|
Taken
from
review
by
Domestic
Virtues....
Eothen
is
a
kind
of
quirky
travelogue
describing
Alexander
Kinglake's
1834
tour
of
the
Near
East;
it
was
originally
published
in
1844.
Kinglake,
like
many
an
English
gentleman
(and
lady)
of
his
era,
is
full
of
prejudices
and
preconceptions
about
other
cultures
and
races.
He
takes
"the
natural
ascendancy
of
Europeans"
as
a
graven
truth,
and
doesn't
scruple
at
making
sweeping
generalizations
about
Arabs,
Jews,
Turks,
Greeks,
and
everyone
else
he
encounters.
The
book,
for
this
reason,
probably
reveals
more
about
Kinglake
than
it
does
about
the
places
he
travelled.
His
descriptions
of
the
customs
and
characters
he
observes
are
those
of
"a
partial,
prejudiced,
&
ignorant"
outsider,
and
for
that
reason
must
be
viewed
with
skepticism
-
but
they
are
wonderfully
entertaining
all
the
same.
Here
is
an
example
of
the
witty
style
that
makes
this
book
delightful
to
read:
"Christianity
permits,
and
sanctions,
the
drinking
of
wine,
and
of
all
the
holy
brethren
in
Palestine
there
are
none
who
hold
fast
to
this
gladsome
rite
so
strenuously
as
the
monks
of
Damascus;
not
that
they
are
more
zealous
Christians
than
the
rest
of
their
fellows
in
the
Holy
Land,
but
that
they
have
better
wine.
Whilst
I
was
at
Damascus
I
had
my
quarters
at
the
Franciscan
convent
there,
and
very
soon
after
my
arrival
I
asked
one
of
the
monks
to
let
me
know
something
of
the
spots
that
deserved
to
be
seen...
"There
is
nothing
in
all
Damascus,"
said
the
good
man,
"half
so
well
worth
seeing
as
our
cellars";
and
forthwith
he
invited
me
to
go,
see,
and
admire
the
long
range
of
liquid
treasure
that
he
and
his
brethren
had
laid
up
for
themselves
on
earth.
And
these
I
soon
found
were
not
as
the
treasures
of
the
miser,
that
lie
in
unprofitable
disuse,
for
day
by
day,
and
hour
by
hour,
the
golden
juice
ascended
from
the
dark
recesses
of
the
cellar
to
the
uppermost
brains
of
the
friars..."
Highly
recommended.
Hardcover
Weight:
288g
(unpacked)
Condition: Secondhand
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