Book Description
In
Mediterranean Winter, Robert D. Kaplan, the bestselling author
of Balkan Ghosts and
Eastward to Tartary, relives an austere, haunting journey he took as a youth through the off-season Mediterranean. The awnings are rolled up and the other tourists are gone, so the damp, cold weather takes him back to the 1950s and earlier—a golden, intensely personal age of tourism.
Decades ago, Kaplan voyaged from North Africa to Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece, luxuriating in the radical freedom of youth, unaccountable to time because there was always time to make up for a mistake. He recalls that journey in this Persian miniature of a book, less to look inward into his own past than to look outward in order to dissect the process of learning through travel, in which a succession of new landscapes can lead to books and artwork never before encountered.
Kaplan first imagines Tunis as the glow of gypsum lamps shimmering against lime-washed mosques; the city he actually discovers is even more intoxicating. He takes the reader to the ramparts of a Turkish kasbah where Carthaginian, Roman, and Byzantine forts once stood: “I could see deep into Algeria over a rib-work of hills so gaunt it seemed the wind had torn the flesh off them.” In these austere and aromatic surroundings he discovers Saint Augustine; the courtyards of Tunis lead him to the historical writings of Ibn Khaldun.
Kaplan takes us to the fifth-century Greek temple at Segesta, where he reflects on the ill-fated Athenian invasion of Sicily. At Hadrian’s villa, “Shattered domes revealed clouds moving overhead in countless visions of eternity. It was a place made for silence and for contemplation, where you wanted a book handy. Every corner was a cloister. No view was panoramic: each seemed deliberately composed.”
Kaplan’s bus and train travels, his nighttime boat voyages, and his long walks in one archaeological site after another lead him to subjects as varied as the Berber threat to Carthage; the Roman army’s hunt for the warlord Jugurtha; the legacy of Byzantine art; the medieval Greek philosopher Georgios Gemistos Plethon, who helped kindle the Italian Renaissance; twentieth-century British literary writing about Greece; and the links between Rodin and the Croa-
tian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic. Within these pages are smells, tastes, and the profundity of chance encounters. Mediterranean Winter begins in Rodin’s sculpture garden in Paris, passes through the gritty streets of Marseilles, and ends with a moving epiphany about Greece as the world prepares for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Mediterranean Winter is the story of an education. It is filled with memories and history, not the author’s alone, but humanity’s as well.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful travel writing based on extensive historical research!.......2005-09-10
As in "Balkan Ghosts," Kaplan writes with great clarity and intelligence, weaving a fine travel narrative founded on extensive historical research. He writes with a unique and creative eye, and tends to focus on important yet little-known locales. He philosophizes quite a bit, but it is an intriguing, pleasurable philosophy. The following quote from his section on Greece crystallizes for me the special appeal of this type of writing, "...travel writing, rather than a low-rent occupation for the Sunday supplements, could also be a means to explore art, history, literature, and statecraft..." Precisely! Bravo, Kaplan!
Reviewed by David Lundberg, author of Olympic Wandering: Time Travel Through Greece
A journey of mind.......2005-08-27
Impressions are akin to the distillates of grape rinds which when aged in the charred barrel of time yield the fine cognac of memories that become smoother and more satisfying with age. Mediterranean Winter is not an account of a recent journey or the nostalgic pining for youth but rather the mature reflections of a man whose impressions of a lifetime of world travel have been aged in the in the cask of the mind. Kaplan’s work is a delicate blend of autobiography, travel, philosophy, and above all, history. Like a fine cognac it is smooth, delicious, and relaxing.
The book commences with his very first journey, wanderings through Tunisia. My wife and I had the pleasure of traveling there in the mid 1990’s. His descriptions of Tebersouk rekindled my memories of that town in an early spring, a meal of runny eggs with fresh French bread, the quaintness of the village, and the heartfelt “Bon Jour” expressed by the school children. I still savor that crisp morning in the ancient Roman amphitheatre at Douga gazing in awe at the emerald green fields in the valley below and listening to the mellifluous exhaust tone of a moped as it serpentined the narrow road. I recollect gazing out our train window en route to El Djem and the sudden appearance of the Roman Colosseum replete with all its ancient glory. Sitting in the stands under the brazen Mediterranean sun it took but little imagination to hear the clanging of metal on metal and the roar of the crowds. But most of all, I shall never forget the warmth and kindness of the Tunisians themselves.
