Among the Mountains: Travels Through Asia

I want to start by quoting from the last lines of the penultimate chapter, ‘Nuristan 2.’
“I would gladly have gone back another year to Mazar-i-Sharif and made that journey on foot, but the opportunity has passed. Now that the main road is built, the lorries thunder by’ the camel caravans are gone, their bells stilled forever.”
Sara Wheeler of the Daily Telegraph described the book as ‘a matchless portrait of a vanished world.’ I agree with her assessment.
Wilfred Thesiger is amongst the last of a breed of great explorers who forged genuine, enduring relationships with the locals. This attitude is rare and vanishing in our age.
Why has the world vanished? His world has vanished because people don’t walk and explore much. show more Motorized transport dominates our world–planes, trains, cars, etc.–and we rush from place to place without admiring the changing scenery or understanding the places we visit. Second, most focus on tourist destinations, forgoing the wild, unexplored places. Third, the old places and customs have vanished with the continued onslaught of modernization.
Therefore, Wilfred Thesiger’s books become treasures because they remind us of existing worlds, people, and customs. Like his others, this book is a travelogue, a history of vanished people. He speaks of the kindness of the people he encountered, a rare trait today.
Unlike his other books, this one's writing is sparse. He did not intend to write a full-length book, but the writing is more expressive because of the bare, terse style he adopted.
The photography is outstanding. While the photos of the buildings are middling, the landscape photographs are beautiful. However, Wilfred’s pictures of the people are stunning, portraying their innate dignity, personalities, and something of their spirit. Allow yourself the luxury of time when you examine the people portraits, and you may understand the meaning of building bridges and making human connections.
The book is outstanding. If you travel, buy the book, read it, and explore our world. show less

This book is the latest in the Thesiger 'series' that I have read.

I would almost go so far as to say that he is amongst the last of a dying - or dead - breed, the genuine explorer.

While this book did not have the emotional connect that some of his other books had - it is more of a travelogue - it does give an excellent idea of what the life is about in these remote areas.

The photography is outstanding, especially the photography of the people. He has photographed them with sensitivity, and has depicted them with real respect. This is enough reason to read this book.

"Each of Thesiger's mountain journeys has a unique quality, which inspired many of the finest photographs Thesiger had ever taken. These images of startling beauty, combined with Thesiger's vivid prose- based on his original unpublished diaries- documented brilliantly the hardships, dangers and rewards of thirty years of mountain travel."

Thesiger is een van mijn favoriete schrijvers. Zijn 2 reisverhalen over Saoedi Arabië "Arabian sands *****" en Irak "The Marsh Arabs *****" vind ik 2 van de beste reisverhalen die ik ooit heb gelezen (en ik heb er nogal wat gelezen!). Ook zijn autobiografie "The life of my choice ****" is zeer onderhoudend. IK was dus bij voorbaat enthousiast toen ik dit boek meenam uit de bibliotheek. Dat viel tegen!
"Among the mountains" is een kort en saai verslag van enige tochten in de bergen van Kurdistan, Afghanistan en Pakistan. Het enige positieve aan het boekje zijn een aantal mooie foto's. Begrijpelijk dat een uitgeverij staat te springen om een nieuw werk van een beroemd schrijver, maar dit is een blamage.
Uitgelezen: dinsdag 30 januari 2001