Studded with intriguing moments but not as entertaining as Wood’s previous travelogues. Despite moments of hospitality and...
A British adventure traveler’s journey through the tumultuous lands of the Middle East.
A former officer in the British Parachute Regiment who has spent time in the Middle East on and off since his university days in the early 2000s, Wood (Walking the Americas: 1,800 Miles, Eight Countries, and One Incredible Journey from Mexico to Colombia, 2018, etc.) has dedicated his life to travel as a writer and “occasional photojournalist.” Here, the author chronicles his journey from September 2017 through spring 2018, painting a vivid yet troubling portrait of the fraught land and people of the region. Tracing the “fault-lines of the geopolitical arena,” he began his journey in war-torn northern Syria, following the course of the Tigris River, where he was roughly guided into active fighting in Iraq by Amar, a brusque, war-embittered undercover operative. As the author made his dangerous journey east, he writes, the “normalization of violence…made the place so bizarre, terrifying and alluring at the same time.” In the Gulf states, Wood witnessed how oil changed everything for each nation, allowing them power on the world stage yet miring them deeply in a chasm of wealth discrepancy, mainly between Arab haves and migrant have-nots. (The author barely mentions the rampant sexism and misogyny.) After an arduous camel ride through the Empty Quarter of Oman, Wood ascended the imposing Dhofar ridge, skirted the perilous civil war of Yemen, and entered the Somali pirate waters of the Gulf of Arden. Then he traveled through the secretive police state of Saudi Arabia, the serene desert of Jordan, the devastated West Bank, and, finally, the relative stability of Lebanon. Sadly, the author found that the ancient nomadic tribes have coalesced into a modern "affiliation of blood gangs,” locked in bitter wars against each other, corrupted by oil, and fractured by their separate brands of identity.
Studded with intriguing moments but not as entertaining as Wood’s previous travelogues. Despite moments of hospitality and friendship, this seasoned traveler experienced a crushing loss of innocence on a trip that was less a joyful journey than a kind of penance.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8021-4732-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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