≡ Download Free The Towers of Trebizond New York Review Books Classics Rose MacAulay Jan Morris Books

The Towers of Trebizond New York Review Books Classics Rose MacAulay Jan Morris Books

Download As PDF : The Towers of Trebizond New York Review Books Classics Rose MacAulay Jan Morris Books

The Towers of Trebizond New York Review Books Classics Rose MacAulay Jan Morris Books

This quirky little novel is something of a period piece, written by a female British author in the 1950s. The book documents the travels of a group of British missionaries to post-Ataturk Turkey. The travelers consist of an Anglican priest, a feminist doyenne and her niece assistant.

The doyenne is primarily concerned with the plight of Muslim women and seeks to enlighten and "free" them through conversion to Christianity. Along the way, the group picks up assorted fellow travelers as it makes its way by ship and camel through the area of Armenia and most particularly the Byzantine stronghold of Trebizond. At this point, the doyenne and her Anglican escort break off from the group in order to covertly enter communist Russia.

The narrator (the niece), continues through Anatolia, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and back to Istanbul and England, all the while pondering the fate of her aunt. As I said, this is a somewhat quirky read and not entirely to my liking. Written in the style of upper class English literature of the era, it is something of a travelogue, with various musings on culture, art, religion and human nature. Periods of entertaining prose scattered throughout an overall snooze of a novel.

While I found most of the short novel tolerable, the final 20-30 pages are virtually unreadable, including a 10-12 page simulated conversation between several religious proponents on the comparative strengths and weaknesses of various faiths. Not recommended.


Tags : Amazon.com: The Towers of Trebizond (New York Review Books Classics) (9781590170588): Rose MacAulay, Jan Morris: Books,Rose MacAulay, Jan Morris,The Towers of Trebizond (New York Review Books Classics),NYRB Classics,159017058X,Action & Adventure,Classics,Humorous,British;Turkey;Fiction.,Eccentrics and eccentricities;Fiction.,Young women;Fiction.,20th Century English Novel And Short Story,British,Eccentrics and eccentricities,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Action & Adventure,Fiction Classics,Fiction General,Fiction Humorous General,Literary,Turkey,Young women

The Towers of Trebizond New York Review Books Classics Rose MacAulay Jan Morris Books Reviews

This review is a slightly reworded version of a comment I have written in reply to another review, but wanted to add a little more.
I picked up this book not expecting what I got. It was compulsively readable from the first page, and I read it straight through. And even though I'm far from a religious person, or even a believer, I found it a lot to respond to. I'd like to read it again -- which is always one test of a good book -- with all I know and guessed in mind.

In other reviews I was surprised to see people referring to Laurie as 'she.' I had always assumed from the start that Laurie was a man, and that Vere (which I pronounced in my head as 'Vera' - a very British name) was a woman. So, the end of the book was rather a shock, but ever so much more moving. I thought back on how careful Macauley was with pronouns, so, if I was mistaken about Laurie's gender, others could have been confused about Vere's.

A complex book of philosophy, religion, history and travel it was never dull. Though it was described in the squibbs on the back cover as funny I really didn't see it that way. There was humor, but it was always wry and a bit sardonic. The theme that seemed the strongest thread through the story is identity. Who are we? Who do others think we are? Are we all of us spies pretending to be someone else? Ultimately to me it is a sad book with glimmers of hope shining through like those towers of Trebizond in Laurie's opium dream.
Read this as part of a challenge on Goodreads. Thoroughly enjoyed it and think that it is one of those novels that can be read more than once to gain further insight.

The story unfolds through the eyes of Laurie as she travels with her eccentric Aunt Dot and the High Anglican Father Hugh Chantry-Pigg. Their mission is to "spread the word" to the Muslim world.

Along the way they encounter various "personalities". This novel has a wonderful opening line that sets the tone for the story. I really enjoyed these eccentric and intrepid travellers along with the camel who has a starring role. This is more than a travel book and there are some wonderful insights from Laurie. It's written of a bygone era and I doubt that I'd undertake to travel alone through Turkey on a cantankerous camel let alone sample unknown elixirs of dubious quality.

The characters are somewhat "dotty" and otherworldly, quite delightful overall. There are serious themes throughout the novel it's not all "light" reading fare.
Delightfully loopy story of a maiden aunt, her Anglican vicar, the narrator, their mentally disturbed camel and the occasional hangers-on who embark on a trip into the remoter parts of the Middle East in search of ancient architecture. Engaging semi-satire opened up by occasional bursts of grace. I know of no other book quite like THE TOWERS OF TREBIZOND and while not everyone will like it as much as I do, it's definitely worth checking out.
This quirky little novel is something of a period piece, written by a female British author in the 1950s. The book documents the travels of a group of British missionaries to post-Ataturk Turkey. The travelers consist of an Anglican priest, a feminist doyenne and her niece assistant.

The doyenne is primarily concerned with the plight of Muslim women and seeks to enlighten and "free" them through conversion to Christianity. Along the way, the group picks up assorted fellow travelers as it makes its way by ship and camel through the area of Armenia and most particularly the Byzantine stronghold of Trebizond. At this point, the doyenne and her Anglican escort break off from the group in order to covertly enter communist Russia.

The narrator (the niece), continues through Anatolia, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and back to Istanbul and England, all the while pondering the fate of her aunt. As I said, this is a somewhat quirky read and not entirely to my liking. Written in the style of upper class English literature of the era, it is something of a travelogue, with various musings on culture, art, religion and human nature. Periods of entertaining prose scattered throughout an overall snooze of a novel.

While I found most of the short novel tolerable, the final 20-30 pages are virtually unreadable, including a 10-12 page simulated conversation between several religious proponents on the comparative strengths and weaknesses of various faiths. Not recommended.