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Bitter Lemons of Cyprus
Introduction
'I think of my brother,' I said coolly. 'Your brother?' he said, caught slightly off his guard by this diversion which had just occurred to me. 'My brother. He died at Thermopylae, fighting beside the Greeks.' The was a complete lie, of course, for my brother, to the best of my knowledge, was squatting in some African swamp collecting animals... Probably one of the best of Durrell's essays of place, Bitter Lemons recounts his efforts to retire to write on the divided island of Cyprus, after his departure from foreign service work in Yugoslavia. Intending to settle down and purchase a house in an affordable locale, events do not proceed as he might have hoped. Evolving from the basis of a whimsical story of life aboard, replete with curious and fascinating natives and amusing circumstances, as is often typical of English travel narratives, Bitter Lemons becomes a document of the Greek enosis (or 'freedom') movement on the island, which would ultimately reduce the power of the Crown on the island, and force Durrell to move yet again. Durrell's role in the struggle, progressing from private citizen, to teacher, to officer of HM Ministry of Information once again, is documented from the point of view of a man watching his whole world collapse before his eyes; particularly poignant are passages in which he visits former students, arrested for their participation in anti-British activities. In short, highly recommended, not only for students of recent history, but for anyone who wishes to comes away having learned from a very intimate perspective of a man accustomed to describing his world in poetic terms, yet forced to the language of diplomats once again. |
[Frangos]
threw up the great just of his chin squarely and roared: 'And
what do you reply to me, Englishman? What do you think sitting
down there in shame?'