον θα γνώριζε ο ένας τον άλλον και αν θα υπήρξε ανάπτυξη κάποιας σχέσης. Ίσως δεν ήταν αυτό το νόημα του βιβλίου, αλλά εγώ προσωπικά θα ήθελα περισσότερο να επικεντρωθεί εκεί, παρά σε ιστορίες που άκουσε από τρίτους και τις μετέφερε αλλού.
Εν ολίγης, θα έλεγα ότι ήταν ένα βιβλίο με αρκετά απλοϊκή γραφή, χωρίς κάποια ανατροπή, χωρίς κάτι το συναρπαστικό.
December 13, 2016
Interesting set of short stories based around a set of postcards and a notebook around Greece and a mixture of novel stories and retelling of the classics as it takes the reader on a trip
January 29, 2022
Θα έλεγα ένα .... φολκλορικό βιβλίο με διαφορετικές ιστορίες που διαδραματίζονται στην Ελλάδα της τελευταίας δεκαετίας χειμώνα, καλοκαίρι αλλά που ξεκινούν από το παρελθόν φτάνοντας στο σήμερα. Ετοιμάζεται απ΄ ότι διάβασα να γυριστεί τηλεοπτική σειρά. Εκεί ενδεχομένως να πετύχει αυτή η συνταγή, σίγουρα όμως θα δώσει αρκετές πωλήσεις στο βιβλίο.
October 15, 2017
I have to say, I was immensely disappointed with this book. From the synopsis, I was led to believe that it was a story about Ellie, who has been receiving postcards from various places in Greece, meant for a previous occupant of her property. Intrigued by these and a notebook from the same sender that arrives, she goes off to Greece to discover the country for herself.
However, Ellie's part in the story is practically superfluous, being shunted in at the very beginning and end, as is the rather dour character of Anthony, the sender of said postcards, who essentially just bombards the reader throughout with facts about Greek islands. It really feels that both characters were an afterthought to try and turn what is essentially a strange collection of little Greek stories of wisdom into a complete tale. The grainy, black and white pictures throughout were also a miss. Such a shame, as I have previously enjoyed books from this author.
However, Ellie's part in the story is practically superfluous, being shunted in at the very beginning and end, as is the rather dour character of Anthony, the sender of said postcards, who essentially just bombards the reader throughout with facts about Greek islands. It really feels that both characters were an afterthought to try and turn what is essentially a strange collection of little Greek stories of wisdom into a complete tale. The grainy, black and white pictures throughout were also a miss. Such a shame, as I have previously enjoyed books from this author.
October 16, 2021
This book is perfect! I can not understand so many negative comments, I think this is an ideal combination of a novel and a collection of short stories. Based on a frame story of erotic disappointment and search for comfort through a trip to Greece, the author combines a series of small beautiful stories that each tell something about love or this small country where this search takes place. You might say that these stories do not seem important, that they do not have something very special but I think they are just right to fit the author's intentions. I think what he wanted to offer to readers is a series of stories that work much like postcards that each give a minimal picture of a country but all together can show much more. So these short stories may seem to give a touristic picture of Greece but all together they show something very complete about what it means to live in this country and to see it through the eyes of its inhabitants. In the end, we can say that it has something autobiographical, that it takes a look at the process through which the author loved Greece and this for me is something very beautiful that increases the emotion that this book offers. That is why I suggest you read this book and read it slowly to enjoy its beauty even more, as I did.
Αυτό το βιβλίο είναι τέλειο! Δεν μπορώ να καταλάβω τα τόσα αρνητικά σχόλια, εγώ νομίζω ότι πρόκειται για έναν ιδανικό συνδυασμό μυθιστορήματος και συλλογής διηγημάτων. Με κορμό μία ιστορία ερωτικής απογοήτευσης και αναζήτησης παρηγοριάς μέσω ενός ταξιδιού στην Ελλάδα, η συγγραφέας ενώνει μία σειρά από μικρές όμορφες ιστορίες που η καθεμία λέει κάτι για τον έρωτα ή για αυτή τη μικρή χώρα που αυτή η αναζήτηση λαμβάνει χώρα. Θα μπορούσε ίσως κάνεις να πει ότι αυτές οι ιστορίες δεν μοιάζουν σημαντικές, ότι δεν έχουν κάτι πολύ ιδιαίτερο αλλά νομίζω ότι είναι ακριβώς όπως πρέπει για να ταιριάζουν στις προθέσεις της συγγραφέως. Νομίζω ότι αυτό που ήθελε να προσφέρει στους αναγνώστες είναι μία σειρά από ιστορίες που λειτουργούν περίπου σαν τις cartes postales που η κάθε μία δίνει μία ελάχιστη εικόνα μιας χώρας αλλά όλες μαζί ενωμένες μπορούν να δείξουν πολύ περισσότερα. Έτσι αυτές οι μικρές ιστορίες μπορεί να φαίνονται ότι δίνουν μία τουριστική εικόνα της Ελλάδος αλλά όλες μαζί δείχνουν κάτι πολύ ολοκληρωμένο για το τι σημαίνει να ζεις σε αυτή τη χώρα και να τη βλέπεις με τα μάτια των κατοίκων της. Αυτό στο τέλος μπορούμε να πούμε ότι έχει κάτι αυτοβιογραφικό, ότι ρίχνει μία ματιά στη διαδικασία μέσα από την οποία η συγγραφέας αγάπησε την Ελλάδα και αυτό για εμένα είναι κάτι ιδιαίτερα όμορφο που αυξάνει τη συγκίνηση που προσφέρει αυτό το βιβλίο. Για αυτό προτείνω να διαβάσετε αυτό το βιβλίο και να το διαβάσετε σιγά-σιγά για να απολαύσετε ακόμα περισσότερο την ομορφιά του, όπως έκανα και εγώ.
