Arabian Sands (Penguin Classics)
by Wilfred Thesiger
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Book Summary Information
Author: Wilfred ThesigerIntroduction: Rory Stewart
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-01-02
ISBN: 0141442077
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Book Reviews of Arabian Sands (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: A certain type of British travel writer (Revised rating to 4 stars by the end)
Summary: 3 Stars
I like giving my first impressions in these Amazon reviews. Often I'll post a review before I've finished reading it. Such was the case with this book.
An Englishman persuades the British colonial government to permit him to travel in dangerous Arabian hinterlands. Britain, it seemed, had no shortage of eccentric colonial adventurers, at least before the second World War. During his travels, he encounters threats of assassination, fevers, and bears all with charming aplomb. (Exhibit A, this passage from p. 27: "While we were in Bahdu I stayed for several days in the village of a young chief called Hamdu Uga. He had a charming smile and a gentle manner and I enjoyed his company. Though little more than a boy, he had lately murdered three men on the borders of French Somaliland and was celebrating his achievement with a feast when I arrived at the village.")
The point of view seemed very dated: nostalgia for a brave and fearless people, the Bedu. I felt it romanticized them, though I must admit Thesiger writes beautifully.
His prose and the vivid descriptions, however, kept me reading to the very end. I initially gave this book three stars, now I would give it four.
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