Customer Reviews

Yemen

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I enjoyed this work. The author spends time focusing on most areas of Yemen- the Hawdramat, Sana'a, Aden, the mountains, and Suqutra. It would have been nice to have more detail on the coastal areas and the writing at times isn't excellent, but it is a very serviceable text. MacKintosh-Smith writes from the perspective of someone who really got inside the culture- as much as a traveler can get. He retains an etic perspective, and does not live, grow, and die with the Yemeni. But this is one of the few travelogues where one can find information on qat, and even the author using it on a regular basis (though it remains classified as a drug at the same level as cocaine by the U.S. government).

It is also one of the few places where you can find a modern description of travels in Suqutra, which is worth getting the book by itself. The chapter on Suqutra describes a land isolated biologically for millions of years, displaying evidence of gigantisism as you find in Hawaii, where few predators have controlled the growth of fauna and especially flora. There are cucumber trees there, and others that look like upside-down umbrellas. Much of the flora and fauna are unique to the island. Further, severe storms six months of the year prevent access to the island. So, while over the years there have been invasions on the coast of the island by different parties, it has largely grown up unscathed into modern times. The language diverged from South Arabian in about 750 BC, and the people seem to be a mixture of Arabic, Greek, Portuguese, and Indian- but no one knows for sure. While they do now have cars (301 of them), the cigarette lighter is still an unknown machine. And since the government severely limits non-Yemeni visitors to the island, this is a rare and exciting bit of a story of what the people are like. I only wish there was more about the island.

Often times reviled throughout history as a backwater, often backward, author Tim Mackintosh-Smith does a wonderful job in showing Yemen as an intriguing land, an unknown section of Arabia, bringing to the reader some of the history, culture, people, and geography of this much neglected corner of the Middle East.

Mackintosh-Smith provides an excellent primer of Yemni history. Yemen we find out once hosted powerful pre-Islamic civilizations, South Arabian states like Saba, Ma'in (whose massive and expertly produced stone works later overawed the Romans), Qaban, and Hadramawt, wealthy merchant kingdoms that grew rich on their tight control of aromatic gums - particularly frankincense and myrrh as well as cinnamon brought from India - in great demand among the Pharaonic Egyptians for medicine and for the process of mummification, by the Assyrians, by the Greeks, the Romans, the ancient kingdoms growing rich on spices rather than oil. Many of the lands were cultivated thanks to the Marib Dam - a massive structure that finally collapsed in the sixth century, that according to legend was destroyed by a rat with iron teeth - or to very impressive irrigation works, via stone tunnels cut into the living rocks of the mountains, some tunnels 150 yards long and big enough to drive a car through and still used to supply water to highland villages over 2000 years after they were built. With the collapse of this civilization - linked by many to the collapse of the Marib Dam - there was a Yemeni diaspora of sorts, as many Yemenis were in the vanguard of the early conquering armies of Islam, spreading throughout the Arab world as far as East Africa, Ethiopia, Iraq, Syria, Tunisia, and even Spain. Later on the Rasulid sultans ruled southern Yemen between the 13th and 15th centuries, making their capital of Ta'izz a wealthy and cosmopolitan capital, its rulers patrons of many of the sciences, producing astrolabes and magnetic compasses while the rest of the Islamic world was in ruins thanks to the Mongols. Modern Yemeni history is also well covered though I found it at times confusing.