While Tunis brings back delicious memories his discussions of Sicily, Greece, and Dubrovnik elicit longings to visit these places so rich in history. I visited Athens, and like Kaplan who intended on staying but a few days remained eight years, I also, could have remained years. My wife too was seduced by Athens’ charm as an immigrant traveling from Eastern Europe to the United Stated. She remained captive to its charms for nine months. To this day she refers to Athens as ‘home’. Her final wish is that her ashes be scattered at Placa in Athens.
Kaplan imbues his travels with history. We are its products and what better ways can we understand ourselves than through history and what better way to understand history than to stand on its consecrated sacred soil. I found his historical discussions of such places as Sicily, Dubrovnik, and the southern Peloponnesus both intriguing and delightful. Perhaps most interesting of all was the reoccurring motif of the difference between the Byzantine and the Western ethos. Byzantine geography is so close and our history so intertwined but yet our consciousness is so divided. This is best exemplified by his encounter with the Russian seminary students in the Peloponnesus.
The best chapter is the last chapter entitled “The Last Pasha of the Mediterranean”. In it he chronicles a visit to a most amazing man, one who journeyed from his England to Istanbul on foot! Patrick Leigh Fermor is an erudite man in the twilight of his life. His villa in the remote southern outpost of Kardamyli in the Peloponnesus is a panoply of a lifetime of learning. Rooms are piled high with antique volumes of books, back issues of journals and magazines, artifacts, and maps. His most prized possession is the 1910 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica – “the last good one” which he keeps in the dinning room because as he puts it: “You should always have good reference works where you dine. The best sort of arguments start over dinner, and you must have the means available to settle them.” Here is a man who lived his life in conformity to David Hume’s dictum that the “two pleasures in life are study and society.” It is refreshing to know that there are men like Robert Kaplan who are heirs to the mantel of Patrick Leigh Fermor.
Kaplan made explicit what I knew implicitly that “divinity exists in beautiful memories” and the reason I travel is because “so much of commonplace existence is forgotten, while our journeys never are.”
A Landscape Companion.......2005-04-03
Robert D Kaplan's latest book, "Mediterranean Winter: The Pleasures of History and Landscape in Tunisia, Sicily, Dalmatia, and Greece," is written in the tradition of what was known in the 1930's as "landscape companions." The most well-known practitioners of this lost art were Robert Byron, David Talbot Rice, Lawrence Durrell, and Patrick Leigh Fermor.(They were all children of the British Empire.) This book recounts a journey Kaplan took shortly afer graduating from college in the mid 1970's. Kaplan writes: "With this journey, I acquired the habit of searching books linked to landscapes and seascapes through which I traveled. Reading became surgery; a way of dissecting the surrounding landscape and may own motivations for being there."
This is not the tourism of our present age, which is an escape from the drudgery of work; this is travel as work. Every landscape, every ruin suggests a book or an author. Every train trip or boat ride fills another notebook with observations and reflections. Travel teaches us about history - the rise and fall of civilizations, the ebb and flow of empires.
Kaplan's prose is on overdrive when travels through northern Tunisia. He recalls on a bus trip: "...the sculpted, liver-hued steppe of northern Tunisia and the pinks of the southern deserts, with their vast blotches of salt; interior tablelands racked by lonely, bone-chilling winds and the grave, museum light of late afternoons; the smoking and hacking coughs of the other passengers wrapped like ghosts in their caftans in the pre-dawn darkness, drooping woolen sleeves concealing their hands; the comforting smell of tea, fresh bread, sharp cheese, and harissa at half-empty cafes where the bus stopped after sunrise, with their loud music, scabby walls, and bitter espresso served in whiskey glasses only a third full; the just-boiled eggs that would keep my hands warm in the bus, bought at a cafe or given to me by a friendly passenger with whom I might share may sunflower seeds."
