June 2021
What a wonderful read! It's only May and I sense I have already found my 'Book of the Year'! Harley and the Holy Mountain: Through the Heart of Greece to its Soul is both amusing and thought-provoking. It's an exercise in the human condition as well as being a thoroughly absorbing travelogue. The author, John Mole, is a talented writer with a knack of finding humour at every turn.
The Harley in question is a 50cc motorbike with a top speed of 25mph. He (or is it she?) carried the author along the byways of Greece from the island of Evia to Mount Athos. The mission could have been a deeply serious and heavy one, but in reality, it was to deliver an anthology of Jeeves and Wooster to a Moldovan monk. The whole book is populated by characters whom one might only meet when away from the usual tourist routes. Any one of them could be the subject of a book!
Supremely well written
John has confectioned a platter of contemporary reality garnished with Greek myth, peppered with rich history and spiced with complex politics. He contemplates at the end of each day of travel, and he does that over a plate of food and a jug of wine. He sleeps in cheap hotels which are just as eccentric as his hosts.
Harley and the Holy Mountain: Through the Heart of Greece to its Soul is supremely well written, and will be enjoyed by any lover of Greece, any wannabe traveller and those of us who appreciate a darn good read. I will be seeking out other books by John Mole, who could introduce fun and fascination into a description of a can of magnolia paint. A rollicking good book and prescribed summer reading.
The Harley in question is a 50cc motorbike with a top speed of 25mph. He (or is it she?) carried the author along the byways of Greece from the island of Evia to Mount Athos. The mission could have been a deeply serious and heavy one, but in reality, it was to deliver an anthology of Jeeves and Wooster to a Moldovan monk. The whole book is populated by characters whom one might only meet when away from the usual tourist routes. Any one of them could be the subject of a book!
Supremely well written
John has confectioned a platter of contemporary reality garnished with Greek myth, peppered with rich history and spiced with complex politics. He contemplates at the end of each day of travel, and he does that over a plate of food and a jug of wine. He sleeps in cheap hotels which are just as eccentric as his hosts.
Harley and the Holy Mountain: Through the Heart of Greece to its Soul is supremely well written, and will be enjoyed by any lover of Greece, any wannabe traveller and those of us who appreciate a darn good read. I will be seeking out other books by John Mole, who could introduce fun and fascination into a description of a can of magnolia paint. A rollicking good book and prescribed summer reading.
