Howard Jacobson on Greece and Greeks

From The Independent

(thanks to Keep Talking Greece for the link)

"It was Zorba who initially put me off Greece. I mean that in the gentlest way. There was no prejudice involved, just a sceptical reluctance to buy into all that male vitality stuff. Like Alan Bates, I too wore a white suit in the 1960s and was suffering writer’s block – that’s if you can call not knowing how to start a block – but I was damned if I was going to let some prolix, santori-playing peasant tell me I was bourgeois and uptight"

Strange: it was Zorba the Greek (the Cacoyannis Film) that made me want to go to Greece in the first place. See my interview with Cacoyannis, mainly about the film.

I'm also a fan of Howard Jacobson's books. He's right about Sydney, at least.

"Greek influence was partly what made Sydney such a lively city when I first went there in the 1960s. To a culture that was already robust, the Greeks brought a radiance of candour and challenge".

I have a feeling that Howard would appreciate the photographs of the famous Greek photographer known as Nelly's

Benaki Museum on Nelly's

If dancing the sirtaki on the beach with Anthony Quinn was not to his taste, perhaps some female vitality and a little ballet on the Acropolis would suit better? Nelly the Greek: