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Facing Athens: Encounters With the Modern City
A legendary city seen afresh from an expatriate's point of view
In this original and radiant book, George Sarrinikolaou, a native Athenian expatriated to America, strips Athens of its clichés to reveal a city straining under the passions and burdens of early-twenty-first-century life.
Modern Athens exists in the shadow of its ancient cradle of civilization, birthplace of democracy, inspiration for the Olympic Games. But as the city prepares to host the 2004 Summer Olympics, it faces challenges quite unlike those depicted in mythology and epic poetry. As Sarrinikolaou walks through the city, striving to face the Athens of his childhood head-on, he encounters people who reveal the demythologized newly wealthy Greeks at a Las Vegas-style nightclub; Gypsies building a middle-class house amid their squalid encampment; Kurdish and Eastern European immigrants seeking day labor in Omonia Square; aged Athenians wistfully recalling the past as their neighborhood crumbles around them. In their stories, Sarrinikolaou sees the economic, social, and historical forces that are shaping Athens today.
This is the Athens that even many Athenians see only in passing, and in Facing Athens Sarrinikolaou claims it for himself, a perennial visitor, and also for the reader, who, in effect, visits the city through his gritty, lyrical, unstinting, yet finally affectionate portrait of the place.
In this original and radiant book, George Sarrinikolaou, a native Athenian expatriated to America, strips Athens of its clichés to reveal a city straining under the passions and burdens of early-twenty-first-century life.
Modern Athens exists in the shadow of its ancient cradle of civilization, birthplace of democracy, inspiration for the Olympic Games. But as the city prepares to host the 2004 Summer Olympics, it faces challenges quite unlike those depicted in mythology and epic poetry. As Sarrinikolaou walks through the city, striving to face the Athens of his childhood head-on, he encounters people who reveal the demythologized newly wealthy Greeks at a Las Vegas-style nightclub; Gypsies building a middle-class house amid their squalid encampment; Kurdish and Eastern European immigrants seeking day labor in Omonia Square; aged Athenians wistfully recalling the past as their neighborhood crumbles around them. In their stories, Sarrinikolaou sees the economic, social, and historical forces that are shaping Athens today.
This is the Athens that even many Athenians see only in passing, and in Facing Athens Sarrinikolaou claims it for himself, a perennial visitor, and also for the reader, who, in effect, visits the city through his gritty, lyrical, unstinting, yet finally affectionate portrait of the place.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published June 9, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 19, 2023
A Book Reflecting the Loss of Happy Childhood Memories and a State of Clinical Depresssion
This book is centered around a journalist who grew up in Athens and left when he was 10 years old
and then returning (around the early 2000s). It is written around his childhood memories of Athens compared to the early 2000s. Needless to say, his comparison does not put modern day Athens in the best of light (at least compared to his childhood days). There is considerable blight, deterioration, rot and ugliness in the city compared to his childhood. This cannot be contributed to the fact that, when younger, we usually have fonder memories, thanks to childhood friends, families and a world unencumbered by adult problems and worries, but due to the actual deterioration of living conditions of a good deal of the city's citizenry and the city's infrastructure. There is plenty of graffiti, drug dealing, poverty, illegal immigration problems that simply did not exist when he was a child. The book, however, goes well beyond this in terms of negatively of emotion and presentation. It is as if the city is viewed through the prism of a man suffering from a serious clinical and acute form of depression. The problems are, of course, serious. Thanks to his serious melancholy, however, they are magnified many times thus worsening the picture many times.
This book is centered around a journalist who grew up in Athens and left when he was 10 years old
and then returning (around the early 2000s). It is written around his childhood memories of Athens compared to the early 2000s. Needless to say, his comparison does not put modern day Athens in the best of light (at least compared to his childhood days). There is considerable blight, deterioration, rot and ugliness in the city compared to his childhood. This cannot be contributed to the fact that, when younger, we usually have fonder memories, thanks to childhood friends, families and a world unencumbered by adult problems and worries, but due to the actual deterioration of living conditions of a good deal of the city's citizenry and the city's infrastructure. There is plenty of graffiti, drug dealing, poverty, illegal immigration problems that simply did not exist when he was a child. The book, however, goes well beyond this in terms of negatively of emotion and presentation. It is as if the city is viewed through the prism of a man suffering from a serious clinical and acute form of depression. The problems are, of course, serious. Thanks to his serious melancholy, however, they are magnified many times thus worsening the picture many times.
