Good reads for trip to Greece
 

I am headed to Greece in a month and would like to get in the mood by reading some good Greek fiction. Based on a previous post, it looks like "The Greek Way" was the consensus pick for best book for developing an understanding of Greek mythology. Can anyone recommend any good novels set in Greece or fiction by Greek writers with English translations?

Thanks in advance.

I read "Nights of Rain and Stars" by Maeve Binchy while I was in Greece last year and loved it.

"The Magus"
"Zorba the Greek"
"Eleni"
"Captain Corelli's Mandolin"

My Brother Michael and This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart
Decision at Delphi by Helen MacInnes

These are old. You might find them at your library or get them on line from Amazon or ABE Books

"Dinner with Persephone"Patricia Storace
"Eleni"
"The Cretan Runner"

The King Must Die by Mary Renault
The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller

I am reading the much acclaimed Robert Fagles translation of the Odyssey. It is poetic and epic. The introduction by Benrard Knox is thought, erudite, and clear in its intent. It is everything that is right with academia.

"Gates of Fire" by Steven Pressfield, about the battle of Thermopylae.

Victoria Hislop, "The Island", especially if you plan to visit Crete!

Mary Taylor Simeti's On Persephone's Island for Greece

I meant On Persephone's Island for Sicily

My favorite topic!
Sailing the Wine Dark Sea by Thomas Cahill
Crete by Barry Unsworth
It's All Greek to Me by John Mole
Dinner with Persephone by Patricia Storace
Red Dyed Hair by Kostas Mourselas
ZigZag Through the Bitter Orange Trees by Peter Green
The Third Wedding by Costas Taksis
No-Man's Lands by Scott Huler
And, of course, classics: Henry Miller's books and Odyssey by Homer: Lattimore is my favorite translation
Sorry - can you tell I get excited? Enjoy your trip!

Wow - I'm going in three weeks and have been reading up too. I read two that I liked so far but will definitely try some of the above. For a modern book set in Greece, Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger, and for historical fiction, Antigone's Wake: A Novel of Imperial Athens by Nicholas Nicastro.

"The Tomb of Agamemnon" by Cathy Gere

"The Greek Treasure"
My all time favorite. Irving Stone's biographical novel of Heinrick Shlieman and his very young Greek wife. Their quests and triumphs in discovering the treasures of Troy and Mycennae. Fantastic discriptions of life in Greece in the early 20th century.

My recomendation is Henry Miller's "The Colossus of Maroussi"

Louis de Berniere's Captain Corelli's Mandolin - a great book, ruined by Hollywood and Nicholas Cage.

Since you are interested in Ancient Greece, I am surprised no one has mentioned Mary Renault's matchless novels in this area ... they were mainly written in the 1970s but have stood the test of time; they are truly literature, not "romance" or "mystery. The leading ones:

The KING MUST DIE -- Minoan empire, boys & girls "bull-dancing" in a Cretan palace, the Minotaur, Earthquakes, passion, death love... and it's all in the myth of Theseus.

The BULL from the SEA -- Forbidden love, and the wrath of Poseidon. Myths made human.

The LAST of the WINE -- love, bravery, philosophy, politics -- Athens at its height

The PRAISE SINGER -- Poets in court intrigues, dealing with tyrants ... based on actual "praise singers" at a time before things were written...

The MASK of APOLLO -- A boy becomes a travelling Actor in the 400s BC, and the thrilling world and dangers of the theatre, as Western drama emerges.

All these are available in libraries, in used paperback or from Amazon or other online sources.

OR her amazing Alexander the Great fiction Trilogy -- Fire from Heaven, the Persian Boy and Funeral Games... plus the nonfiction (illustrated) In the footsteps of Alexander.

You said you wanted fiction recommendations, and many fine choices have been identified already. I second the endorsements of:

- John Fowles' "The Magus", a real page-turner which is mostly set on an island off the Peloponnese, but which also features Monemvasia and the climb of Mount Parnassus
- Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire" about the Spartans and Thermopylae or "Tides of War," his other novel about the Athenian Alciabiades and the final years of the Peloponnesian War
- Mary Renault's "The Last of the Wine," also about the final years of the Peloponnesian War

And don't forget that a lot of the best writing about Greece is either history or travel writing. Among those that come to mind:

- Peter Green's "The Greco-Persian Wars" -- marvelous on the great saga of the Persian attack on Greece and the battles of Marathon, Thermpoylae and Salamis
- either Donald Kagan's condensed one-volume version of his history of the Peloponnesian War or his "Pericles of Athens and the birth of Democracy"
- I.F. Stone's "The Trial of Socrates"
- Nikos Kazantzakis's autobiography "Report to Greco"
- Patrick Leigh Fermor's travel book "Mani"

What a great list. I'm glad someone mentioned Mary Renault, that's what I was going to recommend. I haven't thought about Report to Greco for a long, long time!

I can't thank all of you enough for these terrific suggestions. I look forward to reading at least a few of these books.

Most of these sound rather "heavy." Which are more in the "page-turner" category?

"Nights of Rain and Stars" by Maeve Binchy

judilie--The Mary Stewart books are well-written but light romance/suspense stories. Another one set in Greece is the Moonspinners

"the Island" by Mrs Hislop is another page turner (already recommended)

Judille, as for "lighter" reads, I would call Renault's "The King Must Die" a real "page-turner" while still being deeply immersed in the feel of ancient Greece. The action/romance etc are very compelling. The Binchy & Stewart books have the light romance touch... but Greece really is incidental background. You could cross out the name of the Greek island involved and substitute "Capri" or "Ischia", for all the Greekness involved.

If you want a fascinating read, try "Eurydice Street", a modern memoir that gives a delightful and insightful look at today's Greece, with echoes that go back back back. Author is a PhD anthropologist who's a terrific writer also, who fell in love abroad with a Greek diplomat --- and when their 2 daughters were 8 & 10, they moved to the Athens area, and she started becoming Greek, with all the observations along the way ... I couldn't put it down. Amusing but much more -- a look into the Greek psyche, rich in anecdotes and perceptions. Written in 2004 I think...available in paperback.