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forgot to say who the author was - sorry- louis de bernieres

For me the most beautifully written and exquisitely constructed book in the English Language is 'The Good Soldier' written by Ford Madox Ford.

What drugs did they have you on?

After the King James Bible I think.

One author in particular, not just because of his writing but because he is a living example that you don't need an extensive/expensive education to write with great style.
Patrick Leigh Fermor - marvellous traveller writer. If you havn't read any of his books then try "A Time of Gifts" and "Between the Woods and the Water" - the first 2 books of what must become a trilogy about his walking from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople in the 1930's.
He was one of the two British agents on Crete during WWII who kidnapped the German Commander - his part was played by Dirk Bogarde in "Ill Met by Moonlight".

Mart

it was on tv too i never watched it but heard good reports about cain/abel.

Patrick Leigh Fermor is a favourite of mine. I like many travel writers (especially Lewis, Newby and Thesiger) and he is one of the very very best. The two you quote are, I think his masterpieces. They are so good that Mrs. WillieBo and I retrace many of his journeys and visit the places he did.

There is some debate now as to whether he will complete the trilogy as he is apparently an incredibly fastidious editor and re-worker of his material. But he does have the material from his notebooks ; one which he lost was actually found and returned to him many years later. How much desire he has left to complete the trilogy may also be influenced by the fact that he is now 88 and has only recently lost his beloved wife Joan.

I for one prays the trilogy is completed. His style though (of which he is inordinately proud) is not always easy ; his use of grammar and his personal lexicon of choice are often not familiar and he likes to use the archaic. But I'm a big fan. Not all his books are entirely successful (q.v. The Traveller's Tree) but his other great works are I think, the Greek dyptych Mani and Roumeli.

If you're interested, a few snippets of what may be included in a third volume are in an anthology just published called 'Words of Mercury'. It's edited by Artemis Cooper, who is to be his official biographer.

Presumably they didn't need drugs- reading that would have anaesthetised Ace sufficiently for all but open-heart surgery.

I read a recent review of his latest WillieBo. Its on my list of Christmas presents to myself. I had to double check on him because I wasn't sure if he was still alive. The obituary of his wfe strangely didn't mention him at the end where it usually says something about surviving family.
Just imagine him retracing his journey today, I wonder what won't have changed.

Mart

Strange about the obituaries. Which papers were they, mart ? The ones I read placed much emphasis on her marriage to Leigh Fermor, and her artistic abilities.

One of the most striking things about his books is the lack of, or at most infrequent reference to Joan, who accompanied him on several journeys. The most open aspect of this is his short book 'Three Letters from the Andes' written to his wife. And his last published wull work to date.

Very glad to know another Leigh Fermor fan exists on this forum. I have read all the Lawrence Durrell books on Greece and very good they are too. Durrell was a great contemporary friend of his and fellow philhellenic with a very different view of the country.

Mind you, when asked about 'must read' I assumed a fictional read.