Chimes from a wooden bell : a hundred years in the life of a Euro-Armenian family
by Taqui Altounyan
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Description
This memoir portrays the very different social worlds of the Armenian diaspora in Syria and the intellegentsia of Edwardian England. The author's childhood experiences inspired Arthur Ransome's ""Swallows and Amazons"".Tags
Member Reviews
"We called him Black Grandpa because of his hair to distinguish him from our White Grandpa in England"
By sally tarbox on 5 August 2017
Format: Hardcover
Taqui Altounyan's main claim to fame is being the eldest of the children who inspired family friend Arthur Ransome to write 'Swallows and Amazons.'
In this interesting memoir, she looks at her unusual heritage: father an Armenian doctor based in Aleppo, Syria; mother a member of the artistic Collingwood family, living in the Lake District.
While the author's parents settled in Aleppo, there was much travel to the UK too, visiting the grandparents and attending boarding school - and, of course, sailing on Windermere. Meanwhile back in Syria, Taqui writes of their privileged lifestyle, show more running their own hospital - but notes too the many Armenian refugees from the massacres, and describes what was once a beautiful city.
This book covers her young life - in the last short secion she visits Syria and E Turkey as a middle-aged woman, meeting up with some old acquaintances and describing the world she finds.
Intriguing account of a little-known part of the world. show less
By sally tarbox on 5 August 2017
Format: Hardcover
Taqui Altounyan's main claim to fame is being the eldest of the children who inspired family friend Arthur Ransome to write 'Swallows and Amazons.'
In this interesting memoir, she looks at her unusual heritage: father an Armenian doctor based in Aleppo, Syria; mother a member of the artistic Collingwood family, living in the Lake District.
While the author's parents settled in Aleppo, there was much travel to the UK too, visiting the grandparents and attending boarding school - and, of course, sailing on Windermere. Meanwhile back in Syria, Taqui writes of their privileged lifestyle, show more running their own hospital - but notes too the many Armenian refugees from the massacres, and describes what was once a beautiful city.
This book covers her young life - in the last short secion she visits Syria and E Turkey as a middle-aged woman, meeting up with some old acquaintances and describing the world she finds.
Intriguing account of a little-known part of the world. show less
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Author Information
3+ Works 20 Members
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1990
- Important places
- Aleppo, Syria; Armenia; England, UK; Syria; Turkey
- Important events
- Armenian Genocide
- Epigraph
- In Ottoman times Armenian churches were not allowed to have metal bells. Instead, they used the simandrum, a thick wooden board suspended by two chains to a beam in the church porch for the priest to hit with a stick. ... (show all)The cathedral in Jerusalem still has one. This cracking sound of wood on wood is a harsh reminder of the charcharank, or torture, endured by so many generations of Armenians. Other reminders are words like char (bad), chaghil (reprimand), chaghchagh (a hammer), chaghchaghil (to break in pieces, overwhelm), and chartell (to massacre).
- Dedication
- To
MARIANNE ELIZABETH ARAXI SHEPHERD
born 1987
and to the memory of
ROGER EDWARD COLLINGWOOD ALTOUNYAN
1922-1988 - First words
- My grandfather, Aram Assadour Altounyan, was pure Armenian, born in the original homeland, the Caucasus mountains, Ararat and the Anatolian plateau, today eastern Turkey.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Five years later, in my Armenian friend's garden, there was blossom on the little tree grown from an almond picked up at Aghtamar.
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- Reviews
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- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
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