Kaplan has said elsewhere that waited until middle age to write this book in order to avoid the purple prose of youth; however, there are some delightful moments of recidivism.
In Tunisia, Kaplan uncovers the layers of history of this north African country, focusing mainly on the Carthaginian era and the subsequent conquest by Rome. Rome is still everywhere present in the landscape of Tunisia, from the roads and aqueducts to the Colosseum at El Djem, and Kaplan illustrates this vividly.
Also fascinating is his journey through Sicily. In Sicily, he sees the legacy of the Crusades. In the 1100's, two brothers from Normandy, Robert and Roger of Hauteville, conquered Moslem Sicily and created a modern multicultural state, in which Normans, Latins, Greeks, and Arabs could live together and prosper. The historian John Julius Norwich describes this era in depth in "The Kingdom in the Sun."
Kaplan then travels to Tivoli, east of Rome, where he explores Hadrian's Villa. "Hadrian's Villa was the Versailles of the ancient world." This was the subject of Eleanor Clark's 1950 book, "Rome and a Villa." To his villa, Hadrian brought thousands of books, statues, and reconstructed landscapes to remind him of all the cherished moments of his past. Kaplan compares him to Jefferson and his Monticello.
After leaving Tivoli, Kaplan sails to Split on the Dalmatian coast. Here he ponders the life and times of the emperor Diocletian, while walking through his palace: "If Hadrian was a romantic aesthete who encouraged the arts, Diocletian who ruled the Roman Empire 150 years after him, was a nuts-and-bolts pragmatist who spent most of his life in military camps." Diocletian was the first Roman emperor to rule the empire from the Balkans. It was not long until Rome was sacked in 476 and the Balkans were annexed by Justinian to the Byzantine Empire. After Byzantium, there were invasions by the Slavs and the Turks. Kaplan is very good when describing the mixture of people and civilizations that inhabit this part of the world; it was the subject of one of his previous books, "Balkan Ghosts."
The book ends with an entertaining visit to a spry 88-year-old Patrick Leigh Fermor, a fellow literary traveler and adventurer, living on the Peloponnesian Peninsula. "The last pascha of the Mediterranean" was working on the third volume of his memoirs of a journey on foot from the Hook of Holland to what is now Istanbul. We can only hope that Kaplan is still traveling and writing when he reaches this stage of life's journey.
A nice roadmap for the inquisitive mind.......2005-03-05
This historical essay by Kaplan which flows along a geographic journey from North Africa, to Sicily, Italy, Croatia, and Greece is a great read for anyone interested in the history of the Mediterranean. The book is part travelogue, part history, and part philosophy. The key test I have with this type of writing is whether the book leaves the reader with a nice roadmap for further in-depth exploration of the subject matter or some nice sideroads for further exploration...and this book gets five stars because it excels at just that. For example, I may be showing my ignorance but although I was aware of Lamb, and Byron, I had never heard of Fermor; although having read Norwich on Venice, I was ignorant of the Norman invasion of Sicily, etc. There is probably something like that for every reader who is not an expert in mediterranen history. It's easy to read, flows nicely, and worth one's time.
Entertaining, thought-provoking and intelligent........2004-07-28
This is travel writing the way it was meant to be - Informative, concise and illuminating.
Kaplan relives his journeys from many years ago as he first travelled through the Mediterranean struggling with being a free-lance writer. Most of the book is recollections from more than 20 years ago although there are comments from recent trips back to some of the locations and a wonderful recent interview with Patrick Leigh Fermor, author of A Time of Gifts, and other well-known travel books.
The down-side of reporting on these decades-old journeys is that some of the spontaneity and opinion is lost. I find that sometimes I learn more from disagreeing with a travel writers' hasty opinion than in boring, well-edited neutral reporting. However, in this case, I think that the elapsed time has given this account nuances and a filtered content that add to the writing. It's as if the ensuing decades have concentrated the meaning and subtleties of the journey.
