Bitter Lemons of Cyprus

At this point, I was doggedly making further allowances for Durrell, reminding myself that the book was written on the second half of the 20th century, that men were then permitted, hell, even expected to think and act like they knew everything about everything even or especially when they were clueless, that that was the way cookie crumbled then, that Durrell was trying his best to be fair and understanding in his own snobbish way; but I am not going to play it down, Bitter Lemons is one of the most frustrating, ignorant and equivalently arrogant piece of work written by a member of an occupying power about the place they had occupied I have ever had the misfortune of laying my eyes upon.

And this is quite telling, because I am from Turkey and when it comes to fascism in text, being objected to horrible instances of it since I was quite young, I lamentably know my stuff. Greeks were let to keep their own religion and freedom and language and even local government! How can that be? It must be only because Turks did not have a superior culture to enforce upon others. This is how you read the political situation at the Mediterranean or at any place? Turks didn't impose their culture, language and religion upon others forcibly —unlike British- just because they'd assumed what they had was not worthy of imposing?

Your friends must find your firm faith in human modesty quite refreshing, I am sure. The nerve of the clueless imperialist who readily accepts the first explanation that comes to his mind, off the top of his head. That one made me quite sad: A people that is not willing to accept the price is not ready for freedom.

Perhaps England understands this and is waiting for us to prove ourselves ready to die for freedom? View all 8 comments. Here is a citation from the opening of the book about the value of travel, that I love: A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will--whatever we may think. They flower spontaneously out of the demands of our nature-- and the best of them lead us not only beautifully written, this book helps you understand Cyprus and more broadly how people go from somehow getting along to civil war, sort of They flower spontaneously out of the demands of our nature-- and the best of them lead us not only outwards in space, but inwards as well.

Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection. Dec 24, Lynne King rated it it was amazing Shelves: I read this many years ago and loved it. Rereading it has just confirmed how brilliant Lawrence Durrell is. If you want to hear all about Cyprus, well this is the book for you. All said and done! But then I love all of his works View all 4 comments. Jan 29, Traveling Diva rated it it was amazing Shelves: It was a wonderful experience reading this book.

How often does one read a memoir, written by a poet, set in a tumultuous period among a beautiful backdrop of landscape and people? It is, unfortunately, all too rare. But what a pleasant surprise. The very first paragraph of the book is so masterfully written that I was drawn in from the start and didn't want to put it down.

Bitter Lemons of Cyprus

Having said that it is not a fast read, for I found I got caught up in the poetic descriptions of a village and region I ha It was a wonderful experience reading this book. Having said that it is not a fast read, for I found I got caught up in the poetic descriptions of a village and region I have had the pleasure to experience myself, and I would have to reread passages to remember where I was in the story. Durrell can move the reader through various emotions, given the political instability that turns to terrorism among the peaceful villages of the island full of beautiful and kind people, and in contrast the humorous characters and experiences he encounters during his time in Cyprus.

The only thing missing is an epilogue telling of his return to Cyprus - but after some searching I have found more evidence that he never returned, and none suggesting he did. I stood outside his home in Bellapais before reading this novel, and am now yearning to return. I cannot imagine how he did not. Lawrence Durrell recounts his time in the mids in Cyprus - an island divided by religion and turmoil, yet so similar across the spectrum.

We experience the beauty of the island and the warmth of family and community. In Cyprus during the nationalist violence - a move to become part of Greece - he ended up leaving the island after becoming a target of assassination attempts as political upheaval continued in his wake.

But despite the fact that Durrell lived there for a few years, as a teache Lawrence Durrell recounts his time in the mids in Cyprus - an island divided by religion and turmoil, yet so similar across the spectrum. But despite the fact that Durrell lived there for a few years, as a teacher and then as an employee of the British government, I never got the sense that he attempted to become part of the community - the seeming lack of connection and the sometimes detached writing felt heavy and "ploddy".

Although I learned more about Cyprus and its history, which is why I gave the book three stars. I haven't become a fan of Durrell's writing with this book. This is the first Lawrence Durrell book I have read and he is certainly a superb writer. A description of his time spent in Cyprus during "Enosis", Greek Cypriots demand for union with mainland Greece, this made fascinating reading. I had spent a week in Cyprus in and his description of the people and some of the places had me recalling that very pleasant week of my life.

For all the enjoyment of the book I suspect that like another author I like, Patrick Leigh Fermor, I may not be in agree This is the first Lawrence Durrell book I have read and he is certainly a superb writer. For all the enjoyment of the book I suspect that like another author I like, Patrick Leigh Fermor, I may not be in agreement with a few of his views.

He writes early that he was not going to make political observations.

Bitter Lemons - Wikipedia

He is clearly a colonialist of the higher order and yes he loved the locals but to me there was a fair bit of paternalism that could be at times condescending. He at one point wrote that he thought the locals were cowards! And then "I knew at once that the Empire was all right by the animation of three African dignitaries". In the end though it is a very fine read, at times wonderfully descriptive and very interesting. It has also made me realise that I should read some Cypriot history as I had decided to do many years back but never had.

I read Bitter Lemons in the 60s or 70s. It introduced me to the cultural clash between Greeks and Turks. Oh, I had studied history and I knew there had been wars between them, but I didn't know the length or depth of their antipathy. Surprisingly, I have since visited both Greece and Turkey and was struck with how similar their cultures are on the surface.

This book also awakened me to the difficulty of an outside power in Crypus' case, the United Kingdom trying to impose peace on a populatio I read Bitter Lemons in the 60s or 70s. This book also awakened me to the difficulty of an outside power in Crypus' case, the United Kingdom trying to impose peace on a population who would really rather fight among themselves--or, at least, have animosity.

And when religion is mixed into the clash, the results are all the more volatile. It was sad then; it's sad now. But wishing it was otherwise does not make peace any easier. Having said that, this story was an engaging tale of life so far removed as to be in a galaxy far, far away. My family experienced a similar immersion when we spent a week, without a car, on the island of Crete in the s. Walking, using public transportation, eating and shopping along side the natives gives one a very different perspective than blasting through on a bus, boat, train or plane full of fellow tourists sipping prepared experiences, meals and tours of a locality.

Mar 28, Don rated it really liked it. Israeli commanders, according to today's New York Times, admit that people have been shot and houses destroyed unjustifiably, but claim that overall they have been judicious in their use of force. Israel's posture in its conflict with the Palestinians calls to mind a book I just finished re-reading: Bitter Lemons, by Lawrence Durell. Durell is best known as the author of the Alexandria Quartet, a series of sensuous, dream-like books about life just before World War II in that coastal Egyptian city.

But he also wrote a number of books that can be found in the "Travel" section of your favorite bookstore, as well as a body of poetry.

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Bitter Lemons is an account of Durrell's life on Cyprus in the early 's, while the Mediterranean island was still a British crown colony. The first part of the book is a hymn to the beauty of the island, where he bought and remodeled a house in the remote village of Bellapaix, as well as a celebration -- both humorous and moving -- of the idiosyncratic villagers, both Greek and Turkish ethnically, whom he met and dealt with daily.

The book thus starts off as a mid-twentieth century version of Frances Mayes's Under a Tuscan Sun, another British writer's account of adapting to life in a different and more laid-back culture. But unlike Mayes, by the 's, Durell was a well-known writer, and a man with wartime experience working for the British government.

And in , when Durrell moves to Cyprus, the local demands for Enosis, or union with Greece, are becoming increasingly strident. Durrell is politically conservative, and a supporter of the British Empire -- an empire still largely intact in , despite the recent loss of India. He ultimately becomes the colonial government's Press Adviser, as the demands for Enosis become more violent and the rest of the world watches with increased concern.

He views the increasingly violent campaign for Enosis from a different perspective, perhaps, than would most Americans today. His love for the Cypriot people is clear, but he firmly views them as a rural, somewhat childlike people who are far happier under British rule than they would be under union with an increasingly dynamic and urban Greek nation. Cypriot self-government apart from Greece does not even occur to him as an option.

He perceives the Cypriot desire for Enosis as a vague goal the residents love to ponder and discuss, but one stirred into violent ferver only by agitation and arms from political zealots in Greece. He notes, in addition, the strong opposition to Enosis by the island's significant Turkish minority population -- a fault line between the ethnic Greeks and Turks that continues to this day.

And so, the second half of the book becomes increasingly political, as he observes the rise in influence of EOKA, a local terrorist organization whose tactics and goals were similar to those of the IRA in Northern Ireland.

Step by step, the people become radicalized in their opposition to the colonial government of Cyprus -- first the students and urban residents, and then the general population, including, ultimately, the friends Durrell had formed in Bellapaix. Meanwhile, the colonial government dreams on, the dreamy inertia of bureaucracy, throwing away its opportunities to defuse the crisis politically by promising to hold an eventual plebiscite on the question The government instead persists in treating the movement as merely the obsession of a few isolated hotheads -- first to be ignored and then, to be put down with force.

When I read today about the Israeli army's resort to killing and destruction in order to control the Palestinians, or our own efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, I recall Durrell's acute observation that the goal of terrorism is to incur these very reprisals: It is to bring down upon the community in general a reprisal for his wrongs, in the hope that the fury and resentment roused by punishment meted out to the innocent will gradually swell the ranks of those from whom he will draw further recruits.

Greek Cypriots repeatedly assured him of this love, assured him that their struggle for Enosis in no way represented a hatred of the British. But by the end of Durrell's stay in Cyprus, in , these old bonds between the two peoples were being broken -- tragically and unnecessarily broken in Durrell's opinion. In that year, the British began a "war on terrorism" -- and lost the traditional affection of the people they governed -- by hanging a quiet, seemingly well behaved young man who had worked in the colonial government's tax department.

It was time for Durrell to leave this warm and beautiful land; his neighbors and close friends could no longer look him in the eye. It was simply that the sight of me pained them. The sight of an Englishman had become an obscenity on that clear honey-gold spring air. In , Britain surrendered sovereignty over Cyprus. Fighting between Greeks and Turks broke out in , when a military junta tried to force union with Greece, and the island was effectively partitioned between the two groups.

The government to this day has no control over the Turkish area. So were the events described in Bitter Lemons actually tragic? In the long run, things have more or less worked out. Cyprus, although still ethnically divided, is prosperous. I suspect that Bellapaix is still a friendly, sleepy village, and that Lawrence Durrell's hillside home with the wonderful views still exists.

The medieval ruins still dot the landscape, the flowers still flower, and the dazzling sun still shines over the cerulean sea. But for Durrell, of course, the idyll had ended. He left Cyprus and died in without returning to Bellapaix. In the "long run," we are all dead. Aug 17, Athan Tolis rated it it was ok Shelves: The author set off to write another one of his wonderful if formulaic travel-literature books about a Greek island he settled and explored for a few years, surrounded by local Greeks and wandering Brits.

The book, however, quickly evolves into a page dirge for a world that is forever gone. The love of the author for Greece comes out of every sentence. It is a love of the land, the people and, primarily, the past. This strength of the book is, alas, its fatal weakness. Because the love is for a Platonic ideal of Greece that only exists in the mind of the author.

And from it pours scorn for the Cyprus the author chose to settle in. The scorn ranges from downright contempt for what he deems to be the backwardness Turkish Cypriots to a mix of love, admiration and exasperation aimed at both his mainly Greek hosts on Cyprus and the crumbling Empire he represents. By the end of the book, the whole setup sadly descends into a tragic farce of contradictions.

The author fully recognizes that the Empire has preserved an unworkable museum on a Petri dish.

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He can see for himself the injustice of forcing a proud people to live without a promise of a future, how the British occupation of the land might be preserving a peace among Greek and Turk, but denies everyone a transition to the twentieth century, be that something as important as a local university or as trivial as a public swimming pool. But even this gets topped in my eyes at least when the author does not see the irony in the fact that his friend Antonis is grateful that his son will be off to get educated in England, rather than join the insurrection against the British.

Now, I personally have a rather unique privilege: We share dignity, dreams, love and folly. Much as we Greeks have made a horrible mess of things in Cyprus and in many other places besides, you come to realize that the love the author has for Cypriots is the love a slave owner can truly and honestly sometimes feel for his slave. Jan 01, Juliana rated it really liked it Shelves: This was my first read by Lawrence Durrell who is most famous for the Alexandria Quartet. This is just a little memoir of the three years he spent on the island of Cyprus.

While the book starts out a light-hearted memoir not unlike Under the Tuscan sun--expat moves in and begins renovating a house surrounded by local colorful characters--the book eventually turns a bit darker. Cyprus was rapidly ending its relationship with the British empire and terrorism and nationalism was taking hold. Another book about British expats as the curtains close on Colonialism, this time set in Africa. Interesting that both books feature a tree--in Fuller's book, that tree is one on her parent's property that is rumored to be a place of healing.

In Durrell's book is a Tree of Idleness in the center of the Square where men also go to forget and while away the hours. I'm surrounded by trees, so the thought of sitting in the shade on a hot summer's day seems so exotic to me. Durrell's prose is fantastic. One of the final chapters in the book is so beautifully written. Durrell takes one last day trip with an island friend a school master to pick flowers by the sea. The description of that entire trip from the gathering of the flowers to descriptions of land once owned long ago by ancient Greeks: Panos put away his spectacles and fell to cutting up the coarse brown loaf, saying as he did so: These are the invention of the big nations.

Look below you and repeat the names of all the kings who have reigned over the kingdoms of Cyprus; of all the conquerors who have set foot here--even the few of whom written records exist! What does it matter that we are now alive, and they dead--we have been pushed forward to take our place in the limelight for a moment, to enjoy these flowers and this spring breeze which Nov 24, Czarny Pies rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Bitter Lemons is a passionate plea for "enosis" i.

Lawrence Durrell loved Western Civilization with a passion and believed fervently that the great Greek genius of classical era was still alive in the 20 th century. As a teenager, I was utterly convinced. Durrell rages against his country for having put Cyprus under the jurisdiction of the Colonial Office. Durrell was of the opinion that the juris Bitter Lemons is a passionate plea for "enosis" i.

Durrell was of the opinion that the jurisdiction of the Colonial Office should have been restricted to Asian and African countries which in his view had backward civilizations. Durrell insisted that the Greeks were Europeans and hence merited being dealt with by the Foreign Office not the Colonial Office.

It is difficult to find a stronger statement in support of the cultural chauvinism of Western Europe and North America. Forty years ago, I openly voiced my agreement with Durrell. Today I would not because his position is politically incorrect. People who deny that they believe in the superiority of Western Civilization are by and large highly hypocritical. In fact we all do. Christians want to evangelize the third world. Liberals want to introduce Keynesian economics and democracy to the third world while communists seek to convince Asians and Africans that it is their duty to join in the fight against Imperialism.

Bitter Lemons is an eloquent manifesto for the importance of Western civilization. Turks will rightfully be incensed by what Durrell says about them. Unfortunately for the Turks, Durrell's attitudes are still held by the majority of Europeans in the current day. I thus have very mixed feelings about Bitter Lemons. I approve of Durrell's love of Europe but find that his manner of expressing it simply envenoms relations with non-Westerners. Apr 23, Margaret rated it really liked it. OK, he's a priggish imperialist and anyone who commits phrases to print like "you can't go giving away bits of an empire willy nilly" sort of deserves whatever happens to his property holdings But write with a lovely command of locale, sentiment and atmosphere.

All of which amount to either an interesting retelling of an era or, at least, a lovely evocation of a place. I mean, I'm baffled by Justine, too, but some of its prose is pretty. Oct 09, V. Boy, I did find this hard going. Apart from the obscure vocabulary and even more obscure literary allusions though, there are some of the most stunning and evocative descriptions of this country that you are likely to encounter.

Lawrence also has the same gift as his brother,Gerald, for depicting the charming quirks of the characters he encounters, and there are some delightful episodes such as when he attempts to negotiate the purchase of a house, which has all the melodrama you would expect fr Boy, I did find this hard going. Lawrence also has the same gift as his brother,Gerald, for depicting the charming quirks of the characters he encounters, and there are some delightful episodes such as when he attempts to negotiate the purchase of a house, which has all the melodrama you would expect from one of the characters from My Family and Other Animals.

This is also a view of the remarkable shift of public opinion from complacency to a campaign of terrorism that Durrell witnesses first hand during his stay in Cyprus. He gives a painstaking account of the diplomatic activity in which he is involved when he quits his teaching job for an official post, and how impotent he feels to influence policy in the face of unfettered Greek propaganda.

If you want to dig deep into what has led to modern Cyprus, this is a vividly personal account of those events that culminated in the division of the country, not to mention the incredible sadness Durrell felt when politics finally silenced the cries of 'kopiaste' from the Cypriot villagers he had come to regard with such affection. Jan 24, globulon rated it really liked it Shelves: Very nicely written though sad account of an idyllic place and its descent to becoming a war zone.

I don't know much about Cyprus other than what I read here. I am sure there are other "angles of vision" as he calls them, meaning both what different groups thought at the time, and what people might think now looking back. Still it was pleasant both to get his impressions of village life, but also his thoughts on the issues as he saw them.

Sep 21, Eleni rated it really liked it. Every Cypriot should read this book despite the very British approach to the writing it talks of the beautiful island that I know and love so eloquently that it honestly made me emotional at times.

Bitter Lemons of Cyprus

With all the tough times in Cyprus's economy at the moment this is a hopeful message to give about Cypriot resilience! It was first published in , and was the winner of the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize. The New Statesman notes: It is written in the sensitive and muscular prose of I chose Lawrence Durrell's memoir, Bitter Lemons of Cyprus , to read during my Around the World in 80 Books challenge.

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It is written in the sensitive and muscular prose of which he is consummate a master. He lived on the island during this period, in a rural village named Bellapaix, after moving from Serbia. This travelogue 'completes a trilogy of island books' for the author. Durrell served as an official of the Cyprus Government during his time there; of this, he writes: For instance, he says: Even before he reaches the island, and is travelling through Venice, one gets a feel for just how rich the book will be. His initial impressions of the glorious Italian city unfold thus: Fragments of history touched with the colours of wine, tar, ochre, blood, fire-opal and ripening grain.

Bitter Lemons of Cyprus is many things; as its blurb states, 'it is a document at once personal, poetic and subtly political - a masterly combination of travelogue, memoir and treatise. Durrell's prose is sharp and intelligent, and always has a touch of the poetic about it. It manages at once to be lush and informative. The tone of Bitter Lemons of Cyprus certainly gets more serious as it goes on, as Durrell becomes more involved in life on the island, first as a teacher, and then in his governmental position.



I found the first half of the book more engaging than the second; whilst it was still of interest with regard to social history and politics, the prose in the second half seemed to shift, becoming more matter-of-fact, and was without the customary beauty of the first part.

It almost felt, in fact, as though two separate books, written by different authors, had been sandwiched together. Regardless, it is rare to read such a well-informed and balanced travel memoir, and thus, I would recommend Bitter Lemons of Cyprus highly. This is a British author writing about an uprising in the British colony of Cyprus in the s. My having just visited Cyprus and having accompanied a good friend back to the occupied side for the very first time since the invasion of her village, was the catalyst for my wanting to read this book.

Photos and our experience can be viewed here: He blames the uprising on Athens, alluding that the Cypriots were happy with British rule and unable to create any such tension on their own. His description of the dissenting Cypriot Greeks was interesting: In my opinion, book reviews are meant to relay a reader's feeling about any given work. Durrell was not enamoured with the Cypriot militants, however, and felt that they were dragging the island to a "feast of unreason" and that "embedded so deeply in the medieval compost of religious hatreds, the villagers floundered in the muddy stream of undifferentiated hate like drowning men.

But he will have to go on killing them—with regret, even with affection. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For the soft drink, see Bitter lemon. U of Missouri P, Justine Balthazar Mountolive Clea Tunc Nunquam Monsieur Livia Constance Sebastian Quinx Judith ; written — Retrieved from " https: Pages to import images to Wikidata. Views Read Edit View history. This page was last edited on 16 August , at By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

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