Αυτό το βιβλίο είναι τέλειο! Δεν μπορώ να καταλάβω τα τόσα αρνητικά σχόλια, εγώ νομίζω ότι πρόκειται για έναν ιδανικό συνδυασμό μυθιστορήματος και συλλογής διηγημάτων. Με κορμό μία ιστορία ερωτικής απογοήτευσης και αναζήτησης παρηγοριάς μέσω ενός ταξιδιού στην Ελλάδα, η συγγραφέας ενώνει μία σειρά από μικρές όμορφες ιστορίες που η καθεμία λέει κάτι για τον έρωτα ή για αυτή τη μικρή χώρα που αυτή η αναζήτηση λαμβάνει χώρα. Θα μπορούσε ίσως κάνεις να πει ότι αυτές οι ιστορίες δεν μοιάζουν σημαντικές, ότι δεν έχουν κάτι πολύ ιδιαίτερο αλλά νομίζω ότι είναι ακριβώς όπως πρέπει για να ταιριάζουν στις προθέσεις της συγγραφέως. Νομίζω ότι αυτό που ήθελε να προσφέρει στους αναγνώστες είναι μία σειρά από ιστορίες που λειτουργούν περίπου σαν τις cartes postales που η κάθε μία δίνει μία ελάχιστη εικόνα μιας χώρας αλλά όλες μαζί ενωμένες μπορούν να δείξουν πολύ περισσότερα. Έτσι αυτές οι μικρές ιστορίες μπορεί να φαίνονται ότι δίνουν μία τουριστική εικόνα της Ελλάδος αλλά όλες μαζί δείχνουν κάτι πολύ ολοκληρωμένο για το τι σημαίνει να ζεις σε αυτή τη χώρα και να τη βλέπεις με τα μάτια των κατοίκων της. Αυτό στο τέλος μπορούμε να πούμε ότι έχει κάτι αυτοβιογραφικό, ότι ρίχνει μία ματιά στη διαδικασία μέσα από την οποία η συγγραφέας αγάπησε την Ελλάδα και αυτό για εμένα είναι κάτι ιδιαίτερα όμορφο που αυξάνει τη συγκίνηση που προσφέρει αυτό το βιβλίο. Για αυτό προτείνω να διαβάσετε αυτό το βιβλίο και να το διαβάσετε σιγά-σιγά για να απολαύσετε ακόμα περισσότερο την ομορφιά του, όπως έκανα και εγώ.
October 5, 2021
Διαβάστε το review στο site μας:
https://www.culture21century.gr/2021/...
Οι Έλληνες έχουμε μια τάση να συγκινούμαστε υπερβολικά, να παρασυρόμαστε συναισθηματικά και μην είμαστε απόλυτα αντικειμενικοί όταν πρόκειται να σχολιάσουμε ένα βιβλίο που στον πυρήνα του βρίσκεται η Ελλάδα μας και μάλιστα, οι μεγαλύτερες ομορφιές αυτής, εκείνες που μας κάνουν να θυμόμαστε γιατί αγαπάμε τόσο πολύ τον τόπο αυτό -τουλάχιστον οι περισσότεροι από εμάς. Τα βιβλία της Victoria Hislop είναι μια χαρακτηριστική περίπτωση όπου επικρατεί το φαινόμενο αυτό, αφού έχει έναν πολύ ιδιαίτερο, τρυφερό και γεμάτο στοργή τρόπο ν' αποτυπώνει όλα εκείνα τα στοιχεία που δίνουν στον κόσμο να καταλάβει γιατί η Ελλάδα αξίζει την αγάπη του, ρίχνοντας φως στα θετικά της και σκιές στα ελαττώματά της, που ξαφνικά φαντάζουν αμελητέα.
Το "Καρτ Ποστάλ", το οποίο μεταφέρθηκε και στη μικρή οθόνη και προβλήθηκε μέσα απ' τη συχνότητα της ΕΡΤ, δεν αποτελεί εξαίρεση του κανόνα αυτού, και η ιστορία της Έλι, όσο απλοϊκή κι αν είναι στην πραγματικότητα στον πυρήνα της, περιστρέφεται γύρω από έναν όμορφο άξονα, με ταξιδιάρικα παρακλάδια, πλούσιες εικόνες, υπέροχους τόπους να σου συστήσει, αλλά ακόμα και γι' αυτούς που γνωρίζεις θα έχει να σου αποκαλύψει κάποιο μυστικό που αγνοούσες, μα πάνω απ' όλα την εσωτερική αλήθεια που κρύβει ο καθένας από εμάς βαθιά μέσα του, που ίσως να μην τολμάει πάντα να παραδεχθεί, αλλά που παλεύει να την κρατήσει σφιχτά, προστατευτικά, περιμένοντας εκείνη τη στιγμή που δεν θα είναι απλά κομμάτι του, αλλά κάτι που θα μπορεί να μοιραστεί.
