More Dashing: Further Letters of Patrick Leigh Fermor

by Patrick Leigh Fermor, Adam Sisman (Editor)

The second volume of exuberant, lively letters from legendary travel writer Patrick Leigh FermorThe first collection of letters from Patrick Leigh Fermor, Dashing for the Post, delighted critics and public alike. This second volume, More Dashing, presents a further selection of letters that exude a zest for life and adventure characteristic of the man known to all as 'Paddy'. Paddy's exuberant letters contain glimpses of the great and the a chance conversation with the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, when Paddy opens the wrong door, or a glass of ouzo under the pine trees with Harold Macmillan. They describe encounters with such varied figures as Jackie Onassis, Camilla Parker-Bowles, Oswald Mosley and Peter Mandelson, while also relating adventures with the a 'pick-nick' with the stonemasons at Kardamyli, or a drunken celebration in the Cretan mountains with his old comrades from the Resistance, most of them simple shepherds and goatherds. Paddy was at ease in any company – unfailingly charming, boyish, gentle and fun. Patrick Leigh Fermor has long been recognised as one of the greatest travel writers of his time. Nowhere is his restless curiosity and delight in language more dazzlingly displayed than in his letters, skilfully edited in this collection by Adam Sisman.

Genres: Travel, Greece, Nonfiction

566 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2018

About the author

Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor, OBE, DSO was of English and Irish descent. After his stormy schooldays, followed by his walk across Europe to Constantinople, he lived and travelled in the Balkans and the Greek Archipelago acquiring a deep interest in languages and remote places.

Fermor was an army officer who played a prominent role behind the lines in the Battle of Crete during World War II. He lived partly in Greece in a house he designed with his wife Joan in an olive grove in the Mani, and partly in Worcestershire. He was widely regarded as "Britain's greatest living travel writer".

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

The letters span a wide period of time with recollections back to about the beginning of WW2.
Pros and cons: I admired Leigh Fermor's energy, writing skill, desire/need to keep in touch with friends and others, deep knowledge of Greek mythology, history. I am in awe of his family and personal connections with others round the world [ and his ability to fit in where ever he was, borrow houses, be an agreeable house guest, and seeming to be fluent in a number of languages.]
I am not so happy about the affairs [however it wasnt just him] - these days there can be a bit more honesty in relationships and less of a need to be permanently bonded - although I have no proof of this!
I got sick of his constant moving about, references to people and things that had to be footnoted and explained. I just wished he would stop still and just say "I am staying put this year, I live in a wonderful place and until this book is finished I will not move, I may not even write letters."
However without that movement we would not have his travel books which are so highly regarded which I am going to attempt to read some of.

It is well worth listening to the interviews with Artemis Cooper which provide more information on L-F and other writers and the intricacies of writing biographies. One is with Radio NZ and the other through the Auckland Writer's Festival 2019. AC is a joy.

[Martin Pilkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered Patrick Leigh Fermor a few years ago when I read A Time of Gifts. I was hooked. Of course in A Time of Gifts, Between The Woods and the Water and The Broken Road he is describing a world that has been lost forever in the Second World War and its aftermath. The same is true in this book, and it's predecessor, Dashing For the Post. It's a time when people did actually write letters. Letters thanking people, letters letting people know what was going on in the writer's life, letters that describe a social life different from the one most of us live in.

As these letters are all written by Patrick Leigh Fermor you get his take, his view, on the people and events written about. But from other things I have read, the biography of his wife Joan, for example, it is probably close to reality. As close as we can get with out early 21st century sensibilities.

An absolutely wonderful window into a writer's life.

[Anna Puleio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devo dire che questo giudizio è assolutamente di parte.
Questo libro rivela il lato più umano di un personaggio storico e letterario ben conosciuto. Ne svela le sue debolezze, le sue amicizie, le passioni e il suo approccio alla vita, con le sue difficoltà (economiche, di salute, etc) e le sue gioie.
Quello che più colpisce è la spontaneità, nonostante lo stile spesso un po' troppo affettato per i miei gusti, nel cercare e nell'affrontare ogni occasione, ogni viaggio, ogni impresa.

[Annabel Frazer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Patrick Leigh Fermor's letters, which are far more digestible and entertaining than his also admirable but rather long-winded books. This is a second helping and while it would be more enjoyable with the other half of the correspondence, it's still an entertaining read if you're interested in PLF's world and his writing.