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From the Holy Mountain: A Journey Among the Christians of the Middle East by: William Dalrymple |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 915 EAN: 9780805061772 ISBN: 0805061770 Label: Holt Rinehart and Winston Manufacturer: Holt Rinehart and Winston Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 496 Publication Date: 1999-03 Publisher: Holt Rinehart and Winston Studio: Holt Rinehart and Winston Sales Rank: 638730 Related Items: Related Items:  see moreBrowse for similar items by category:
Customer Reviews
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 Rating:  - Beautiful synthesis of spirituality & historyI knew William Dalrymple as a fine travel writer after his early success with In Xanadu, a re-enactment of Marco Polo’s journey to China. From the Holy Mountain attempts a more ambitious journey, and the author brings it off brilliantly. His narrative is a re-enactment of the travels of a 6th century Byzantine monk, John Moschos, who recorded the religious communities and the miracles he encountered in his book, The Spiritual Meadow. Dalrymple travels in Moschos’s footsteps, from Mount Athos in Greece, to the Great Oasis at Kharga in Upper Egypt. The journey takes Dalrymple across Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Israel before reaching his conclusion on the edge of the Sahara, surrounded by Egyptian army guards bristling with automatic ... Read More: Rating: - Is emigration such a dreadful fate?Quite fascinating and beautifully written, although the pessimism got me down at times. Some of these porr people have apparently had to emigrate to America. Didn't some other religious group do that around 1620 and survive quite well? Rating: - Absolutely spellbinding, witty amd incisive.Dalrymple has penetrated the soul of Middle Eastern religions.I agree with him in that Christianity is an Eastern religion and he has exposed to us the jewels that reflect the true Church.On the side he has masterfully depicted the the ufortunate fate of the Kurds,and the Armenians before them, at the hands of the Secular Turks.Its odd that Christians feel threatened in democratic Israel but feel safe and content in dictatorial Syria.It is the book of the year 1999-2000. Rating: - The travel book for History of Christianity fanatics,like meMr Dalrymple has written an excellent account of the current state of Christian institutions in the birthplace of the movement. I read this book, prior to leaving on a research trip of my own.I visited many of the same locations. Not only has he captured the spiritual environment of the sites, but the current pitfalls of travel in the Eastern Mediterranean. Since the gradual dissolution of the Byzantine Empire, Christian sites have experienced widespread destruction.This destruction has been caused by the ravages of time,and also by the new inhabitants of the regions.Many of the old churches have become a source for building materials for newer dwellings. This trend seems to be continuing.Now however,many of the the countries in the ... Read More: Rating:  - great read but . . .This is an excellent read, full of fascinating people and places and all, and Dalrymple's a great storyteller. The one problem I have with it is that,while the whole theme of the book is the tragic way Christians have been wiped out or marginalized throughout the Middle East over the past 100 years, the book often takes a somewhat condescending--even facetious--attitude toward the actual practices and beliefs of these same Christians. You want to ask, Is it worth trying to preserve, if so ridiculous and superstitious from our eyes? (but at the same time, what would be the strength of their faith if it was reduced to the bland Sunday-evening variety of Christianity which a lot of us know? does silliness go hand in hand with depth?) Well ... Read More: |
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