Η Hislop έχει δημιουργήσει μια ιστορία που ουσιαστικά αποτελείται από πολλές μικρότερες ιστορίες, οι οποίες είναι σαν να είναι κομμένες και ραμμένες στα μέτρα που χρειάζονται προκειμένου να δημιουργηθεί ένας αφηγηματικός χάρτης που μας ταξιδεύει τόσο με τον νου μας, όσο και με όλες μας τις αισθήσεις. Μας ταξιδεύει με εικόνες και με συναισθήματα, μας μεταφέρει στον χρόνο και στον χώρο χωρίς να μας μπερδεύει, χωρίς να μας αποπροσανατολίζει, ούσα απόλυτα ειλικρινής μαζί μας, δίνοντάς μας παράλληλα τον χρόνο να συγκεντρώσουμε τα απαραίτητα δεδομένα, μέχρι που θα είμαστε σε θέση να τα τοποθετήσουμε καθώς πρέπει, έχοντας έτσι τον ολοκληρωμένο καμβά μιας ζωής και της πραγματικότητας αυτής.
Σίγουρα, αν μπούμε στη διαδικασία να συγκρίνουμε το βιβλίο αυτό με άλλα της συγγραφέως, όπως π.χ. "Το νησί" ή "Το νήμα", το συγκεκριμένο θα χάσει τη μάχη, αν και αυτή θα είναι παντελώς άνιση εξ' αρχής και κυρίως άδικη. Οπότε, όσον αφορά εμένα, θ' αφήσω στην άκρη το συναισθηματικό κομμάτι και θα προσπαθήσω να δω τα πράγματα αποστασιοποιημένα, λέγοντας το εξής: Το "Καρτ ποστάλ" είναι ένα βιβλίο απλοϊκά γραμμένο, η ροή του οποίου κυλάει με αρκετά σταθερό ρυθμό και στερείται δυνατών εντάσεων, εκπλήξεων και ανατροπών, αλλά που την ίσια στιγμή καταφέρνει να μας παρασύρει σε ένα μαγευτικό οδοιπορικό της χώρας μας, συνοδεύοντας την Έλι, τόσο ως προς την εξερεύνηση της πορείας της ζωής του Α., που της έστειλε τις κάρτες που έμελλαν να επηρεάσουν τόσο τη δική της πορεία, όσο και της αλήθειας της καρδιάς του και γιατί όχι, και της δικής της.
https://www.culture21century.gr/2021/...
Οι Έλληνες έχουμε μια τάση να συγκινούμαστε υπερβολικά, να παρασυρόμαστε συναισθηματικά και μην είμαστε απόλυτα αντικειμενικοί όταν πρόκειται να σχολιάσουμε ένα βιβλίο που στον πυρήνα του βρίσκεται η Ελλάδα μας και μάλιστα, οι μεγαλύτερες ομορφιές αυτής, εκείνες που μας κάνουν να θυμόμαστε γιατί αγαπάμε τόσο πολύ τον τόπο αυτό -τουλάχιστον οι περισσότεροι από εμάς. Τα βιβλία της Victoria Hislop είναι μια χαρακτηριστική περίπτωση όπου επικρατεί το φαινόμενο αυτό, αφού έχει έναν πολύ ιδιαίτερο, τρυφερό και γεμάτο στοργή τρόπο ν' αποτυπώνει όλα εκείνα τα στοιχεία που δίνουν στον κόσμο να καταλάβει γιατί η Ελλάδα αξίζει την αγάπη του, ρίχνοντας φως στα θετικά της και σκιές στα ελαττώματά της, που ξαφνικά φαντάζουν αμελητέα.
Το "Καρτ Ποστάλ", το οποίο μεταφέρθηκε και στη μικρή οθόνη και προβλήθηκε μέσα απ' τη συχνότητα της ΕΡΤ, δεν αποτελεί εξαίρεση του κανόνα αυτού, και η ιστορία της Έλι, όσο απλοϊκή κι αν είναι στην πραγματικότητα στον πυρήνα της, περιστρέφεται γύρω από έναν όμορφο άξονα, με ταξιδιάρικα παρακλάδια, πλούσιες εικόνες, υπέροχους τόπους να σου συστήσει, αλλά ακόμα και γι' αυτούς που γνωρίζεις θα έχει να σου αποκαλύψει κάποιο μυστικό που αγνοούσες, μα πάνω απ' όλα την εσωτερική αλήθεια που κρύβει ο καθένας από εμάς βαθιά μέσα του, που ίσως να μην τολμάει πάντα να παραδεχθεί, αλλά που παλεύει να την κρατήσει σφιχτά, προστατευτικά, περιμένοντας εκείνη τη στιγμή που δεν θα είναι απλά κομμάτι του, αλλά κάτι που θα μπορεί να μοιραστεί.