January 2, 2018
Home always looks different
For anyone who goes home after a number of years away will see their home in a much different light. This book does just that as the author pokes around his home town of Athens, Greece and sees what he never saw as a child. Yes, Athens has all kinds of problems—what modern city does not—but in many ways the people of Greece are best suited to solve these problems as almost everyone there (that is everyone who stayed) understands that it will take years of work and effort to turn things around. This book is a good hard look at Athens from a number of years ago and the city is still facing most of these problems and even more with the influx of refugees from the Middle East. Well worth reading before you head off to Athens for you summer vacation.
For anyone who goes home after a number of years away will see their home in a much different light. This book does just that as the author pokes around his home town of Athens, Greece and sees what he never saw as a child. Yes, Athens has all kinds of problems—what modern city does not—but in many ways the people of Greece are best suited to solve these problems as almost everyone there (that is everyone who stayed) understands that it will take years of work and effort to turn things around. This book is a good hard look at Athens from a number of years ago and the city is still facing most of these problems and even more with the influx of refugees from the Middle East. Well worth reading before you head off to Athens for you summer vacation.
March 23, 2023
Ten personal essays concerning the well-trodden theme of “returning home." The author was born and lived in Athens as a boy before immigrating to the United States. He speaks perfect native-accented Greek but as soon as someone learns he’s from the US, there’s a shift in how he’s treated. He’s an outsider, a non-Athenian, maybe even not really Greek anymore. It seems like questions of identity are foundational to Greek thinking. But I guess it's like this, to some degree, everywhere. But maybe more so in Greece...
Anyhow, I don't think this was essential pre-trip reading but it did fill in nuances of local color and reinforced concepts of Greek history and identity I’ve gleaned in previous readings. And his description of a bouzoukia club was vivid enough to convince me I have no desire to go to one.
This was written 20 years ago right before the Athens' Olympics and mid-2010s Crisis. No fault of the book, but it's slightly out of date.
Greek book #13.
Anyhow, I don't think this was essential pre-trip reading but it did fill in nuances of local color and reinforced concepts of Greek history and identity I’ve gleaned in previous readings. And his description of a bouzoukia club was vivid enough to convince me I have no desire to go to one.
This was written 20 years ago right before the Athens' Olympics and mid-2010s Crisis. No fault of the book, but it's slightly out of date.
Greek book #13.
May 9, 2022
There were definitely times when I was frustrated by Sarrinikolaou's attempts to be from Greece but apart from it, but in the end it was a short, sometimes relatable read that included a lot to talk about with my book club.
August 31, 2024
twenty years on, a striking review of Athens that is timeless in the underlying culture it displays, useful in seeing how the city has indeed progressed — a lot in my opinion though not universally — and of course how it has languished and remains unchanged from just before the '04 Olympics.
August 13, 2012
As part of a class that I was taking, I was required to read this book and write a 12 page analysis of it. Overall, I enjoyed the book very much, although I probably would not have read it if not for this class. I felt like it offerred a very refreshing and "real" explanation of Greek society as it was in 2004. It was a nice change from the instructors other course material, which by and large painted a rosy glow on all things Greek. I think that the current crisis in Greece shows that things there are not rosy and beautiful, and that Greece has some serious issues to contend with moving forward in the future. I'll spare you my 12 page research analysis, and just hit the highlights :) (you're welcome).
In the book “Facing Athens”, George Sarrinikolaou describes and analyzes his trip back to Greece, where he was born and spent a good portion of his childhood. He writes about this place from the perspective of an American returning to his homeland, which he has been away from for 20 years. Sarrinikolaou picks over Greek culture piece by piece. He alternates between sharing stories of the Greece he remembers as a child, and analyzing how Greece is today. He also keeps in the minds of the readers the historical context for the current status of Greece.
By and large, his analysis is not positive. He describes Greece as a place that was dominated by xenophobia, racism, and corruption. He laments Greece in 2004 as being riddled with basic disregard for the safety and necessities of a functional society. He explains some of the difficult problems that Greece faces and attempts to somewhat illuminate the historical path that Greece took to get there.
In the book “Facing Athens”, George Sarrinikolaou describes and analyzes his trip back to Greece, where he was born and spent a good portion of his childhood. He writes about this place from the perspective of an American returning to his homeland, which he has been away from for 20 years. Sarrinikolaou picks over Greek culture piece by piece. He alternates between sharing stories of the Greece he remembers as a child, and analyzing how Greece is today. He also keeps in the minds of the readers the historical context for the current status of Greece.