The author visited many areas of Yemen. He hiked down canyons and dry wadi (seasonally dry river beds), warned by the locals of the tahish, a cow-sized, hyena like Yemeni bogeyman, though more likely in danger of the sayl, a roaring chest-high wall of water that can suddenly fill canyons thanks to distant highland rains. He viewed many mountain villages and homes perched precariously over such wadi, its citizens living on centuries-old terraces carved into the mountain, designed to catch and slow the descent of every bit of precious water that rains upon the mountains. He sampled a great variety of Yemeni foods, such as saltah (stew based on vegetables and broth topped by hulbah, fenugreek flour whisked to a froth with water), rawbah (soured milk from which the fat has been removed to make butter, popular on the island of Suqutra), qishr (a drink made from the husks of coffee beans, the bean of which have long been a major Yemeni export), and baghiyyah honey, said to the finest in the world and produced only in Yemen by bees pasturing only on ilb trees. He encountered a few of the Jews of Yemen, only a few thousand of which are left, identified by their corkscrew curl side locks. He viewed a bara', an Islamic tribal festival still practiced in the mountains, looking like a dance but more akin to a medieval tournament, a place to display skill with weapons and with heavy connotations of honor and tribal solidarity. He wrote of the qabili - the mountain tribesmen - who are regarded by city dwellers as yokels but also regarded with pride as part of their ancestry, regarding them as honorable people, ones practicing great hospitality to strangers, with many symbolically becoming a tribesmen by adoption of the asib, the tribesman's upright dagger. He visited those who were sayyid, male descendents of the Prophet, often whom devote their lives to Qur'anic knowledge, forming a class that has long had a critical role in Yemeni politics and religion. He visited Aden, one of the greatest ports in the world, its "craggy profile" formed by volcanic activity, a weird city thanks to local topography, not "one city but a series of settlements separated by outriders of the central peak, Jabal Shamsan," many of those settlements quite distinct in character, a city once contested by the Ottomans, the French, and held by the British for the better part of two centuries. He visited two sub-cultures within Yemen that don't always Arabic; the Mahris, located east of Hud along al-Masilah, racially distinct and following the very un-Arabic matrilineal descent system, and the native peoples of Suqutra, who until relatively recently many did not speak Arabic at all but rather Suqutri. Indeed the Island of Suqutra, once called the Island of Dragon's Blood thanks to one of its most famous exports, a blood red resin from the dragon's blood tree (_Dracaena cinnabari_, actually a member of the Lily family), is the subject of the last chapter, an island 260 miles from the Yemeni mainland, closer to Somalia than to Yemen, a country that once practiced very un-Islamic adult public circumcisions and witch trails into the late 1960s.

Well covered is one of the most famous and unique aspects of Yemeni culture, the chewing of qat. A dicotyledon known to science as _Catha edulis_, it is chewed by groups of men socially, the qat chews often important arenas for the transaction of business, discussions of politics and religion, to accompany weddings and funerals, or simply to unwind with friends. Qat is recognized to have a huge variety of sub-types by many Yemeni connoisseurs, with many esoteric rules; qat from a tree over a grave is to be avoided, and qat from lower branches (qatal) is the least prized of qat.

I really enjoyed this book, which boasted some interesting sketch book type illustrations, a glossary, and a good bibliography.

Not a bad book really, rather light and amusing, and perfect for romantics who want to project an image of exoticism on Yemen. In classic Orientalist fashion, it celebrates a European perspective on the Arab world, one which insists that its culture is best when it is at its supposedly "traditional" - the antipode to (and, I would speculate, escape from) European civilization. The author is uncomfortable with the proudly multi-cultural traditions of Aden, positively angry with women in Yemen who challenge its social norms, and tied into the idea that Yemen is an unchanging paradise. Indeed, the essentialism of his portrait is summarized in this sentence: Yemen's 1,200 mile coast is "a tacked on sort of place. The essence of Yemen is here diluted in the ebb and flow of outsiders. If I treat the coast as an afterthought, I admit to prejudice." Having spent considerable time in Yemen, I certainly agree that Yemen is a charming and wonderful place, but am perhaps uncomfortable with the way the author ignores its changing political and social currents in favor of a search for an eternal essence. Such an essence doesn't exist except in the imagination and projections of Europeans. An amusing book, but ultimately Yemen is a far, far more complex, challenging place than the author is willing to confront. But, as light escapism, for fans of travel books it is reasonably entertaining.