Η Hislop έχει δημιουργήσει μια ιστορία που ουσιαστικά αποτελείται από πολλές μικρότερες ιστορίες, οι οποίες είναι σαν να είναι κομμένες και ραμμένες στα μέτρα που χρειάζονται προκειμένου να δημιουργηθεί ένας αφηγηματικός χάρτης που μας ταξιδεύει τόσο με τον νου μας, όσο και με όλες μας τις αισθήσεις. Μας ταξιδεύει με εικόνες και με συναισθήματα, μας μεταφέρει στον χρόνο και στον χώρο χωρίς να μας μπερδεύει, χωρίς να μας αποπροσανατολίζει, ούσα απόλυτα ειλικρινής μαζί μας, δίνοντάς μας παράλληλα τον χρόνο να συγκεντρώσουμε τα απαραίτητα δεδομένα, μέχρι που θα είμαστε σε θέση να τα τοποθετήσουμε καθώς πρέπει, έχοντας έτσι τον ολοκληρωμένο καμβά μιας ζωής και της πραγματικότητας αυτής.
Σίγουρα, αν μπούμε στη διαδικασία να συγκρίνουμε το βιβλίο αυτό με άλλα της συγγραφέως, όπως π.χ. "Το νησί" ή "Το νήμα", το συγκεκριμένο θα χάσει τη μάχη, αν και αυτή θα είναι παντελώς άνιση εξ' αρχής και κυρίως άδικη. Οπότε, όσον αφορά εμένα, θ' αφήσω στην άκρη το συναισθηματικό κομμάτι και θα προσπαθήσω να δω τα πράγματα αποστασιοποιημένα, λέγοντας το εξής: Το "Καρτ ποστάλ" είναι ένα βιβλίο απλοϊκά γραμμένο, η ροή του οποίου κυλάει με αρκετά σταθερό ρυθμό και στερείται δυνατών εντάσεων, εκπλήξεων και ανατροπών, αλλά που την ίσια στιγμή καταφέρνει να μας παρασύρει σε ένα μαγευτικό οδοιπορικό της χώρας μας, συνοδεύοντας την Έλι, τόσο ως προς την εξερεύνηση της πορείας της ζωής του Α., που της έστειλε τις κάρτες που έμελλαν να επηρεάσουν τόσο τη δική της πορεία, όσο και της αλήθειας της καρδιάς του και γιατί όχι, και της δικής της.
June 5, 2017
In my view this book is another no-no by Victoria Hislop.
The last no-no was The Sunrise, a story filled with bland characters. Cartes Postales from Greece is yet again about nobodies, and this time it's about a lot of nothing. The previous book she wrote with short stories, (The Last Dance: And Other Stories, was really good. I liked the stories and I liked her storytelling.
This time she tried to make the short stories part of a bigger story, which I don't think worked. Postcards and finally a notebook are sent to Ellie's address in London which are all address to a different person unknown to her. She can't help herself and reads all the postcards, and allows herself to dream about the places in Greece that are shown on them. She's unhappy with her life and with her job and she decides to visit these places for herself. Then she receives the aforementioned notebook, through which she gets to know the person sending the postcards a bit better.
It sounds promising, but it's not really. She's unhappy, the person (Anthony) sending the postcards is unhappy, the people that Anthony meets tell him either depressing or happy stories but all-in-all they seem quite unhappy. And finally it all wraps up to nothing. Hislop tries to somehow make the stories (which range from a female artist, a couple in an unwelcome town, to Daedalus & Icarus) link in with the main story, but it doesn't work.
I'm always happy to read novels about Greece. I'm always happy to see Greek words I know pass the pages of the book but at the end of the day; the words spoken by Anthony about his book towards the end of the story are completely true for this novel as well:
"It won't change anyone's life. I have no illusions about that. It's not so unlike these stories. I had nowhere else to put them except on these pages, and there was nowhere for them to go except to your address." (Hislop 423)
The last no-no was The Sunrise, a story filled with bland characters. Cartes Postales from Greece is yet again about nobodies, and this time it's about a lot of nothing. The previous book she wrote with short stories, (The Last Dance: And Other Stories, was really good. I liked the stories and I liked her storytelling.
This time she tried to make the short stories part of a bigger story, which I don't think worked. Postcards and finally a notebook are sent to Ellie's address in London which are all address to a different person unknown to her. She can't help herself and reads all the postcards, and allows herself to dream about the places in Greece that are shown on them. She's unhappy with her life and with her job and she decides to visit these places for herself. Then she receives the aforementioned notebook, through which she gets to know the person sending the postcards a bit better.
It sounds promising, but it's not really. She's unhappy, the person (Anthony) sending the postcards is unhappy, the people that Anthony meets tell him either depressing or happy stories but all-in-all they seem quite unhappy. And finally it all wraps up to nothing. Hislop tries to somehow make the stories (which range from a female artist, a couple in an unwelcome town, to Daedalus & Icarus) link in with the main story, but it doesn't work.
I'm always happy to read novels about Greece. I'm always happy to see Greek words I know pass the pages of the book but at the end of the day; the words spoken by Anthony about his book towards the end of the story are completely true for this novel as well:
"It won't change anyone's life. I have no illusions about that. It's not so unlike these stories. I had nowhere else to put them except on these pages, and there was nowhere for them to go except to your address." (Hislop 423)
April 17, 2020
4.25 stars
Disclaimer: I loved this book in its entirety. My only complaint is that the stuff that's on the blurb is just a miniscule part of the story. And it's because of that that I felt a bit let down / betrayed. This is why I lopped off 0.75 stars. Okay. Tiny rant over.
Cartes Postales from Greece starts off with Ellie Thomas receiving a bunch of postcards addressed to someone else. Curious about the man writing the postcards and the country from which he is sending them, she decides to go on a 10-day trip to Greece in pursuit of this story. The day she leaves, a package containing a notebook/journal is delivered to her. And from there begins a journey of exploration and diving into Greek culture and stories that blows Ellie's mind while enriching it and inspiring it to no end.