The part on Tunisia was replete with history of the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Berbers, and Carthaginians. Sicily was filled with the Greek influences on this place. Dalmatia, in previous Yugoslavia, and Greece were well-represented.
I confess I particularly enjoyed the recent encouter with Patrick Leigh Fermor who in his 80's is working on the last book of the trilogy about his travels in the 30's on foot from Holland to Constantinople. If you haven't read his first two, you need to.
Kaplan also includes a list of books that he considers essential to understanding these regions. It is excellent and is a good start to understanding these areas in depth.
Overall, excellent and gripping - which is hard in travel writing.
Average customer rating:
- A good read.
- Delightful Jaunt Through Antiquity
- Absolute Pleasure on a Lazy Sunday
- Beautiful travel writing based on extensive historical research!
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Mediterranean Winter: The Pleasures of History and Landscape in Tunisia, Sicily, Dalmatia, and the Peloponnese
Robert D. Kaplan
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Tunisia
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ASIN: 0375714332
Release Date: 2005-03-08 |
Book Description
“Artful and intelligent . . . . Kaplan's book has made its own mark. . . I am able to feel the sense of an exotic and timeless part of the world.”
— Bob Hoover, Pittsburg Post-Gazette
“[Kaplan] helps the distant past resonate today. . . . [He] teaches lessons that are informative and concise.” –The Washington Post Book World
“A writer of extraordinary intellect and passion . . . with a wonderfully lucid way of relating history as a living thing.” –San Francisco Chronicle
“Erudite and intrepid. . . . [Kaplan] is a deft guide to wherever he chooses to lead you.” –The New York Times
Customer Reviews:
A good read. .......2007-08-09
This book is, mostly, based on Kaplan's earliest travels through the mediterranean with additional comments and commentary from his subsequent experiences in the area. It is interesting to see how the author evolved into the type of writer he is now and how his travels inspire his interest in learning more about the history, architecture and literature connected to a given area.
Delightful Jaunt Through Antiquity.......2006-05-01
This is a delightful piece of travel writing by one of the genre's masters as he wanders through some of the most history-rich real estate in the world. Covering both sides of the Mediterranean --in winter, no less -- Kaplan weaves into his narrative the historical heritage and significance of each place he visits. At each stop he shares his personal impressions, as well. One of the most endearing qualities of this book is the tribute he pays to other travel writers who covered the same ground over the years, ranging from the Homeric era to modern day. For me, the book ended perfectly, as Kaplan concludes his trip at the Greece home of Patrick Leigh Fermor, the legendary travel writer and war hero, whose books chronicling his walk across Europe as the storm clouds of WWII were gathering, remain travel writing classics. Kaplan has paid his dues as a journalist, with his years of visiting mostly third world countries, staying in ratty hotel rooms, surviving on boiled eggs, and spending endless and boring hours on buses to nowhere. This has given him rare insights into our world and its people -- insights he generously shares with us. It's like taking a trip with a master traveler. A masterpiece.
Absolute Pleasure on a Lazy Sunday.......2006-04-20
One of Kaplan's most recent works is an excellent read, suitable for a lazy Sunday morning when one is noshing on a bagel and daydreaming about traveling the southern 'fringe' of Europe.
The prose is captivating and lyrical, particularly in Tunisia and Dalmatia. It is also a fascinating look at the development of the man as he makes his leap from 'travel writer' to 'current events' writer and journo.
One point in the book stands out in my mind. This is Kaplan's encounter with a West-hating North African, who nonetheless comes to develop a wary friendship with the author. Over time, Kaplan's aquiaintance grows out of his radicalism and acquires a middle-class lifestyle, with a job and a mortgage. (Which development followed the other is left up to the reader to decide.)
I only caution that those who approach Kaplan's work from his hard-hitting current events books might be slightly let down with this effort. One can certainly see the beginnings of the memes and keen insights that Kaplan sprinkles liberally throughout his other work. However, this is a book about history and the 'deeper' pleasure of travel, not a meditation on the state of things to come.
