A Time of Gifts
On Foot to Constantinople - From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube
by Patrick Leigh Fermor · first published 1977
88% recommend13% critical
Why HN recommends it
Richly written account of a teenager's walk across pre-war Europe, valued for its erudite cultural and historical insight and witty, lyrical prose; suits readers who enjoy travel writing and European history.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Leigh Fermor walked from London to Budapest when he was 18. Sometimes called England's greatest travel writer.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2010–2026Nine Princes in Amber
Roger Zelazny
Recommended by 6 · mentioned by 96 recommend · 9 mention6 recommend · 96 recommend
2007–2022Story
Robert McKee
Recommended by 11 · mentioned by 1611 recommend · 16 mention11 recommend · 1611 recommend
2013–2026The Crow Road
Iain Banks
Recommended by 13 · mentioned by 2013 recommend · 20 mention13 recommend · 2013 recommend
2007–2026Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Susanna Clarke
Recommended by 19 · mentioned by 2819 recommend · 28 mention19 recommend · 2819 recommend
2010–2026Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges
Recommended by 26 · mentioned by 3926 recommend · 39 mention26 recommend · 3926 recommend
The Magic Mountain
Thomas Mann
Recommended by 20 · mentioned by 3720 recommend · 37 mention20 recommend · 3720 recommend
2008–2026American Prometheus
Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
Recommended by 24 · mentioned by 4524 recommend · 45 mention24 recommend · 4524 recommend
2011–2026Principles
Ray Dalio
Recommended by 75 · mentioned by 13375 recommend · 133 mention75 recommend · 13375 recommend
Reminds me of that extraordinary piece of travel writing, A Time of Gifts, in which the author is walking across Germany and Austria in 1933. He encounters the Brownshirts only once as a minor incident, but the foreshadowing somehow hangs across the whole book's view of this…
on “To Heil, or Not to Heil, When Traveling in the Third Reich” ↗I read the excellent A Time Of Gifts, in which the author as a young man walked across 1930s Europe. While he relied on money sent from home in the form of postal orders in advance to European capitals, which would not be available to Stewart,…
on “Walking Stewart” ↗…fragment of information you need in a handy searchable pasteable internet format. (Non-programming book recs: recently The Man Who Stole Portugal (non-fiction, surprisingly relevant to crypto) and The Time Of Gifts (biography, extravagantly written, requires checking wikipedia every 5 dozen words unless you have a really excellent knowledge of European history)
on “Ask HN: What books do you keep on your desk?” ↗A Time Of Gifts is one of the most extraordinary books I've read. It's a slow read, because Paddy is an extraordinarily erudite narrator who loves purple prose. If it were just a description of what he saw while travelling…
on “From Memory to Myth: The Adventures of Patrick Leigh Fermor” ↗I've been enjoying the trilogy of A Time Of Gifts, Patrick Leigh Fermor's story of walking across Europe in the 1930s. It's an extremely dense book, like a black forest gateaux. It's also extremely Romantic, almost to the point of mysticism. I keep…
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗…that he might have been able to continue Austria's independence if he had lived. For background, I'd like to suggest Patrick Leigh Fermor's memoir of travelling in Austria during this time period, _A Time of Gifts_ [1], [2] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelbert_Dollfuss [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Time_of_Gifts [2] https://www.amazon.com/A-Time-of-Gifts-audiobook/dp/B00JXQQ3...
on “When Failed Coups Strengthen Leaders” ↗…this is not limited to European history! China does historicist propaganda films too! As do a lot of places, right down to warring caucasian microstates) (I would reccomend Patrick Leigh Fermor's "A Time Of Gifts", which is nominally a walking tour but has an incredible connection to the history of Europe and the places he's walking through. Everything from Charlemagne to Esterházy to Roland to Homer)
on “Archaeologists uncover ancient street food shop in Pompeii” ↗This reminds me: One of the best books about a long walk is Patrick Leigh Fermor's "Time of Gifts" (and the subsequent books). Memoirs of his time before WW2 literally walking from one side of Europe to the other. His cultural insights, historical perspective, and witty language are all exquisite.
on “Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Walk” ↗>(...) certain titles enjoy a reputation as ‘travel’ classics while falling way below more general standards of literary achievement. Patrick Leigh Fermor’s A Time of Gifts depends on these standards being dispensed with entirely. Say what? If anything, it's the inverse. Most travel best sellers are trite. Fermor's writing is with the best of them, and not confined to…
on “Is Travel Writing Dead?” ↗Fiction - Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse. Contrasting the lives of a free spirit and a disciplined mind. Non Fiction - A Time of Gifts/Between the Woods and the Water/The Broken Road by Patrick Leigh Fermor. Recounting a trip from Holland to Constantinople by foot in the 1930's when he was a teenager. A trilogy of books written when…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why?” ↗Used to be the Swallows and Amazon series (when I was much younger). Then it was the 2 memoirs by Patrick Leigh Fermor: "A Time of Gifts" and "Between the Woods and the Water". Lately it's the Aubrey-Maturin by Patrick O'Brian series which I have re-read multiple times.
on “Ask HN: What is your comfort book?” ↗…still in the "warlord era" before the rise and fall of the KMT. India (and much of the rest of the world) was still British. For a sense of the quasi-feudal pre-war Europe, I will always reccomend A Time Of Gifts, Patrick Fermor's walk across Germany and Eastern Europe in the 1930s.
on “Japan has 33k businesses at least a century old” ↗…The Rediscovery of the Mind, John R Searle Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse A Handful of Dust, Evelyn Waugh Diaries, Samuel Pepys Falling Off the Map, Pico Iyer A Time of Gifts, Patrick Leigh Fermor The Lonely Sea and the Sky, Francis Chichester The Way We Live Now, Anthony Trollope Bevis, Richard Jeffries The Diary of a Nobody, George and Weedon GrossSmith The Inimitable Jeeves,…
on “Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?” ↗…Rediscovery of the Mind, John R Searle Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse A Handful of Dust, Evelyn Waugh Diaries, Samuel Pepys Falling Off the Map, Pico Iyer A Time of Gifts, Patrick Leigh Fermor The Lonely Sea and the Sky, Francis Chichester The Way We Live Now, Anthony Trollope Bevis, Richard Jeffries The Diary of a Nobody, George and Weedon GrossSmith The Inimitable…
on “Ask HN: What are the best books you've ever read?” ↗Fine book. However, one needs to be cautious about taking <i>A Time of Gifts</i> and <i>Between the Woods and the Water</i> as transcriptions of fact. In interviews Fermor admitted to conflating characters, fiddling with other details, and so on. He was also working with very…
on “Walking Stewart” ↗