I was rather annoyed about 100 pages into the book because this was not what I had been so excited for all these years. This is a collection of short stories and not one continuous story about how the postcards affect Ellie. But then, each story about a Greek town or village or island is so rich in local details that I felt transported into the setting. It's not all whites and blues and purity that these stories hold. There's also the darkness that comes with being an unwelcome, inhospitable village in a couple of stories. Because we all know that global utopia isn't really a thing. There's always that one dark spot that makes the picture that much more intriguing.
Most importantly, this book is supposed to be savored as a whole. Don't stop halfway through even if you think you're bored (which you most likely won't but if you do, don't stop!). There's so much more to this story, so much more to take in about modern jobs and happiness and inner peace that when it actually crawls up on, gradually but with a weight to take you down a hundred times, you will have fallen in love with the book. And that's exactly what happened with me.
And now, I can confidently say that some day, I will revisit these stories and savor them, knowing the feeling that awaits me at the end of the book. That is going to be a different kind of high, I'm sure.
I'd highly recommend this book especially if you're interested in learning about Greece and its many beauties. All I ask from you is a little bit of patience as you get through it.
Disclaimer: I loved this book in its entirety. My only complaint is that the stuff that's on the blurb is just a miniscule part of the story. And it's because of that that I felt a bit let down / betrayed. This is why I lopped off 0.75 stars. Okay. Tiny rant over.
Cartes Postales from Greece starts off with Ellie Thomas receiving a bunch of postcards addressed to someone else. Curious about the man writing the postcards and the country from which he is sending them, she decides to go on a 10-day trip to Greece in pursuit of this story. The day she leaves, a package containing a notebook/journal is delivered to her. And from there begins a journey of exploration and diving into Greek culture and stories that blows Ellie's mind while enriching it and inspiring it to no end.
I was rather annoyed about 100 pages into the book because this was not what I had been so excited for all these years. This is a collection of short stories and not one continuous story about how the postcards affect Ellie. But then, each story about a Greek town or village or island is so rich in local details that I felt transported into the setting. It's not all whites and blues and purity that these stories hold. There's also the darkness that comes with being an unwelcome, inhospitable village in a couple of stories. Because we all know that global utopia isn't really a thing. There's always that one dark spot that makes the picture that much more intriguing.
Most importantly, this book is supposed to be savored as a whole. Don't stop halfway through even if you think you're bored (which you most likely won't but if you do, don't stop!). There's so much more to this story, so much more to take in about modern jobs and happiness and inner peace that when it actually crawls up on, gradually but with a weight to take you down a hundred times, you will have fallen in love with the book. And that's exactly what happened with me.
And now, I can confidently say that some day, I will revisit these stories and savor them, knowing the feeling that awaits me at the end of the book. That is going to be a different kind of high, I'm sure.
I'd highly recommend this book especially if you're interested in learning about Greece and its many beauties. All I ask from you is a little bit of patience as you get through it.
June 1, 2019
I initially struggled reading this book so I put it aside...until recently when I picked it back up, ‘got’ the format Victoria was using and thoroughly enjoyed it. Or maybe...hmmm...my mood was different this time around?? Funny thing that lol xx
Hmmm...now for some reason this review isn’t posting to my reading challenge...gee how might this affect my mood?? Lol xx
Hmmm...now for some reason this review isn’t posting to my reading challenge...gee how might this affect my mood?? Lol xx
September 20, 2016
‘Who knows if the tales people told me are true or false? I suspect some of them are complete fabrications, others are exaggeration – but perhaps some of them are real.
You can decide.’
There are certain books that land through my letterbox that result in a funny dance and a scream of joy!! Cartes Postales from Greece is one such book.
Written by the wonderful Victoria Hislop, Cartes Postales from Greece will be published on the 22nd of September by Headline Review, in Hardback, Ebook and Audiobook.
I was honoured and overjoyed to receive my copy from Caitlin Raynor, Deputy Communications Director with Headline Review, in return for my very honest review.
If I never read one page of this book I would still love it for the amazing photographs taken by Alexandros Kakolyris. The pictures he has captured are a thing of beauty.
‘This is a book conceived under Greece’s unique light, a light that Victoria wanted me to capture. Her imagination is unstoppable. From her reaction I realized what my part in this venture was. It wasn’t only interesting and demanding…..it was fascinating!
I had to capture the story as it was created.’
Cartes Postales is more than just a book.
It is a series of interwoven stories written in a notebook about one man’s journey through Greece. The stories both inform and inspire the reader, with descriptions that surpass anything I’ve read. I have always loved Victoria Hislop’s books but this one is extra special. With paragraphs and stories reminiscent of Paulo Coelho’s writing, the reader is taken on a journey through the history of Greece.
A, the author of these stories, has suffered quite a traumatic breakup and as a writer, decides to catalog his journey on the back of postcards and in a journal. He imagines he is writing to the person he has lost in love and continues to post them to where he thinks she lives.
Ellie, now living at that address, looks forward to receiving these Cartes Postales and creates a montage of the photos with dreams of her own. When the cards stop coming, Ellie is bereft. Unhappy with her own life, Ellie decides to go to Greece to follow the path of some of the places identified on the cards.