Beautiful travel writing based on extensive historical research!.......2005-09-10
As in "Balkan Ghosts," Kaplan writes with great clarity and intelligence, weaving a fine travel narrative founded on extensive historical research. He writes with a unique and creative eye, and tends to focus on important yet little-known locales. He philosophizes quite a bit, but it is an intriguing, pleasurable philosophy. The following quote from his section on Greece crystallizes for me the special appeal of this type of writing, "...travel writing, rather than a low-rent occupation for the Sunday supplements, could also be a means to explore art, history, literature, and statecraft..." Precisely! Bravo, Kaplan!
Reviewed by David Lundberg, author of Olympic Wandering: Time Travel Through Greece
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful Page Turner.......2005-04-27
One of those - cant put down books - read it in one day - just
wanted to know what was happening next - well worth your time and money.
Two Hot Books .......2005-04-27
Anya Bast has written two wonderful stories in Winter Pleasure and Spring Pleasure. The emotions run high in both stories and the sex scenes are sizziling. If you like your books hot and your sex scenes hotter this is the book for you. Winter Pleasure is still one of my favorite books. I highly recommend both of these.
An excellent collection!.......2005-04-27
This book is a collection of the first two books in the Seasons of Pleasure series. Anya Bast also writes fantasy romance under the name Joanna King, so it is not surprising that her erotic romance novels contain strong fantasy elements.
In Seasons of Pleasure, her skill in fantasy world building is showcased to great advantage. With fluid strokes of her pen, she brings the fantasy world of Aran and its inhabitants to vivid life. If you have tired of filmsy plots that are just an excuse for characters to go on marathon sex escapades and like something with a little more meat, you will be delighted by the two stories. The history, characters, cultures, politics and conflicts are rich, fascinating and believable. Those who like their romance spicy need not worry. Anya Bast knows how to build the sexual tension between her protagonists until the pages burn. Anaya Bast is definitely an author to watch out for.
A Very Hot Book!.......2005-04-19
This is a very hot book that I just couldn't put down!
I thought that the story line was well thought out and the
characters were great!
Two wonderful stories in one book.......2005-04-18
The first two books of Anya Bast's "Seasons of Pleasure" series together in one book.
Winter Pleasure:
Sienne is ,a sex slave, delivered to Lord Marken's court as a diplomatic gift. But in reality her task is to uncver information about the Nordanese military. If she doesn't fulfill this task, she will suffer dire consequences.
Unfortunately she falls in love and lust with Lord Marken and the conflict develops. How can she betray him and on the other hand she lives under the Cyrus's threat.
Spring Pleasure:
Lilane seeks revenge for her killed fiance and family. She intends to kill Lord Rue d'Ange, because he was the first Sudhraian she saw after the attack on her village. But he is able to capture her, before she can complete her task. Rue plans to turn Lilane's anger into sexual passion and seduce her. Soon both of them are caught in the middle of the Nordanese-Sudhraian war. Will they not only loose their hearts, but also their lives in this conflict.
Both stories are wonderful crafted stories and you won't be able to put this book down. So if you want to read a fanstic and very hot book you will have to buy this one. By the way there are two more stories Summer and Autumn Pleasures, which are available as ebooks
Book Description
Sienne, a sex slave from Sudhra, is delivered to the neighboring country of Nordan and presented to Lord Marken's hedonistic court as a diplomatic gift to entertain him over the long, harsh Nordan winter. Unbeknownst to Marken, she's been charged with the task of uncovering information about the Nordanese military. Her cruel Sudhraian keeper, Cyrus, will ensure she suffers dire consequences should she fail.
Sienne has never enjoyed the sexual act and Marken vows to train her to pleasure before winter's end. He also vows to loose the chains of slavery from around her mind and free her from Cyrus. Marken captures Sienne's heart, and incites her body to lusts she's never known. How can she bring herself to betray him?
How can she not when she's under Cyrus's threat?
Customer Reviews:
Only complaint - wished it were longer!.......2004-10-24
I guess books like this often are not very long - but this one was so good I could have read so much more of it! A real emotional tale on so many levels!! Very intense, very sexy and certainly erotic - could not put it down!!
