Perseus in the Wind
by Freya Stark
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Description
Written just after the Second World War, Perseus in the Wind (named after the constellation) is perhaps the most personal, and haunting, of all Freya Stark's writings. She muses on the seasons, the effect light has on a landscape at a particular time of day, the smell of the earth after rain, Muslim saints, Indian temples, war and old age. Each chapter is devoted to a particular theme- happiness (simple pleasures, like her father's passion for the view from his cabin in Canada); education show more (to be able to command happiness, recognize beauty, value death, increase enjoyment); beauty (incongruous, flighty and elusive - a description of the stars, the burst of flowers in a park); death (a childhood awareness of the finality of time, the meaningfulness of the end); memory (the jewelled quality of literature, pleasure, love, an echo or a scent when aged by the passage of time). For those who have loved her travel writing, Perseus in the Wind illuminates the motivations behind her journeys and the woman behind the traveller. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
One of my favourite Freya Stark books; poetic, erudite and full of humanity, like most of her works. I also have her Ionian quest re. Herodotus, & 'Dust in the Lion's Paw' was the very first volume of her travelogues which I read.
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156 works; 13 members
Author Information
43+ Works 2,478 Members
Freya Stark (1893-1993), 'the poet of travel', was the doyenne of Middle East travel writers. Her travels earned her the title of Dame and huge public acclaim. Her many, now classic, books include Traveller's Prelude, Ionia, The Southern Gates of Arabia, Alexander's Path, Dust in the Lion's Paw, East is West and Valleys of the Assassins.
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1948
- People/Characters
- Freya Stark
- Important places
- Iran (as Persia)
- Dedication
- To John and Skimper
- First words
- One summer I spent some weeks in Persia among the mountains of Elburz, and rode or walked about the passes that separate the Caspian jungle from the plain of Qazvin.
Classifications
- Genres
- Travel, Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 910.92 — History & geography Geography & travel modified standard subdivisions of Geography and travel Explorers & Travelers Geographers, travellers, explorers regardless of country of origin
- LCC
- PR6037 .T183 .P4 — Language and Literature English English Literature 1900-1960
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 92
- Popularity
- 347,975
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.42)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 6
