Eliot Porter's Greek World

I saw this book, The Greek World, with photographs by Eliot Porter and text by an Oxford professor, today at Powell's. I thought it was 25 dollars and intended to buy it, until found out it's 45, the list price. But this book may well be out of print.

I first borrowed this book from the Los Alamos public library when I was an intern there in the summer of 2002. I loved it. The photographs of broken arches, granite pillars, relics of amthitheatres. . . all convey an immense feel of age. One can only imagine their scale. The ancient people, who put unthinkable efforts into building these monumental structures that would transcend time, must be perfectionists in the harsh living conditions--this seems to be the case with other ancient cultures as well. And the structures have a life, a vivid life demonstrated in the green grass and tiny flowers sticking out of the cracks of the stones.

The acompanying text was written by an Oxford professor of classics (I don't remember his name). He wrote about the places and the people at the same time. At one point, I recall, he told the story of a fierce battle on the peninsula. Soilders from one place known for fighting were hired to protect another people's place. They confronted a much stronger emeny and fought to death. They were so loyal to their job that they refused to flee. Truly professional warriors.

When I cleared my library card before leaving Los Alamos, the lady in the lovely library asked whether I would come to the place again.

I said, maybe not.

Why, Mr. Zhang? the lady asked in a bit disappointment.

Well, it's not that I didn't like the place--I just couldn't control where I'd end up the rest of my life.