This is a travelogue of a Brit's visit to and exploration of Yemen. The author paints a beautiful and romantic picture of Yemen with text that is both easy and enjoyable to read. I knew virtually nothing about Yemen before reading this book, and I purchased it from Amazon on a whim. I was not disappointed. Although there is some discussion of history and politics in this book, the author's primary emphasis is describing the scenery, the people, and the culture that he has experienced on his travels. If the author's goal was to convey a bit of the complexity of Yemeni culture, some of the natural beauty of the Yemeni landscape to a Western audience, and a part of the rich history of Yemen, he has succeeded. I found the author's description of a sailing trip to Suqutra, an island off the coast of Yemen, to be particularly evocative. The `ritual' of qat was also surprising and interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn about Yemen from a Westerner's viewpoint, particularly if one looking for an entertaining, not scholarly, account. Some of the less enthusiastic reviews of this book state that the account is too idealistic. This is probably a fair criticism, but I do not view this as a drawback in this type of book.

Apparently a reprinted version of Travels in Dictionary Land (if it was different i didn't notice) it gives a good historical and social look at Yemen but mostly in an overly exotic manner. The book and its many anecdotes, however, are very useful as a basis for further research. The chapter on traveling to Socotra is fascinating as well. At times, the reading seemed difficult to an American who is not accustomed to British humor or idioms, but rarely is the meaning lost. While this book is good for light reading or to get an idea of some of the historical, geographical and social aspects of Yemen, the idealistic vision of traditionalism grows tiring. If you're looking for serious commentary on what it is like to live and work as a foreigner in modern day Yemen, look elsewhere.

This is a book of poetry. MacKintosh has immersed himself so much in the culture that he has produced poetry as prose, in the highest genre of the Arab.

I try to write critical reviews. To weigh the good and the bad. I can't think of anything bad to say about this book. Whether or not I get to see the place, Mackintosh makes it come alive with his vivid writing and incredible sense of Arabic history. He writes mythically, so that his stories- his or retold by others- remain with you for years. I wish I had the time to get to all the places he describes!

But it's not just history that Mackintosh brings in. He has a wealth of understanding of linguistics, especially of the Arabic world. Throughout the text he indicates the historical links with his experiences, through the languages of the people. He even brings in literature and history from other lands in a smooth manner that fits completely with the narrative.

I'm sitting here in a netcafe in Ta'izz, Yemen, having just reread the book in my travels this past week in the country. It's great to read a book about the country you're traveling in- to simultaneously see the places you want to visit, and read about the places you've just finished. After reading his account of the Rock Palace outside Sana'a, I realized I had to go visit it. I talked with an expat who gave me a lift, who said he met Tim once- a guy who truly became Yemeni. I think about him as I try out qat. I'm constantly looking at where he writes about and looking on the map to see where I am.

There are four kinds of people who should read this book. Those planning a trip to Yemen. Those traveling or living in Yemen. Those who have been to Yemen. And those who never plan to do any of the three, but like good literature. It's a pleasure to read in itself.

Very much a British Arabist travelogue, and as Sir Charles Doughty, Sir Richard Burton, Wilfred Thesiger, Freya Stark, and T.E. Lawrence-- and perhaps less fervently so Jonathan Raban-- have demonstrated the past century-and-a-half, Mackintosh-Smith takes the trouble to enter the culture. He learns the language, and this account of what the British edition called "Travels in Dictionary Land" is what made me seek this book out. His explanation of the nuances and ambiguities of Arabic remains, five years at least since I read this, the most vivid characteristic of this narrative.

His visit to the island of Socotra, by its natural contrasts with mainland Yemen, intrigued me. Here, perhaps freed from some of the constraints of the interior of the nation, it appeared to me that the author allowed himself a sense of adventure that parts of the dominant narrative, landlocked, did not spark in him. He does make you wonder, as with many earlier British Arabists, about his motives in separating himself from his native land. His reserve remains coy, although it appears that part of this may be--as with some of his predecessors-- that his sexuality may lead him into compromising or dangerous situations. This is hinted at more than discussed and adds a frisson to this somewhat antique mode of storytelling of a foreigner's long sojourns, his nearly three decades spent in such forbidding lands, trying to "pass."

