- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press (April 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312217943
- ISBN-13: 978-0312217945
- Product Dimensions: 24.1 x 15.7 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
1,048,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #14 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Middle East > Yemen
- #33 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Africa > Ethiopia & Djibouti
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Rushby visits places just too dangerous for most travellers. His account is next best thing to being there. An excellent read.
Format:Paperback
Having been to a couple of the places he visits, and had some similar experiences chewing the qat reading this was really interesting. Though I think even if you hadn't anything to compare it'd be a great read.
He keeps it intelligent, interesting, and, most importantly, funny. My favorite part was with the dodgy smuggler. I think I'd of bricked it, but what a character. The way the accent was written was spot on, I could almost hear it.
It'd be great to see a movie of this, or maybe take a camera on your next trip!?
He keeps it intelligent, interesting, and, most importantly, funny. My favorite part was with the dodgy smuggler. I think I'd of bricked it, but what a character. The way the accent was written was spot on, I could almost hear it.
It'd be great to see a movie of this, or maybe take a camera on your next trip!?
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Not bad
14 Aug 2001
Format:Hardcover
As travel writing goes, this was an okay book. Nothing memorable, but he did go to some interesting places and is a decent enough writer. That said, he also seems to be a bit of a twit, which became annoying at some points. It is actually amazing that he survived the journey, doing things like setting off to walk across the desert in Yemen from point A to point B, carrying a single bottle of mineral water which he then drops on the rocks.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Yemen part is good, the Ethiopia part drags
24 Feb 2001
Format:Hardcover
I must admit that I was a bit disappointed with this book. Ethiopia & Yemen have to be two places that most westerners are completely ingnorant of, so I thought I would find the book completely fascinating. This, however, wasn't exactly the case. Rushby is an adequate story teller, and his observational skills are quite astute most of the time. The part of the book from Yemen is infinitely better than the part from Ethiopia. You can tell Yemen is where Rushby's heart is, he just did the Ethiopia thing in emulation of Sir Richard Burton (whose works are repeatedly alluded to.) There are some very funny parts including a Yemeni gas station where "you buy 4 drinks & you get a free hand grenade." Other interesting things about the book is his comparison of how different countries either exalt or villify qat. Overall, the book is worth reading, but it drags in some places...it took me a couple of months to get through it because I would get bored reading certain parts, but then would pick it back up and it always got better again. If you are into horticulutre, botany, or Yemeni culture I would definately recommend it, otherwise you are probably better off reading something else. For a great middle eastern travel book...I recommend "Baghdad Without A Map."
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Taking the high road to Qat'land
16 Aug 2006
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ever since I was a kid, I've always wanted to visit Yemen. Like author Kevin Rushby, I didn't want to do research there, earn money there,. or take anything away from Yemen. I just wanted to see, hear, feel, and know what that faroff land was like. Thanks to my dear President and his warloving cronies, I now have a snowball's chance in hell of ever achieving my dream. Keep on shootin' George, you'll definitely solve all problems that way. I must say, though, that the next best thing to a Yemen trip could be reading EATING THE FLOWERS OF PARADISE. Though the story of the author's voyage centers around qat, a leaf from a tree which grows in Ethiopia and Yemen, whose leaves are chewed to induce a feeling of dreamy well-being and melancholy happiness, this is a travel book par excellence. While Rushby starts his solo voyage in Ethiopia, his lack of local language, and the general lack of information about Ethiopia other than what he sees and does himself, do not entrance the reader. (Nor does he travel in the more interesting parts of the country.) He meets some wild characters [a Nigerian gem smuggler named Cedric or Arthur or...?] and has a few strange adventures in Djibouti, on the Red Sea coast. It is when he lands in Yemen that the book really gets good. Rushby speaks some Arabic. Yemeni rural people come alive in this book, their villages, the hospitality of all, the terraced mountains where qat, coffee, and other crops are grown, the magnificent, rugged scenery of remote parts of the country. Readers may pick up some recent history, some facts about former times, and details of qat growing and use, but this is a very existential travel book, not given to long-winded explanations. Rushby makes no bones about it. He wandered the Yemeni "outback" looking for good highs. He found plenty. Chewing qat with the locals was an excellent way to integrate himself in Yemeni society, where large numbers of people chew qat every afternoon. Rushby records all sorts of bizarre or culturally fascinating incidents. Some of the bizarre ones have to do with his own behavior and qat-induced dreams. When I finished the book, if someone had offered me a ticket to Yemen, I would have flown out that very evening. Sadly, this colorful, fascinating book is as close as I'll ever get. Two other books on Yemen that make a great trio with Rushby's book are "Motoring with Mohammed" by Eric Hansen, and Steven Caton's "Peaks of Yemen I Summon".
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