Wonderful book - not to be missed.......2004-02-13
Do NOT miss this book. It manages to be both hot and sweet at the same time.
Exceptional erotic romance.
An absolute PLEASURE!.......2003-12-27
Sienne has been trained as a sex slave all of her life. She has given many men great pleasure, but has never known her own. When she is given to Nordan leader, Lord Marken as a gift from her owner, Cyrus, her life changes forever.
Sienne has never known a man like Marken before, he treats her with kindness and protectiveness. When he promises that he will train her in the art of pleasure and also promises that he will buy her freedom from Cyrus when he returns for her in the spring, Sienne already begins to lose her heart. Sienne feels guilt for taking Marken’s kindness when she must betray him. She is under Cyrus’ orders to find out as much information as she can about how the Nordan army is run and report what she finds out back to him.
But as the winter months pass, Sienne and Marken spend their days and nights together, falling in love, losing themselves in each other.
Can Sienne betray the man that she loves, who has taught her so much about pleasure and herself? Will she ever truly be free of Cyrus?
WINTER PLEASURES: THE TRAINING is sensual, passionate, intriguing and in no way cold as the title might indicate! Outside may be cold, but these characters heat up the castle with passion, lust and suspense.
Anya Bast writes an intriguing and titillating tale of a different culture that is comfortable and free with their bodies and their pleasure. I was held captive by Sienne. She is an intelligent and strong heroine who was raised cruelly and unjust, yet she still has the grit and determination to save herself. The passion that she and Marken incite together is intoxicating and scorching hot, their love pulsates and readers can feel their connection. Marken is a delicious male, Lord of his castle, stubborn, intelligent and very protective of Sienne which endears him to readers. He is a man that sets women’s hearts beating at a rapid pace.
Ms. Bast writes her first romantica, WINTER PLEASURES: THE TRAINING with a sure-hand, a captivating story and fantastic characters...primary and secondary ones. In this story we hear Marken say “emotion knows no rank, no class”....I agree. And this reader says that “Anya Bast ranks very high with her first romantica and it is a PLEASURE to put her in the same class with all of my favorite authors.”
Reviewed by Tracey West for The Road to Romance
A true pleasure to read!.......2003-10-10
The main character, Sienne, has been a sex slave since she was 18 and has never known pleasure in the bedroom. She is given to a lord in the neighboring country of Nordan as a gift by the man who owns her, Cyrus. She is meant to stay with Lord Marken until the end of winter. Cyrus has told her to gather intelligence from Marken over the season. If she doesn't, he will kill her family.
In Nordan they worship a Goddess and don't believe in keeping women as sex slaves. Marken accepts Cyrus's gift only so he can free Sienne, but she refuses to leave. Little does he know she can't because of the threat hanging over her head. He agrees that she can stay, but on one condition. He wants to "train" her to enjoy lovemaking over the winter.
And boy does he!!! He also falls in love with her.
This is one HOT read. The romance is tender and well-written, and the sex scenes are scorching. I can't wait to read the sequel! Recommended to anyone who likes hot romance and fantasy.
4 stars from Timeless Tales.......2003-09-26
by TT reviewer Nicole La Folle
Sienne has known she would be a sex slave since she was five years old and Cyrus' soldiers killed her family and took her to live with her foster parents.
For three years, since she turned eighteen, she has been trained to please men, but has taken no pleasure in it.
Now she has new orders from Cyrus. He will give her to Lord Marken of Nordan and for three months she will pleasure him and learn the military and political secrets of the northern country from him. She will then supply the information to Cyrus or he will kill her and her foster family.
When Marken is presented with the beautiful sex slave he accepts her, but has only one thought - to set her free. He is offended by the very thought of keeping a woman as a slave. Women are to be cherished as life givers and shared among all the men to ensure fertility,not beaten and hurt, kept only for a man's pleasure.
After Cyrus leaves, Marken attempts to give her money and a horse to flee to a neighboring country, but Sienne cries and pleads to be allowed to remain with him. He can't turn her out into the bitter Nordan winter so he tells Sienne that while he will take no unwilling woman to his bed, even though she pleasures him more than any other woman ever has, if she is adamant about remaining with him he will allow it. When she insists on staying and serving him in the bedchamber he vows to teach her to take pleasure in a man's touch before the winter is over.