This and his sequel of sorts (also reviewed by me) "Travels with a Tangerine" which attempts to follow the medieval Ibn Batutta's route across Asia, are recommended with therefore slight reservation. The amount of disclosure on the part of those he meets balances with the author's own reticence. He deploys himself rigorously, and part of the charm and a bit of the frustration of his two books taken together is this stance that he assumes.

This work is outside the usual parameters of my taste in reading, but a stretch is good for everyone. I want to thank the author, first, for displacing the first image that comes to mind when I hear the word "Yemen": the desperately ficticious destination picked by Chandler as he trys to escape Janis on Friends. This is a wonderfully rounded depiction of a culture that somehow manages to exist in the past as well as the present. I especially enjoyed the visit to the isle of Susqatra. Mr. MacKintosh-Smith uses his insider/outsider status to great effect, and his mastery of observation and fluid description takes the reader on a journey of discovery. Bravo.

I've given up my long-held dream of traveling in Yemen. Once I thought I might even study Arabic and try to do some anthropological research there on the shrines visited by Indian Muslims. But my fate was always centered in India. I'd collected as many books about Yemen as I could and now, since I won't be living those travels or doing that work, I've started reading them all. They are gathered around two poles: academic and travel writing. I've read Steven Caton and Paul Dresch, and next on the list is Engseng Ho. These books give you a solid, more "professional" view of Yemen, though Caton's "Yemen Chronicle" is as far from "dry academic" as you can get and still be serious. In the field of travel writing, I've read Claudie Fayein's book from the 1950s plus Kevin Rushby and Eric Hansen. Now I've just finished Mackintosh-Smith's travel opus. I must say that taken together, this is a most impressive body of work for a country that on a world scale does not loom large.

Mackintosh-Smith seems to be a man who found another part of himself in a faraway land and never went home. There must be something in the UK that drives or attracts certain men to take up life in the Arab world. The author had lived in Yemen many years by the time he wrote this book and spoke fluent Arabic. Like Kevin Rushby, who frequently "ate the flowers of paradise", Mackintosh-Smith adapted to all facets of Yemeni life and walked through the mountains and deserts of his adopted homeland as well as through the crowded streets of San'a and the various villages and small towns he came across. In the book he goes to the north, through the mountains and down to the Tihama coastal plain, to Aden (where he views the strange debris of British occupation crossed with Marxist government overthrown), to the far reaches of the Hadramawt, and finally to the remote, but fascinating island of Socotra. He may not have been the only one to do this, but he has certainly written the most poetic, literary book to come out about Yemen so far. Coupled with a fine, wry British sense of humor, YEMEN: THE UNKNOWN ARABIA cannot fail to please readers. If you are looking for a book that presents INFORMATION, for God's sake, go someplace else. This is a romantic work. I think there is room for romantic works in this world. In fact, a world without them would be awful. Mackintosh-Smith does not pretend to write a scholarly tome, but still, historical and political information does flesh out his personal experiences together with legends, tall tales, and weird details. All in all, this is a wonderful book; a must-read for anyone interested in Yemen. It does not intimate anything of what has unfolded in 2011 and it does not present Yemen as a Third World country in need of health care, education, and population control, not to mention a solution to serious water problems. I wonder what has happened to the author. Perhaps the Yemen he has described so well will persist, but I fear not in the same form. For him, this may be a tragedy, but I'm not so sure Yemenis would entirely agree.

P.S. The drawings scattered throughout the book are as insipid and uninteresting as the text is vivid and interesting. I cannot understand why he didn't use photographs or at least some more finished work.

I suppose I expected a bit more with this book, I mean, it was okay...the author provided a concise conveyance of the history and culture, but I have a hard time believing that the Yemenis are steeped in such ridiculous superstition (mostly because I'm of Yemenite descent myself.) I further was deeply annoyed by his generalist comments not only concerning the Yemeni people, but particularly the Hadramis; for me it bordered on rascist. I also which he spoke more about the people and customs of Socotra, and what the indigenous Socotri language sounded like as opposed to Arabic. But obviously the author loves his adopted homeland or he would've left it a long time ago.