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A Time of Gifts
- On Foot to Constantinople: from the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube
- Narrated by: Crispin Redman
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
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A Time of Gifts
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Publisher's Summary
In 1933, at the age of 18, Patrick Leigh Fermor set out on an extraordinary journey by foot - from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople. A Time of Gifts is the first volume in a trilogy recounting the trip, and takes the listener with him as far as Hungary.
It is a book of compelling glimpses - not only of the events that were curdling Europe at that time, but also of its resplendent domes and monasteries, its great rivers, the sun on the Bavarian snow, the storks and frogs, the hospitable burgomasters who welcomed him, and that world's grandeurs and courtesies. His powers of recollection have astonishing sweep and verve, and the scope is majestic.
What the critics say
"Not only is the journey one of physical adventure but of cultural awakening. Architecture, art, genealogy, quirks of history and language are all devoured - and here passed on - with a gusto uniquely his" (Colin Thubron, Sunday Telegraph)
"Rightly considered to be among the most beautiful travel books in the language" ( Independent)
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What listeners say about A Time of Gifts
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- andrew
- 2022-06-11
Paddy's progress
I was drawn to this book having read the brilliant biography of PLF by Artemis Cooper. I understand now why it took him so long to complete these volumes (he never finished the third). The writing is on a different plane from most of the classic travel writers like Thubron and Dervla Murphy who are much more linear in their approach. Here even the tangents have tangents and one has to just lie back and soak it all in rather than get frustrated by the reduced physical distance along the Danube, Rhine or Waal. Sometimes the language consumes itself in its garrulousness, for example some of the architectural descriptions of cathedrals and the like. Some travel writers like Chatwin are well known for writing a mixture of fact and fiction to better engage the audience and increase tension in the storylines and I suspect some of this is going on here. Cooper makes reference to changes that PLF made to time, place and person. Also he lost so many notebooks and diaries on the way before putting it all together years later that he could not possibly have remembered so much of this detail. These complex musings and reflections could not all have been in the mind of a nineteen-year-old and required many years of careful contemplation (and physical revisiting of places) during the writing process. However, this does not make the work any less real or enjoyable. As a none German speaker and possessing only schoolboy Latin I was at times frustrated when PLF went off into some diatribe requiring not only the ability to translate but then comprehend whatever point he was trying to illustrate. He was clearly a polyglot who could pick up complex language and syntax in a matter of weeks. The most enjoyable portions of the story, for me, are those where he meets people and has adventures that shed light on the history and culture of Central Europe during the 1930s, for example staying at Kovecses with Baron Pips von Schey in the later stages of the book. Definitely not a quick listen and needs some slow drinking-in at times, nevertheless a rewarding and a valuable insight into lost times and attitudes. Not the kind of author who comes around very often. If you want a briefer more readable insight into PLF I would recommend you start with the Cooper biography which is outstanding.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jennifer Calderone
- 2018-07-09
Nobody Writes Like This Anymore
I'm doing a cruise on the Danube later this summer so I decided to do some research. The first book I read was a natural history of the river, long on descriptions of hydroelectric dams, but in between the descriptions of the river's current and the Roman ruins there were references to Patrick Leigh Fermor's trip through Eastern Europe. Same with the second book I consulted -- the one that was supposed to be the armchair travel book on the Danube, but turned out to be flat and purposeless. Now acquainted with more than one writer chasing this one, I decided to investigate this Leigh Fermor. It turns out he's one of the last of his kind -- classically educated, straight out of the English middle class, ready to be trained for the peace-time cavalry, and so poor he has to borrow his evening clothes. This is a guy who has inherited the the wealth of Western learning, but has nothing to lose. That's what makes this book both beautiful and exciting. The young Leigh Fermor in this book is just out of school, but he hasn't lost his English public schoolboy's yen for the prank and the reckless adventure. He has his whole life and the entire continent of Europe ahead of him. He also has access to the dying aristocratic class of Eastern Europe. He spends months of his life in their townhouses, on their manors, in their libraries, and at their dining tables and in his recollections -- this book was written from his memory and from the aid of his travel journals well into his middle age -- show us a world at the end of time, ready to be wiped out by the second world war and by communist expansion. So, "A Time of Gifts" is a illustration of two things we've lost from this world.
7 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- sometomato
- 2015-01-27
Terrific book, disappointing reading
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I love this remarkable book so much, but I am having trouble listening to this plummy and affected reading of it. Listen to the sample carefully before buying--make sure you're OK with this style of delivery!
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Crispin Redman?
I don't know. Someone who just .... reads.
7 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- John S.
- 2015-07-11
Narrator didn't seem the greatest fit perhaps?
I wish it weren't so, but I have to say I was mildly disappointed by the book. Part of the problem has to do with the audio narrator's somewhat dramatically effete-sounding style, although he seems to pronounce German phrases (which pop up regularly) like a native. Regarding the text itself, there seemed to be a fair amount of digression at the beginning, detracting from the travel narrative aspect. Moreover, he just seems too comfortable as long as there are English/German speakers at hand, moving from one host to another by word-of-mouth in Germany and Austria. Czechoslovakia seemed a transition zone (remember, Kafka wrote in German not Czech). So, I'm optimistic that the remainder of the trip covered by the sequel will be more adventurous, shall we say.
I was struck that he's hitting eastern Europe during their brief period of inter-war democracy, no empires, no communists. Still, every time he mentions Jews or Gypsies, I cringe knowing what's soon to follow.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Steve
- 2017-11-18
Lots of flowery talk
Not sure I got much out of the book. I guess I was looking for more information about the area at hand. The way the narrator spoke was enjoyable to listen to. No one I know speaks like that. Probably for good reason.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Phip Herrick
- 2021-06-02
A bit too much “brio” on the readers part.
I maybe the only listener who feels distracted by the readers’s enthusiasm from the beauty of Fermor’s language. I can’t quite capture the flow of the sentences due to an astonishing amount of excessive expression. I can’t see well enough to read, otherwise I’d have listened to my nerves and read the book instead.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2018-05-05
Read this book. Avoid the audio version.
By all means read Patrick Leigh Fermor’s compelling book but stay away from this slipshod performance. The text is mindlessly -and distractingly over-inflected and there are many mispronunciations in English and other languages, but particularly in the many German passages.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- M. T. P.
- 2017-01-13
Great story telling
It is a great story, very well written, probably the author took time in polishing the text, but even so it sounds extremely joyous in telling us his adventures and misadventures in a very lively, colorful and precise description of the places and people he encounters. The only shortcoming that we have in this audiobook is the pronunciation of the non English parts, quite atrocious, but understandable since there are very few narrators, if there is one, that has the range of language knowledge that this book requires.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous
- 2023-02-22
Superb Narration
Unlike most audible books, this narrator deftly pronounces foreign words and naturally weaves them into the English passages. If only more books were narrated this this skill!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Peter
- 2020-03-13
A travelers tale
Man. This is a fun story. It’s not so much about the places. Rather what he thinks of the people and situations. Just fantastic.