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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 36
Standard "Beat" fare, published in 2006 following the deaths of the authors and all the surviving characters.
Alternate chapters, written by William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, dealing with a murder in their inner circle. While the names have been changed the events (or close enough) actually transpired, and it's an interesting read in that it was before either one of them was famous. William S. Burroughs was not yet a junkie, Jack Kerouac was not famous, and Burroughs' writing style was comparatively lucid.
Fine, but I'm not generally enamoured with the beat authors, I have an appreciation is all - so, a little depth on my understanding but really not a required read.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 87
This took longer than it should have. Burton is, of course, a wealth of information on the Pilgrimage, full of rich detail on the customs and sketches of the various peoples he meets, the phrenology, by which he judges their character, he gives various of the local folk remedies for snake-bite and scorpion stings, he elaborates upon the sexual customs in Latin in the footnotes, and - all that, in some 800+ pages he only devotes a paragraph to gold prospecting.
In no ways does he make the pilgrimage in the least bit appealing. And again, it strikes one, this holiest-of-holies, Mecca, and all the peoples that are on their way, up to every infamy, deception, vice along the journey, the rules are only held in the Mosques...
In any event, interesting, but given the current events it was a hard read.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 135
So this, the 1853 account of Victorian Explorer Sir Richard Burton's trip to Meccah, worthy in that he had to go very undercover, learn the manner and customs of the Al-Islam, and filled with footnotes that expand upon the locals and peoples he visits, the various holy stops, the wells, the mountains, the various tribes they encounter, the history and anecdote of every place and people going all the way back to the Prophet Muhammed, their superstitions, battles, etc, etc.
And of course there's the pilgrimage, and it's curious to me how all these different tribes and nations are making the pilgrimage to the holiest of holies, yet seem overwhelming obliged to tribal differences, banditry, thieving, murder, etc.
It's like they read the book but didn't understand the message.
Or - wait a minute, look about the world at the moment, all the different books and religion, and almost 200 years later we haven't changed a bit, from Israel to almost every damned church in the USA.
Anyways, he's covered Al-Madinah and is close now to Meccah, he's good company. I'm looking forward to volume II.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 238
This, a slender distraction from Sir Richard Burton's Narrative (which I'm loving, but sometimes it's good to take a break and read something light).
About a German, fleeing the Nazi's to Brazil, only trouble seems to follow him wherever he goes...
It was the inspiration for Yann Martel's "The Life of Pi". Well written, a mere 100 pages (and when confronted with Burton's 2 volumes of 400 pages apiece and copious notes as to Arab life and custom) a well earned break...
Picked up this morning, and will be back at the bookstore tomorrow...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 206
Or "A NARRATIVE of the DISCOVERY OF THE FATE of SIR JOHN FRANKLIN and HIS COMPANIONS".
This, read online at haste as I don't like reading books off of my computer.
Surprisingly informative, it's the journals and records of an expedition that ... well, the title has it. When they're not finding clues (most of the book) there are some interesting anecdotes, descriptions of the customs of the Esquimaux, hardships survived and overcome, descriptions of the geology and paleontology of Greenland and Canada's northern environs. It seems never an expedition went looking for Franklin without burying a few of it's members.
Anyways, I sped read it through; you can find it online here: https://archive.org/details/voyageoffoxinarc00mcli_0/mode/2up
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