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Update: For those who enjoyed this book or are interested in the Byzantines, don't miss this CBS News-60 Minutes documentary on the monasteries of Mt. Athos, online at http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mt-athos-...Most Westerners know little about the varied ancient communities that date back to the great Christian Empire of Byzantium. As I write this review, nearly twenty years after this book was first published, Eastern Christian communities as old as the religion itself are under siege yet again a...
This was a book which came to me from two totally disconnected directions; a recommendation from Shovelmonkey but then almost on the back of her gentle nudge I was given a sharp kick in the pants by the bookshelf elf who is evidently steering my reading habits when this was also given to me quite independently as a good book to read in preparation for my, then, upcoming visit to the Holy Land by a priest friend of mine.In the event, though I began it before heading Middle-east-side, I did not co...
4.5 StarsReview to follow
As good as advertised, and perhaps even more so twenty years after publication, given all that has happened in the meantime. If you're not inclined to sadness over lost traditions, you probably won't care, but I almost cried when the Taliban blew up the Bamiyan Buddha, and I have literally no social or cultural connection to Buddhism whatsoever, so I was basically free for the taking on this one.
The idea of this book was great - explore what was Byzantium and see what has become of the Christian heritage. However, I found the author a bit off in his descriptions. I live in Turkey, and although I am a foreigner here, I have never seen evidence of the persecution he mentions. I also felt like he was very intolerant of Islam: he describes his praying driver as "bobbing up and down", or something like that. In the end, I only read the sections on Turkey and Lebanon, the two countries I was
The most engrossing and moving travel essay I've ever read. Once you read this, you'll want to read everything else Dalrymple has written.
In 587 AD, John Moschos and his acolyte Sophronius started on a journey that would take them all across the Byzantine world, exploring the vast lands of Eastern Christianity. Almost 1500 years later, Scottish writer William Dalrymple follows in their footsteps, through a landscape that has been ravaged by time, fate and a succession of different civilisations.There is something strangely compelling about travel books. Reading about someone else’s journeys can give you the opportunity to join in
This is a superb book. I found it more of an illuminating history of the middle east through Byzantine and contemporary(ish - it was published in 1997) christians' eyes rather than traditional travelogue. But no matter - Dalrymple more than covers for that in how he unfolds the historical context of the places he visits and his portrayal of how the communities there have reached their plight. The contemporary context of the region is all the sadder after reading this book. I will be looking at b...
Good descriptions, excellent narration, terrible explanation of facts. Partial, antijewish, antiwestern, clearly pro muslim, his explanation of the Lebanon War is a prodigy of inaccuracy and bigotry. Full of clichés, such as "islamist extremism is in a good deal the result of Western humiliation of Islam" or "Islam was tolerant with jews and christians". Well, that doesn't seem to explain where did the MILLIONS of christians and jews that inhabited the Middle East go, does it? Was Islam so wonde...
fine for a travelogue, but ethical problems and some factual ( grammar, insight-wise, language) confusion.
Four and Half Stars.I am not sure how to express my feelings. I certainly can not say I enjoyed reading this book. For it narrates the plight of the Christians of the Middle East. It is a travelogue. The author travels in the same route that was taken by two monks in the 6th century. The two monks were John Moschos and his companion Sophronius. They started their journey on foot from their monastery in Palestine the crisscrossing the Christian Byzantium visiting various monasteries on their way....
Much as I love William Dalrymple's writing and his books, this took me a rather long time to get through. The book is about the writer following an ancient Byzantine Monk, John Moschos footsteps as outlined in his book, the Spiritual Meadow, written around 1,500 years ago.While the book aims to talk about the similarities between Islam and Christianity - in terms of their origin in the East and their syncretic practises and also the crisis Christianity now faces in its region of origin, it ends
7 MAR 2015 - This book comes very highly recommended by Dear Bettie. A five-star review from hergoodself. I received a coupon from Barnes & Noble via email. I used the coupon to order this book. I have waited a very long time to read this book (since 2013). Now, I have only to wait 3 days and victory will be mine! I am very excited! Thank you Barnes & Noble. 10 MAR 2015 - my copy is scheduled to be delivered today. HUZZAH! I am very excited. 21 MAR 2015 -- Exquisite! I loved reading this book. I...
This book was lent to me as highly recommended, but I am not sure that I really liked it.On one hand, I enjoyed reading about the Byzantine region/Holy Lands' history in juxtaposition with modern-day political and cultural affairs. On the other hand, the author assumes the reader has a level of prior knowledge - which I did not, so I frequently glazed over and lost focus.For me, the writing style oscillated between engagingly personal and downright textbook boring. A major let-down.I have anothe...
