When the Tree Sings

by Stratis Haviaras

A young boy comes of age during World War II while living in German-occupied Greece and consequently witnesses the ongoing destruction of his family, his village, and ultimately his way of life. (Nancy Pearl)

Genres: Greece, Historical Fiction, Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Stratis Haviaras (Greek: Στρατής Χαβιαράς) is a Greek-born poet and teacher. His first poetry collections were published in Greece.
He emigrated to the United States, where he received an MFA degree in creative writing. He held a number of positions at Harvard University, notably that of editor of the Harvard Review, as well as teaching creative writing during the summer program.
In English he has published poetry collections and a couple of novels, When the Tree Sings and The Heroic Age. He is a member of the American Authors League, PEN New England, the Modern Greek Studies Association, and the Greek Authors Society.
From 2002 onwards Haviarias coordinates the writing workshops of The National Book Centre in Athens, Greece.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book, written in English by a Greek-born poet and novelist: a meditative, image-driven tale of life in a mainland Greek village under German occupation and in the immediate postwar period. Told through the eyes of a young boy who is growing into adolescence, the story introduces us to the many personalities in the village and to the spirit of defiance that animates them. I feel like I learned a lot about Greek character from this book. At war's end, the heavy hand of the Allies commands--commandeers--the future, and self-determination is again denied the villagers as civil war takes over the country. The narrator sadly notes the flight of young people out of Greece.

Definitely worth reading for philhellenes (grecophiles), and those traveling to Greece will take from this, as I did, a hint of the country when it's not performing for tourists.

[Liam Ostermann]

Another update from Neglected Books:

'“Stratis Haviaras was (is?) [Was: viz.–Ed.] a curator at Harvard library and a poet who wrote two stunning novels – in English – around WWII Greece from a child’s-eye view that saw very good reviews and quickly disappeared. The first, When the Tree Sings, is set during the German occupation. It’s impressionistic and poetic and has less of a narrative, with descriptions of the daily horrors of the time written in a kind of dreamy, detached prose:
An old man began to dig with teeth and nails for roots, moaning weakly from hunger.
Then two kids were blown to pieces by a land mine as they tried to disarm it and use the dynamite cakes to kill fish in the bay. I saw their little arms in smoking sleeves hung from a fig tree, trembling – so simple.

'"And I saw a woman in black overcome by crows, and a younger woman crawl (sic) to the roadside, dragging her entrails over the dust."

'It got a number of glowing reviews (‘This first novel…is one of the most power, uncompromising, exquisitely written and imaginatively conceived of any that I have read.’ – Time Out, etc) in 1979, but is certainly neglected now. Same fate for its follow-up in 1986, Haviaras’ second and last novel, The Heroic Age, follows a band of orphan kids who’ve spent much of the war living in the mountains, as they’re rounded up and put in work camps after the war. This one has more of a narrative and is, I think, even better than Haviaras’ first novel, but you really can’t go wrong with either of these, both of which got paperback printings from major presses (Picador and Penguin) and so should be fairly easy to dig up.'

[The_Night_Forest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fits the stereotype "hauntingly beautiful", but is not a stereotypical book. More like poetry than prose.

[Γιώργος Κούβας · Rating 5 out of 5]

Η γη ετούτη μια φτενή λουρίδα είναι, με ανάμεσα της βράχους και πελάγη. Τόσους λίγους μόνο μπορεί ν’ανασταίνει. Δεν έχει δέντρα, νερό δεν έχει, ονείρεμα μονάχα δέντρων και πηγών έχει.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a teen and wanted to reread it as an adult. The passages are quite airy and maintain a balance between literature and poetry. Death lies on nearly every page but the protagonist steadily learns to traverse the suffering he is surrounded by through a sort of natural mysticism. A dark time and place in history is somehow transformed into light.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has a dreamy, poetic quality while also conveying the horrors of war and the plight that many villages endured during WWII. Masterful.

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

La storia si svolge in un povero villaggio della Grecia incastonato tra i monti e il mare durante la seconda guerra mondiale.
“ ‘Questa terra è una striscia sottile chiusa tra i monti e il mare, e può nutrire solo pochi di noi. Non ci sono alberi, non c’è acqua, solo miraggi di alberi e di sorgenti’, diceva il nonno. […] ‘Questa terra può nutrire solo pochi di noi. Gli altri devono andarsene … Che lo vogliano o no.’ “
Con un linguaggio che alterna toni sognanti e poetici, intrecciando miti e cruda realtà, l’autore, attraverso la voce di un ragazzino, ci racconta la dura esistenza nel villaggio, segnato da miseria estrema, fame incessante, la morte ormai divenuta una presenza costante e altri orrori che accompagnano la vita quotidiana durante il conflitto. Nella storia si può ravvisare qualche riferimento autobiografico: il padre fu fucilato dai nazisti per la sua partecipazione alla resistenza quando Stratis aveva 9 anni e la madre fu deportata in un campo di concentramento. E’ un libro molto intenso e lo stile è originale. L’ho apprezzato molto.

[Tony Rea]

Harsh, graphic and moving. The German occupation of a Greek island told through the eyes of a young boy. I didn't expect the ending - which is almost a second story - which tells of how the allies sold out the Greek resistance once the Nazis had left. Try to get a British English translation from the Greek if US English annoys.

[Costa Beavin Pappas · Rating 5 out of 5]

αγαπώ

[David Uclés · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haviaras no era un novelista, era un poeta, y se nota. Su lenguaje es directo y recrea metáforas, imágenes e impresiones multisensoriales de forma continua. En este libro, en prosa pero con la carga poética habitual, el autor describe un momento histórico puntual de su país —ocupación nazi en Grecia— y toma como protagonista a un niño de mirada inocente y tierna. Los desastres de la guerra contrastan con el realismo mágico que emplea el autor. ¡Y me fascina! Son estas historias las que me hacen viajar mejor y comprender el rompecabezas histórico que es Europa. Verdaderamente un libro muy bello y con escenas memorables.

[Anastasia Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

το διαβάζεις μόνο αν έζησες τον εμφύλιο ή κάνεις ψυχανάλυση...

[Danielle DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5