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Interval on Symi
KIRKUS REVIEW
William and Caroline Travis came to the Aegean island of Symi as the result of "a deliberate choice of being rather than doing." Spending three years on the Greek (formerly Italian, Turkish) isle mentioned in the Iliad and earlier, Promethean legend, they found the proud, pragmatic Symiots (never Symians) compatible, from the shambling, kindly doctor-mayor to the village outcasts. They participated in weddings and funerals (death, like birth, is accepted as a natural happening and not something shameful to be hidden behind closed doors, while weddings are blockbusters), themselves provided an unusual nativity (Caroline didn't make a scene). They tasted the character of the Symiots like ouzo, probed their past and emerged with such observances as "Symi takes her wars, like her other torments, in her stride. . . Symi is rock, air and light. . . an attitude of mind. . . ." And, at the last: "We all carry our Symis within us, the trick is to find them." For all this palaver, Interval has personality and charm. Travis appreciates the islanders, and they in turn have provided him with the makings for a pleasant, intelligent book.
William and Caroline Travis came to the Aegean island of Symi as the result of "a deliberate choice of being rather than doing." Spending three years on the Greek (formerly Italian, Turkish) isle mentioned in the Iliad and earlier, Promethean legend, they found the proud, pragmatic Symiots (never Symians) compatible, from the shambling, kindly doctor-mayor to the village outcasts. They participated in weddings and funerals (death, like birth, is accepted as a natural happening and not something shameful to be hidden behind closed doors, while weddings are blockbusters), themselves provided an unusual nativity (Caroline didn't make a scene). They tasted the character of the Symiots like ouzo, probed their past and emerged with such observances as "Symi takes her wars, like her other torments, in her stride. . . Symi is rock, air and light. . . an attitude of mind. . . ." And, at the last: "We all carry our Symis within us, the trick is to find them." For all this palaver, Interval has personality and charm. Travis appreciates the islanders, and they in turn have provided him with the makings for a pleasant, intelligent book.
222 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
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