Weaving the myths of the Sirens into the landscape and history of the island of Capri, Siren Land focuses on the legends and archaeology, folklore and daily life, patron saints, local ghosts, wine and the wind of the region.
Norman Douglas, one of the 20th century's great travellers in Italy, was for most of his life inextricably, passionately, connected to the Bay of Naples. This breath-taking sweep of sea and coastline - dominated by Vesuvius and with Pozzuoli and Sorrento standing sentinel - was Douglas' first experience of Italy. It was here, on the island of Capri, that he died, some 55 years after first buying a villa in Naples.
Siren Land, Douglas' first travel book, is a homage to a part of the world that captivated him more than any other. Douglas writes with knowledge and an irrepressible exuberance of the past and the present, of legends and archaeology, folklore and daily life, patron saints, local ghosts, wine and the wind.
As the summer draws to a close, Douglas' prose becomes suffused with a melancholy tinged with excitement at what still remains to be discovered: 'relics of Roman rule, of old Hellas, or medieval romance... These are the delights of Siren Land'.
Sprache
Verlagsort
Maße
Höhe: 198 mm
Breite: 129 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-83860-270-3 (9781838602703)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Norman Douglas (1868-1952) was born in Austria and educated in England, Germany and France. Much of his life was spent in exile, in Italy and the south of France. His first work, Siren Land, was published in 1911, followed by Fountains in the Sand (1912) and Old Calabria (1915). The publication of his most famous novel, South Wind, in 1917 established his reputation as one of the foremost writers of his generation. Douglas returned briefly to England in 1942 but spent the last five years of his life on Capri, where he died after a long illness. Though his life was surrounded by controversy, Douglas's prose reflected an elegance and beauty acclaimed by critics. His novels and travel books are now widely regarded as classics.
Introduction
Sirens and their Ancestry
Uplands of Sorrento
The Siren Islets
Tiberius
The Philosophy of the Blue Grotto
By the Shore
The Cove of Crapolla
Rain on the Hills
The Life of Sister Serafina
Our Lady of the Snow
On Leisure
Caves of Siren Land
The Headland of Minerva