Winter Pleasures is a fun and sensual journey. It shows the clash of two cultures, the god worshipping south and the goddess worshipping north, and demonstrates how such simple differences can lead to extremely different cultures. Sienne must struggle to adapt to her new environment, one which celebrates womanhood and love play, when she has been trained from a young age to expect only pain and discomfort from men
and that sex is not just her purpose in life, but something dirty and kept behind closed doors. Overall this is a very interesting story that is sure to keep you entertained and the good news is, it has a sequel due out in a few months.
Average customer rating:
- Vacuous
- A very good overview for sailing in this area.
- This is a personal journal of sailing during the 1980 winter
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A Winter in the Sun: The Pleasures (And a Few Pitfalls of the Caribbean Cruising Lifestyle)
Bill Robinson
Manufacturer: Sheridan House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0924486694 |
Book Description
Veteran sailing author Bill Robinson has distilled the pleasures of many Caribbean winter cruises into an enthralling story that shows how to actually live this popular fantasy. A Winter in the Sun recounts the harbors, the people, the races, and the adventures of one particularly delightful winter's cruise in which Robinson and his wife sailed their 37-foot sloop BRUNELLE throughout the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and east to St. Martin and Antigua.
Customer Reviews:
Vacuous.......2002-11-30
This book is chapter after chapter of ..."we sailed here...we sailed there..." with too much pay-off to friends being mentioned, and too little insight, reflection, facts, knowledge, or wisdom. Many, many better cruising books out there. Skip this one.
A very good overview for sailing in this area........1998-06-06
I found this book to be full of very humorous and interesting accounts regarding sailing in the British Virgin Islands. Having recently returned from bareboating in this area, I can vouch for Robinson's choice of settings for a book of this type. The BVI's are truly one of the world's most beautiful areas for sailing.
I thoroughly enjoyed Robinson's stories and found his writing style to be very readable and entertaining. His humorous accounts of onboard guests and ship/shore experiences made it hard for me to put the book down! I still chuckle when I recall Robinson's account of a visit to a local island bakery and the cake with all the decorative sprinkles (actually ants).
Anyone interested in a good overview of the area, including things to see and do, I strongly suggest this book. It is really a good read and quite perhaps, the perfect book to take along on your flight to Beef Island!
This is a personal journal of sailing during the 1980 winter.......1996-10-29
The author has taken his personal cruising journal of a past period, the winter of 1980-81 and has created a book that documents his thoughts and activities in a chronological fashion. Although it does provide insight into his life and career in sailing journalism, it does miss the mark in terms of usual ideas for the would be island sailor today. The book does provide good armchair cruising although I personally found it a slow read. The author does provide some useful tips on various anchorages in the Virgin Islands but the text does not provide much island detail outside a brief stay in Antigua. It probably is far removed from the cruising patterns of the typical sailor who is cruising the Carribean basin on a realistic budget. At any rate, it was enjoyable reading and certainly provides insight into the author's family and cruising friends
Average customer rating:
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Icy Pleasures: Minnesota Celebrates Winter
Paul Clifford Larson
Manufacturer: Afton Historical Society Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1890434019 |
Book Description
MINNESOTANS HAVE long suspected that the last ice age never fully receded from the state, but that has not kept them from having a good time. "Icy Pleasures" explores the many ways that the people of Minnesota have embraced its Siberian reputation with winter carnivals and cold weather sports.
Book Description
Reprint of a 60's-style classic. A unique literary, art book on cross country skiing. Zen and the art of skiing. Photos, poems, letters and essays all interconnected. An antidote to consumerism in skiing and an energetic attempt to reconnect skiing with its roots in fluidity, friendship and just plain fun.
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The Curlytops growing up;: Or, Winter sports and summer pleasures, (Curlytops series, 12)
Howard Roger Garis
Manufacturer: Cupples & Leon company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Children's Books
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ASIN: B00089O4KA |
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