Before her departure, she receives a very unexpected parcel. It is the journal, written by A.
As Ellie soon realises, she is looking into the private but beautiful thoughts of a man on a journey of discovery. The book takes us on this journey with A as he meets with local people and they recount their stories and the shared stories of others with him.
Documented in the journal, A’s writing is that of a man unraveling his thoughts and undertaking a life transforming experience. As I turned over each stunning page, I became totally immersed in the journey with A. In truth I did not want the book to end.
A note from Victoria Hislop:
‘Whenever I create characters, or describe places, or form a plot, I always begin with the photographs that I have taken. I have done this with all my books, from The Island onwards. I surrounded myself with visual images once I was back in the UK writing – a huge board with hundreds of photographs.
And it often occurred to me that it would be wonderful if I could actually use the photographs within a book, the only problem being that mine might not be good enough.
I explored bookshops in England and in Greece to see if anyone was using colour photographs with adult fiction. There was not a single example. It seems that there is a moment in a child’s reading life when somebody decides, suddenly, ” No more pictures! Words only from now on!” Poor grown-ups.
With Greek photographer, Alexandros Kakolyris we decided together to create a book with words and pictures – a visual story book for grown-ups. Alexandros agreed to travel with me, taking photographs all over Greece with his own idiosyncratic perspective on his own country.
Many of the photographs provided my inspiration.
The pictures themselves are not purely illustrations, they are the starting point, the raison d’etre in some way, of the story.'
In case you haven’t guessed it already…..I loved this book.
Cartes Postales from Greece is an evocative collection of inspiring and poignant stories that will awaken your senses and take you on a pilgrimage away from the mundane side of life. It is a book I highly recommend.
You can decide.’
There are certain books that land through my letterbox that result in a funny dance and a scream of joy!! Cartes Postales from Greece is one such book.
Written by the wonderful Victoria Hislop, Cartes Postales from Greece will be published on the 22nd of September by Headline Review, in Hardback, Ebook and Audiobook.
I was honoured and overjoyed to receive my copy from Caitlin Raynor, Deputy Communications Director with Headline Review, in return for my very honest review.
If I never read one page of this book I would still love it for the amazing photographs taken by Alexandros Kakolyris. The pictures he has captured are a thing of beauty.
‘This is a book conceived under Greece’s unique light, a light that Victoria wanted me to capture. Her imagination is unstoppable. From her reaction I realized what my part in this venture was. It wasn’t only interesting and demanding…..it was fascinating!
I had to capture the story as it was created.’
Cartes Postales is more than just a book.
It is a series of interwoven stories written in a notebook about one man’s journey through Greece. The stories both inform and inspire the reader, with descriptions that surpass anything I’ve read. I have always loved Victoria Hislop’s books but this one is extra special. With paragraphs and stories reminiscent of Paulo Coelho’s writing, the reader is taken on a journey through the history of Greece.
A, the author of these stories, has suffered quite a traumatic breakup and as a writer, decides to catalog his journey on the back of postcards and in a journal. He imagines he is writing to the person he has lost in love and continues to post them to where he thinks she lives.
Ellie, now living at that address, looks forward to receiving these Cartes Postales and creates a montage of the photos with dreams of her own. When the cards stop coming, Ellie is bereft. Unhappy with her own life, Ellie decides to go to Greece to follow the path of some of the places identified on the cards.
Before her departure, she receives a very unexpected parcel. It is the journal, written by A.
As Ellie soon realises, she is looking into the private but beautiful thoughts of a man on a journey of discovery. The book takes us on this journey with A as he meets with local people and they recount their stories and the shared stories of others with him.
Documented in the journal, A’s writing is that of a man unraveling his thoughts and undertaking a life transforming experience. As I turned over each stunning page, I became totally immersed in the journey with A. In truth I did not want the book to end.
A note from Victoria Hislop:
‘Whenever I create characters, or describe places, or form a plot, I always begin with the photographs that I have taken. I have done this with all my books, from The Island onwards. I surrounded myself with visual images once I was back in the UK writing – a huge board with hundreds of photographs.
And it often occurred to me that it would be wonderful if I could actually use the photographs within a book, the only problem being that mine might not be good enough.
I explored bookshops in England and in Greece to see if anyone was using colour photographs with adult fiction. There was not a single example. It seems that there is a moment in a child’s reading life when somebody decides, suddenly, ” No more pictures! Words only from now on!” Poor grown-ups.
With Greek photographer, Alexandros Kakolyris we decided together to create a book with words and pictures – a visual story book for grown-ups. Alexandros agreed to travel with me, taking photographs all over Greece with his own idiosyncratic perspective on his own country.
Many of the photographs provided my inspiration.
The pictures themselves are not purely illustrations, they are the starting point, the raison d’etre in some way, of the story.'
In case you haven’t guessed it already…..I loved this book.
Cartes Postales from Greece is an evocative collection of inspiring and poignant stories that will awaken your senses and take you on a pilgrimage away from the mundane side of life. It is a book I highly recommend.
March 11, 2018
Oh dear! I read “The Island” when it was first publishes and was incredibly disappointed because it did not live up to its hype at all: it failed completely to take me back to a place I had visited years earlier and put life into the story of the lepers of Spinalonga. It was a boring, badly written book.
