From The Holy Mountain - William Dalrymple

Okay I have taken record time to finish this book. And I am not be blamed for that. Actually this is not at all an easy read. Need to concentrate while reading and being a busy mommy that I am, I took 4-5 months to actually finish it. Anyway about the book now.

This travelogue has history, historical monuments, religion and conversations / stories of various people. William Dalrymple has tried to retrace the path travelled by John Moschos long back during Byzantine era and has tried to compare the world then and now. He has visited various religious places and monuments mentioned in the book. He is researching the current situation of Christianity in Levant area [The countries bordering on the eastern Mediterranean Sea from Turkey to Egypt], once a dominant religion in this region seems to be on a descent now, not to mention the dwindling Christian population. So he has talked to various people in this entire journey, trying to understand the problems they faced then and in today’s time.

The path taken is Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan & Egypt. Author has written about how eastern Christianity was similar to Islam in various practices. And how in few worship places, people from both the religions worship side by side even today. About the life style of monks and about various churches and monasteries he visited and stayed in during his journey. Various superstitious stories, beliefs and excerpts of different books/conversation intersperse the book.

Overall I found the book quite interesting and informative. I liked the concept and the style of writing.  However at places I did find the narration losing its coherence. And at places, try as I may, I couldn’t get the inference of his writings. Might be my shortcoming, but as a reader, this is what I didn’t like about the book.

It’s a wonder how people kill for religion. What fanatics. Every country’s history is replete with wars - for power, for religion. And in the bargain so many innocents are killed and are uprooted from the normal lives. The poignant stories of people in this book made me wonder for the nth time why can’t people just live and let live.