196 Books: Cyprus

Magnette by Elmos Konis

Here's Cyprus, below Turkey:

Here's the description:
A strange bet, with a vintage car at stake, results in an unlikely job for a college professor. Once a week, for an hour or so, he is obliged to drive an old man around. Almost as a hobby, the professor tries to uncover the old man's secretive past and in the meantime gets a healthy dose of his own medicine, education, from this unlikeliest of sources. Mr. Aris, the old man, proves to be a fountain of interesting though often obscure and even questionable information. All this makes for a refreshingly new perspective on life. This book is a treasure trove of fascinating facts. But it is a lot more than that. It is a tale of forbidden love and the terrible consequences of war. It is an account of abject struggle against poverty and a heart-warming love affair with a country - and a car. Adventure, friendship, romance, ancient mythology, modern history, mysterious old codes and all these against the backdrop of this beautiful Mediterranean island we know so little about..


This book. It betrayed me. Maybe. 
This is the prologue: "Perhaps only once in a lifetime for most of us, if we are lucky, we get to meet somebody who profoundly affects our lives, the way we think and the way be behave. The following is an account of such an encounter. I have tried to keep it as close to the facts as I recall them. Because sometimes real life and real people are larger than fiction. I hope I have done it justice." And here's part of the author's note at the end: "Mr. Aris is not an alias. It is the man's real name. I hope he would not mind me using it, I saw no reason to change it now that he is gone. I hope that if he could have read this he would have been able to see my deepest respect towards him." 
I was about halfway through the book when I flipped back to the title page to see when it was written. I noticed this section printed in italics: "This is a work of fiction. Apart from the specific occasions when the author explicitly states so, the names, characters and incidents portrayed herein are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is entirely coincidental." 

WHAT? WHY? 
Why would you trick me like that? Why would you make it seem like it's real? Here I was thinking that all of this historical stuff was true...IS IT? I DON'T KNOW. EXPLAIN YOURSELF. 

So I'm really mad at Mr. Konis, but I can't lie that I really liked his book. Even though he's a jerk. But the premise of the book is so sweet, and (if I can believe it) the Cyprus history and mythological history (is it accurate to say that?) was really interesting. It's kind of led me to talk more to some of the older people at work...they have so many fascinating stories. It also reinforced me reading all these books, no matter how long it takes. There's so much knowledge and culture to be gleaned from them. 

Another really cool thing is that he put an itinerary for a Cyprus vacation at the end. I thought it was a really nice addition and way to show pride in where you live. Maybe someday I'll visit Cyprus and drive the routes described in the book, and then find Mr. Konis and yell at him for deceiving me.