Olympic Wandering: Time Travel Through Greece

by David Lundberg

Combining high adventure and lush travel narrative, Olympic Wandering takes you on a journey through time. Follow Ulysses on the seldom-told tale of his life as a young king within Greece. Then travel... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976324644
• ISBN13: 9780976324645
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: Zante Publishing
• Length: 195 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

The Real Greece.

Before I start let me warn you that Greece is one of the two nations I wish to visit one day. The other nation is Japan. So I'm already kind of a lover of Greek history and culture even before I cracked open the book. Even if I had known nothing about Greece and its people Olympic Wandering would have been a delight to read. The author, David Lundberg, links the past of ancient Greece to the people of modern Greece by telling us the story of Ulysses's travels. But he uses the story to show us the culture and traditions that Greece has held and kept over the centuries. Greece has been able to keep itself together, even with invasions in the form of real armies and the more troublesome invasion of globalization, over those centuries. It is like exploring the roots of the tree. Ancient Greece, and the legends it brought us, hold the seeds of the warm, living Greece of today. Ruins might stand on the hill tops but the people keep the islands and mainland alive by just being themselves. And he can show it to us because he is now a part of it - seeing it through American eyes but with a Greek heart. I enjoyed, more than anything else, the chapters on the Greek people. Having been to Italy and Spain I can picture the warmth from the sun, the calm sea, the home cooked food and the untouched landscape. The book is not just about history nor is it some kind of tour book. It is a dialogue about the soul, the spirit, that makes up Greece and its only flaw is that one can't truly understand the Greece the author loves without one day going there. Get it new or used, but get it.

A declaration of love for Greece and the Greeks

After reading Professor. Lundberg's book it is difficult not to agree with his love for everything Greek! The author has spent much of his adult life in Greece and has a Greek wife, so he definitely knows what he is talking about. After a brief introduction where he describes the impact Greece had on him when he first arrived Professor Lundberg tells us how deeply rooted modern Greek culture is in the ancient Greek culture of the Homeric heroes. The first part of the book is about the hero Ulysses and how he travelled *to* Troy, and in the second part of the book the author and his family follows in the footsteps of Ulysses in modern Greece. Even though a lot has changed over the millenia, the landscapes and the culture are still more or less the same. The sea, the cliffs, the friendly and curious people, the food, the wine, and the fierce individualism of the Greek people. In Greece, in contrast to the rest of the Balkans, history is not divisive, or a weapon. for the Greeks it is a uniter, somehing that makes them comfortable with their own identity. Remember that Greece has a history at least as turbulent as the rest of the Balkans with foreign occupation, war, civil war, military dictatorships, and politicians as corrupt as any! There should be a lesson for us all here. The book is not a travel guide as such, but it will help a traveller who wants to get more than just the standard tourist sights.

Greece is more than scenery - - - - - it is also the people

Just as no one would try to understand the American character without learning about George Washington, it's impossible to understand the Greek character without knowing something of Ulysses. Lundberg adds a third factor, a wife who was born in Greece where he served after graduating from the US Air Force Academy. The combination serves him well; his first sentence sums up the whole meaning of Greece and the USA, "The gods ordained this country for individualism". Sometimes we best recognize ourselves in the portrait of another; in this book, the rampant individuality of the Greeks within a strong cultural framework presents an interesting parallel to the US. If it's read merely as a travelogue, the book is interesting for anyone planning a visit. But it is more; again and again, without tiresome comparisons being made, it is also a reflection of American attitudes. Democracy in America was built on two foundations; first, that of centuries of English individualism, and second, a study and appreciation of the basics of Greek democracy from the age of Pericles. It is much more than the spirit of 'Zorba' and 'Never on Sunday', Lundberg delves into the Greek love of personal freedom from the Trojan War to independence from Turkey. Even though he is a scholar, he writes with the calm skill and clarity of a friend rather than the precise obfuscation of a pedant. The usual travel books emphasize objects, from ancient monuments to modern taxi fares; this book offers a clear introduction to the spirit and attitude of the Greeks. It is a nice introduction to the 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey', as well as classics such as 'The Greek Way' by Edith Hamilton. Most books emphasize the landscape and monuments and weather and other such abstractions, with the result the depth of insight for many tourists is limited to "saw the Acropolis, it was nice". Read this and you'll come home with the warm feeling "saw the Acropolis, the Greeks are wonderful people". And, for those who don't travel, there will be an increased appreciation of America. Think of the fate of this country without 'Ulysses' -- as in Ulysses S. Grant. Lundberg doesn't offer such comparisons; but, this book is likely to unleash any reader's imagination and insight.

Traveling with History and Mythology with David Lundberg

There are so many reasons to recommend this fine book that it is difficult to pare them down to a simple review. David Lundberg is a fine writer for starters: his prose is perky and eloquent at times and always atmospheric and full of momentum. Given that the technique behind this intriguing exercise is solid, on to the content. How many times do we begin to quote from mythology or reference Greek myths only to end up frustrated that all the duplicitous names between the Greek and the Roman gods get far too tangled to stay on track? The reason for this hesitancy to pick up a book about mythology is that the gods, no matter how well documented by previous historians and writers, remain aloof and defy recall: we simply can't relate to 'polytheism' we think, and thus we miss out on some truly wonderful stories. David Lundberg 'fixes' that with this delicious little book. First, he retells the major portion of the Olympians by making them real. These are no vaporous beings: these are men and women with problems and delusions and uncontrollable habits and consequences. Part One of OLYMPIC WANDERING is a major rerun of Greek mythology. Then, as if that weren't sufficient, Lundberg jumps into the present and re-walks the trails and paths of the gods in a travel book about Greece that is as useful and entertaining, enriching and atmospheric as any of the finest travel writing. Not only does he share his joy for Greece and its people and culture and food etc., but he also imparts that to us as readers like an addictive siren. Usually when reading books that are lightweight my speed of reading is rapid. Reading Lundberg was an intentionally slow process. A rapid read would have left too many morsels unnoticed along the way. This is a terrific way to re-think Greek history and culture - and to dream/plan that longed for trip to this country. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, January 06

We Will Always Have Greece

David Lundberg has written a remarkable book. OLMPIC WANDERING is a unique work. It first tells the story of Ulysses, a story we all know from our study of Western Civilization. Then, Dr. Lundberg takes his book on the freshest of twists. He traces the journey Ulysses took, except he traces it in our time. As he travels with us around the spectacular land of Greece, the reader is treated to an amazing experience through the eyes of an accomplished gentleman author. The reader sees Greece as it has never before been revealed. While I have not traveled to that region of the world since the millennium flipped, I thoroughly enjoyed David Lundberg's travel memior/historical novel. It is a fanstatic book that I recommend highly for every reader.