I decided to try ‘Cartes Postales from Greece’ when I saw it in the library and the idea sounded attractive. Hislop has published many books in the interim and seemed to garner good reviews - so I figured she had improved.
The idea sound neat - a girl with becomes enthralled by mysterious postcards from Greece and decides to go on holiday there; and on the day she travels, she receives a mysterious journal by the writer of the postcards and which she reads at her holiday destination. It reveals the story of the postcard writer and uses stories within a story to reveal the wonders of Greece.
However, I found the same problems with CPfG as with The Island - unimaginative writing, poor characterisation, a lack of believable dialogue and ultimately a boring experience.
With CPfG, I was also appalled, that for a so-called lover of Greece and all things Greek, the writer focussed on such negative stereotypes about Greek character - misogyny, xenophobia, human sacrifice, corruption, revenge, cruelty etc.
If I had read this before my first visit to Greece nearly 40 years ago - I would never have visited at all!
The stories within a story don’t work for me. Some are quite interesting but others are trite, unreal, unimaginative and seriously boring.
The narrator never comes alive to me and his journey from infatuated fool to sensible man never engaged my interest or sympathy because I learned little about him. The way in which the 2 protagonists manage to meet so easily in Athens and find a solution to her going back or staying is so unreal and so utterly boring that I felt like hurling the book across the room at the end. Even the romantics at Mills and Boon would have quailed at presenting that kind of sloppy finale to its readers! (Absolutely no insult to Mills and Boon intended - they do a great job for their particular niche market and VH could probably learn something from their writers!! )
The stories within the story are told in an equally pedestrian, lack lustre manner and quite frankly it looks like the standard of writing has improved little in the intervening years and goodness knows how many books. One cannot help wonder how easily these books would have been published if they had been written by anyone else? I have read worse books but I won’t be reading any more by this writer. A waste of a good idea, a fabulous setting and and a great opportunity!
I decided to try ‘Cartes Postales from Greece’ when I saw it in the library and the idea sounded attractive. Hislop has published many books in the interim and seemed to garner good reviews - so I figured she had improved.
The idea sound neat - a girl with becomes enthralled by mysterious postcards from Greece and decides to go on holiday there; and on the day she travels, she receives a mysterious journal by the writer of the postcards and which she reads at her holiday destination. It reveals the story of the postcard writer and uses stories within a story to reveal the wonders of Greece.
However, I found the same problems with CPfG as with The Island - unimaginative writing, poor characterisation, a lack of believable dialogue and ultimately a boring experience.
With CPfG, I was also appalled, that for a so-called lover of Greece and all things Greek, the writer focussed on such negative stereotypes about Greek character - misogyny, xenophobia, human sacrifice, corruption, revenge, cruelty etc.
If I had read this before my first visit to Greece nearly 40 years ago - I would never have visited at all!
The stories within a story don’t work for me. Some are quite interesting but others are trite, unreal, unimaginative and seriously boring.
The narrator never comes alive to me and his journey from infatuated fool to sensible man never engaged my interest or sympathy because I learned little about him. The way in which the 2 protagonists manage to meet so easily in Athens and find a solution to her going back or staying is so unreal and so utterly boring that I felt like hurling the book across the room at the end. Even the romantics at Mills and Boon would have quailed at presenting that kind of sloppy finale to its readers! (Absolutely no insult to Mills and Boon intended - they do a great job for their particular niche market and VH could probably learn something from their writers!! )
The stories within the story are told in an equally pedestrian, lack lustre manner and quite frankly it looks like the standard of writing has improved little in the intervening years and goodness knows how many books. One cannot help wonder how easily these books would have been published if they had been written by anyone else? I have read worse books but I won’t be reading any more by this writer. A waste of a good idea, a fabulous setting and and a great opportunity!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2017
J'ai vraiment passé un très agréable moment, c'est vraiment un roman léger qui nous fait voyager, parfait pour les vacances. C'est surtout l'objet en lui même qui est superbe car il est rempli de photos magnifiques. J'ai regretté de ne pas m'être vraiment attachée au personnage principal, sauf la fin qui m'a touchée et que j'ai trouvé très douce. J'ai vraiment bien aimé chaque histoires, on en apprend un peu plus sur la Grèce et ses habitants, surtout que j'y suis déjà allée donc certaines choses me parlent. En revanche j'ai trouvé la construction du roman un peu "facile", les histoires sont mises bout à bout, le lien est un peu léger à chaque fois. Globalement j'ai passé un bon moment avec ce superbe livre et je pense lire "L'île des oubliés" très bientôt ! (Surtout qu'il est dans ma PAL !
January 1, 2017
As a Hislop fan I was eager to read this. I liked the synopsis and thought it sounded a different style to her other books which it is!. However the historical detail I have enjoyed before was there and the beautiful descriptive language which allows you to visualise the scene and this was enhanced with the addition of pictures which I enjoyed. The story is full of information and the ending tied it up nicely. I didn't enjoy it as much as her other books but it was a different style for the author and probably shouldn't be compared. However it is a book I would recommend but maybe after her others!.
December 31, 2017
Meh. Ridiculous, weak and unconvincing frame story, which clearly was created only as an excuse to call this a novel, even though it is really a short story collection. The stories themselves have no connecting theme and their order is random. They jump through times and places, from character to character, and it is not clear what they are trying to say, since most of them contain chance events that have neither psychological explanations nor profound insights you can enjoy. Some of the stories are cute, but none are truly good or interesting. What was the publisher thinking in putting out this inconsistent piece of literary mess? We all know the answer to that.
October 27, 2017
An interesting read of short stories giving a taste of Greek life and culture. It was nice to dip in and out as time allowed but I prefer Victoria Hislop's novels where the characters are more fully explored.
October 7, 2017
Random, not very interesting stories, in between OK pictures of Greece.
March 12, 2022
I loved this. I always enjoy Victoria’s books and this one was no exception.
September 18, 2016
“The gods gave the Greeks this idyll, but look what they have done with it.”
Cartes Postales from Greece, by Victoria Hislop, is a series of intriguing vignettes woven into the story of a spurned lover’s odyssey, which is itself wrapped inside a tale of misdirected communications. A journey, both physical and spiritual, is documented in a series of postcards and then a notebook, posted to a woman the sender did not know.
The book includes beautiful, colour pictures of each setting in Greece. Set alongside the prose, they evoke an idyll, yet this is not a tale of paradise found. As with anything touched by man, there is also darkness.
The story opens in London where a young women is working in telesales having left her family home in Cardiff to seek the capital’s bright lights. That brightness is still lacking from her life. When postcards start arriving at her basement flat, addressed to someone she assumes must have been a previous tenant, they carry with them a ray of sunshine she badly needs. They are signed only ‘A’ and arrive with a regularity that she comes to anticipate, a highlight in her grey days. She pins the cards to an underused corkboard admiring the tableau thus created. She daydreams about their provenance.
When, after many months, the flow of missives ceases, she decides it is time to act. She will visit some of the places depicted for herself.
On the morning of her departure a parcel arrives containing a notebook. She adds this to her luggage and reads a portion each evening whilst away. Its contents form the heart of this book.
‘A’ is a middle aged art expert writing a book on Cycladic sculpture. He is using his publisher’s advance to fund research, travelling around Greece and its islands. Here he encounters welcoming locals offering up a plethora of tales based around each location. He recounts his travels and these anecdotes, painting a picture of a Greece in transition. Family remains all important. The financial crisis, its effects, and the resentments it causes are gently explored and reactions explained.
As with so many traditional cultures, the role expected of women grated. In a patriarchal society men’s egos demand massage, children are expected to pander to their parents’ wishes. The other side of this is the support offered, although always at a price.
The Greece portrayed is one of a society well used to having to fight for its freedom. The histories of Ancient Greece, the centuries long Turkish occupation, and the more recent experiences of the Second World War are all touched upon. These offer interesting background to tales of people and the hold of place, the draw of home. The beauty of the landscape and way of life are presented in all their colours. It can be as picture perfect as any tourist could wish for, but there are also many shades of grey.
I found the denouement a little contrived but consider this more a book of short stories. As such it is an enjoyable read. Greece is presented with much sympathy but is not overly sweetened.
A book to transport the reader, a holiday in the mind. If I return to the country I shall look around with fresh eyes.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, Headline.
Cartes Postales from Greece, by Victoria Hislop, is a series of intriguing vignettes woven into the story of a spurned lover’s odyssey, which is itself wrapped inside a tale of misdirected communications. A journey, both physical and spiritual, is documented in a series of postcards and then a notebook, posted to a woman the sender did not know.
The book includes beautiful, colour pictures of each setting in Greece. Set alongside the prose, they evoke an idyll, yet this is not a tale of paradise found. As with anything touched by man, there is also darkness.
The story opens in London where a young women is working in telesales having left her family home in Cardiff to seek the capital’s bright lights. That brightness is still lacking from her life. When postcards start arriving at her basement flat, addressed to someone she assumes must have been a previous tenant, they carry with them a ray of sunshine she badly needs. They are signed only ‘A’ and arrive with a regularity that she comes to anticipate, a highlight in her grey days. She pins the cards to an underused corkboard admiring the tableau thus created. She daydreams about their provenance.
When, after many months, the flow of missives ceases, she decides it is time to act. She will visit some of the places depicted for herself.
On the morning of her departure a parcel arrives containing a notebook. She adds this to her luggage and reads a portion each evening whilst away. Its contents form the heart of this book.
‘A’ is a middle aged art expert writing a book on Cycladic sculpture. He is using his publisher’s advance to fund research, travelling around Greece and its islands. Here he encounters welcoming locals offering up a plethora of tales based around each location. He recounts his travels and these anecdotes, painting a picture of a Greece in transition. Family remains all important. The financial crisis, its effects, and the resentments it causes are gently explored and reactions explained.
As with so many traditional cultures, the role expected of women grated. In a patriarchal society men’s egos demand massage, children are expected to pander to their parents’ wishes. The other side of this is the support offered, although always at a price.
The Greece portrayed is one of a society well used to having to fight for its freedom. The histories of Ancient Greece, the centuries long Turkish occupation, and the more recent experiences of the Second World War are all touched upon. These offer interesting background to tales of people and the hold of place, the draw of home. The beauty of the landscape and way of life are presented in all their colours. It can be as picture perfect as any tourist could wish for, but there are also many shades of grey.
I found the denouement a little contrived but consider this more a book of short stories. As such it is an enjoyable read. Greece is presented with much sympathy but is not overly sweetened.
A book to transport the reader, a holiday in the mind. If I return to the country I shall look around with fresh eyes.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, Headline.
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