Full title: Misadventure in the Middle-East - Travels as Tramp, Artist and SpyI am beginning to notice a pattern in the titles of travelogues. First comes a catchy, preferably playfully humorous and often alliterative main title, preferably punning on the title of a book, song or movie. Some examples include the above, as well as The Wrong Way Home, Vroom With a View, On a Hoof and a Prayer and Around India in 80 Trains. Then comes a sub-title meant to entice the potential reader to pick up the book. this one is actually unusual in being shorter then the main title, but just witness the sub-title of the previous book I wrote about: Cape Town to Cairo by Any Means Possible.
Mind you, I'm not complaining, I just think it's funny that I never noticed this before, because when I start thinking about it, I have read so many travelogues with this kind of title.
But let's not get lost in asides - these were supposed to be reading notes for Misadventure in the Middle-East.
In 2002, two eager young artists, Hemming and his travel companion, Al, set off in a second-hand Toyota Hilux to travel around the Middle-East for a year, specifically with a view to connecting with and drawing up a portrait of the Islamic world through art. The plan was to make some meaningful art while on the journey and using the sale of this art to finance the trip, as they had been largely unsuccessful in finding sponsors.They were mostly successful in financing the trip while on the road, and made connections with local artists and made and sold art. Many found their trip foolhardy, especially their plans to visit Iraq, and they did have a few close calls, especially when they finally made it to Baghdad just after the 2003 invasion. It was a foolhardy trip and they had some near misses and misadventures, being repeatedly takes for spies or foreign agents, but managed to escape unscathed.
I found the book readable and interesting and enjoyed comparing their experiences in Iran to my own several years earlier. Heming writes with humour and respect and occasional touches of poignancy about the things he witnessed and the people he met on the journey, and the book gives an interesting snapshot of the area at a specific point in time, as seen from the outside. His realisation that there really isn't any one Islamic culture or identity didn't really come as a surprise to me, but would to many.
I have given the book to a colleague of mine who is an expert on all things Arabic, and if I get some feedback from him on their experiences in the Arab portion of the trip, I may post some of his insights.
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