Thesiger, Wilfred. Arabian Sands. E.P. Dutton and Company, 1959.
Reason read: September is back to school month and a good time to learn about a strange region of the world.
Wilfred Thesiger was driven to go where others had not. He had a strong desire to test his limits and, where others shied away from them, unique challenges excited him. Nothing motivated him more than to say, “I know that no European had ever been here before me.” He sailed to Bahrain in a dhow simply because he wanted to have the same experience as an Arab sailor. He remembered his childhood as an explanation for his wanderlust spirit for his mother loved Africa.
In Arabian Sands Thesiger reported the Arabia he traveled in 1959 was unrecognizable from his earlier expeditions. He talked of long treks into the desert where “now” (in 1959) there were marring roads instead of endless stretches of dusty sand. [As an aside, what would he think of the region today? I am sure it has changed even more so since 1959.]
As a locust officer on behalf of the Locust Research Centre at the Natural History Museum, Thesiger was free to travel across the Empty Quarter. Although he showed no fear of danger wherever he went he had to hide behind a Syrian façade because of his Christianity. He absorbed the strange and fascinating culture of harsh people in a violent landscape. For example – the Islam faith. It regulated one’s religious observance, a man’s interactions with society and even the detailed routines of his daily life. Thesiger described the confusion of trying to identify various tribes by their saddles. It was important to know friend or foe to protect the camels from constant theft. [Speaking of camels, I found it remarkable that camels could be identified by the shape of their toes in the sand.] Thesiger became friends with Hamdu Uga who admitted he had just murdered three men. Thesiger casually reported that a mere two days later the young chief was murdered as well.
Quote to quote, “No, it is not the goal but the way there that matters, and the harder the way, the more worth the journey” (p 260).
Author fact: Thesiger was an avid hunter. He reported shooting seventy lions in the five years he was in the Sudan.
Book trivia: Maps were drawn by K.C. Jordan. Speaking of maps, there is a huge, fold-out map of the Empty Quarter at the back of Arabian Sands.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Armchair Travel” (p 24). Again, in Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Arabia Deserta” (p 23).
~*LunaSea*~ 