By and large, his analysis is not positive. He describes Greece as a place that was dominated by xenophobia, racism, and corruption. He laments Greece in 2004 as being riddled with basic disregard for the safety and necessities of a functional society. He explains some of the difficult problems that Greece faces and attempts to somewhat illuminate the historical path that Greece took to get there.
October 21, 2008
Sarrinikolaou paints modern Athens as a city of contradictions. True enough. Two major deficiencies, however, quickly surface in Sarrinikolaou’s account: purpose and perspective. At times, “Facing Athens” has the feel of a city tour, examining the changing neighborhoods around the capital. At other times, “Facing Athens” is the personal memoir of a Greek-American revisiting the homeland of his childhood. While this juxtaposition has great potential, it is done sloppily here, giving the reader the feeling of reading two disjointed works. Secondly, “Facing Athens” lacks perspective. Sarrinikolaou is quite critical of many of the changes in Athens, and many of the attitudes he encounters. However, the difficulties and dereliction found in central Athens, for example, only mimic the pattern set forth by other major European and American cities (perhaps a generation later, due to slower development in Greece). Very little of what Sarrinikolaou describes is unique to Athens. The author comes across as condescending and lacking any sense of evenhandedness. D+
November 11, 2009
An American immigrant returns to the city of his birth after living in New York for 20 years.While I looked forward to this book on one of my favorite cities, I was disappointed by the fact that he took a negative view/stance on everything. From the "racism" of the Greeks towards the immgrants (Albanians, Kurds etc.) to the disparity between the rich and the poor. I guess this is not what I expected and maybe he was trying to find the Athens seen through the eyes of a 10 year old (when he left Greece) but the problems he found are in every city in the world.Just way too negative for my liking and for anyone who has not been to Greece, I would take it with a grain of salt.Athens does have many faults but is still the cradle of modern civilization and there are wonderful archaeological sites and museums to see.Don't really want to recommend it but it is one point of view.
July 6, 2016
I lived in Athens 20 years ago, and was interested in reading about how someone who also had been away from the city described it. For that reason, the book engaged me, but I found that the chapters were very disconnected, and I didn't think the end wrapped up well. The interjection of childhood memories and family stories was a little confusing. The main idea I leave the book with is that Athens is being changed by immigration and overdevelopment, and there is local resentment. Sarrinikolaou does a good job of showing this through neighborhood vignettes and observations collected on walks. I enjoyed the chapter about Athenian soccer games - the energy and chaos he describes has not changed at all!
November 27, 2013
I have had the great privilege of being mentored by Mr. Sarrinikolaou during my time at Columbia University, and reading his book definitely been enlightening.
The writing is explicit and concise, while being descriptive and telling. I enjoyed the flashbacks to his younger days and seeing Athens through his ten year old eyes, while seeing the contrast of Athens in 2004. I had no idea what Greece was like other than recent news, so it was interesting to see where Greece has been and where it is today.
Overall, I enjoyed this book.
The writing is explicit and concise, while being descriptive and telling. I enjoyed the flashbacks to his younger days and seeing Athens through his ten year old eyes, while seeing the contrast of Athens in 2004. I had no idea what Greece was like other than recent news, so it was interesting to see where Greece has been and where it is today.
Overall, I enjoyed this book.
August 18, 2009
I read this book a few days prior to the Athens Olympic Games.
And when they were finally over, I couldn't help but wonder what Sarrinikolaou would have said about the fuss Greek commentators made over the Datsun truck with watermelons in the Games' closing ceremony, as well as the street violence that erupted in Omonia square after the Greece vs. Albania soccer match. These events certainly add weight to Sarrinikolaou's assertions concerning the contemporary Athenian social landscape.
And when they were finally over, I couldn't help but wonder what Sarrinikolaou would have said about the fuss Greek commentators made over the Datsun truck with watermelons in the Games' closing ceremony, as well as the street violence that erupted in Omonia square after the Greece vs. Albania soccer match. These events certainly add weight to Sarrinikolaou's assertions concerning the contemporary Athenian social landscape.
August 20, 2008
Another quick read, this book agreed with my own perspective of Athens. The author has a much deeper relationship with the city, however, and explored regions I did not. A good read for anyone who has been to Athens.
August 11, 2009
not much of a plot, but the vignettes of life in current-day Athens really resonated with me. The author's perspective aligns with mine so closely, but he's done the leg-work on issues I've always wondered/railed about!
March 31, 2019
Truly wonderful book.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews