Bitter limes
Bitter Limonen - Experienced Cyprus (orig .: Bitter Lemons ) is a travelogue written by Lawrence Durrell in Cyprus in the 1950s , which describes nature and people as well as the political situation of that time. The book won the Duff Cooper Award .
Introduction to the book
Durrell came to Cyprus as an English teacher on behalf of the British government when the island was still a crown colony . As a connoisseur of the Mediterranean world and its customs, who knew the Greek language , the introduction to the idle island life was not difficult for him. He won the trust of the islanders and was accepted as the English .
Language and style
Durrell is able to depict the interplay of people, landscape, history, the political situation and the coexistence of Greeks and Turks in a poetically dense language. The detailed, colorful explanations about botany and geography take the reader into an almost magical atmosphere.
content
After his service in Belgrade , the author takes a vacation on the Mediterranean island . He describes in detail the purchase of a house that he has repaired. When he is short of money, he hires out at the local school as an English teacher. After a year he works as the colony's press officer. He spends time in the village tavern, in the Turkish café, on the beach, chatting with the muezzin, with major officials, with his students, with hunters, with intellectuals ... and shows the political conflict between the British, Greeks and Turks in depth . Dialogue creates an image of the islander who doesn't need anything. Durrell skillfully depicts the contrast between the ideal world that is evident in everyday life and the influence of Greece, which, in his opinion, leads to unrest and ultimately to the connection to the mainland.
On the last pages the situation comes to a head with bomb attacks by Greek nationalists and shootings in the open street. At this point, the British official Lawrence Durrell poses as a Cypriot who nonetheless remains impartial. He is leaving on the day when the freedom fighter of EOKA Karaolis is to be hanged. The Greek Cypriots are in great sadness and do not have the strength to say goodbye to their English friend. As inconspicuous as he entered the island years ago, he leaves it in silence.
criticism
The author focuses almost exclusively on the Greek Cypriots and Greece's claim to the island. His view of the Turks in the form of the portrayal of the trader and his family, however, turns out to be more of a caricature.
swell
- ↑ Lawrence Durrell: Bitter Limonen - Erlebtes Cyprus , Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag 2005 24th edition, based on the publisher's note