Describe Books To Arabian Sands
| Original Title: | Arabian Sands |
| ISBN: | 0140095144 (ISBN13: 9780140095142) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Wilfred Thesiger
Paperback | Pages: 347 pages Rating: 4.17 | 4519 Users | 267 Reviews
Define About Books Arabian Sands
| Title | : | Arabian Sands |
| Author | : | Wilfred Thesiger |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 347 pages |
| Published | : | March 5th 1984 by Penguin (first published 1959) |
| Categories | : | Travel. Nonfiction. History. Adventure. Biography. Autobiography. Memoir. Classics |
Chronicle In Favor Of Books Arabian Sands
"Arabian Sands" is Wilfred Thesiger's record of his extraordinary journey through the parched "Empty Quarter" of Arabia. Educated at Eton and Oxford, Thesiger was repulsed by the softness and rigidity of Western life-"the machines, the calling cards, the meticulously aligned streets." In the spirit of T. E. Lawrence, he set out to explore the deserts of Arabia, traveling among peoples who had never seen a European and considered it their duty to kill Christian infidels. His now-classic account is invaluable to understanding the modern Middle East.Rating About Books Arabian Sands
Ratings: 4.17 From 4519 Users | 267 ReviewsRate About Books Arabian Sands
Before I start, I have to declare I was pretty apprehensive about this book, and it sat on my shelves for a long time. I am a big Thesiger fan, and his books are excellent, and I find myself limiting my reading of them to one a year. I was concerned I wouldn't like this one, for a couple of reasons - I read a Penguin Great Journeys excerpt book with parts carved from Arabian Sands (Across the Empty Quarter) and didn't like it much - I found it an awkward selection of excerpts without muchTravel books like this make me realize what a wuss I am. "Arabian Sands" is 330 plainspoken and inspiring pages about "find[ing] peace in the hardship of desert travel and the company of desert peoples." In the midst of criss-crossing the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula, under constant threat of starvation, dehydration, or enemy raiders (or all of the above), Thesiger finds time to muse on Arab hospitality, hawking, and the occasional merits of sewing up a camel's anus. He scorns the
Thesiger isn't a wordsmith, but he sure can wax lyrical about sand and camels. Usually I'm skeptical of the "white dude realizes his culture is superficial/grossly consumeristic and seeks enlightenment in Savage Territories" topos -- although I empathize with his feeling of displacement -- but the author's understated, matter-of-fact prose and authentic love of the desert and its people keep him from falling into the Exotic Other trap. The real selling part for me was the friendship he built
If you can climb the dune of Thesiger's colonial attitude, and keep in mind that this book is very of its time, there is much to enjoy. The prose is rambling and you will find yourself enjoying the quiet rhythms of this book.He admits his own folly in loving and craving the desert, where life is cheap and existence barely possible. The people he travelled with happily embraced technology in order to make their lives more comfortable and he scorns them for doing so. I hope that he could hear
This book has me conflicted. How could I give a book five stars and yet not be able to think of one person that I would recommend it to. Do not read this book to be entertained, read it if you have a curiosity about the place, the time or the culture. I have recently read a number of books that either focused on or worked on the fringes of the tribal arab cultures. It was with this curiosity that I chose this book. The book and adventure takes place in the "empty quarter" of Saudi Arabia just
Even T.E. Lawrence never had it so rough. In the Fifties intrepid Wilfrid Thesiger and a small band set out to cross Arabia's "Empty Quarter," mostly for mapping purposes (his work is still referred to). The prose is lean and tough, but without brag: reminds me of the late Paul Fussell's term "British phlegm" to describe the attitude. All in all ARABIAN SANDS is a wonderful travel book, especially when sitting comfortably at home with lemonade, iced tea or shandy. A fine companion volume, also
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