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Extreme Rambling
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"horrifying and hilarious"--Evening Standard
"a terrific, funny read"--ShortList
"blisteringly powerful"--Bruce Dessau
"...a funny, poignant travelogue, underpinned by fine reporting"--Living South Magazine
"a terrific, funny read"--ShortList
"blisteringly powerful"--Bruce Dessau
"...a funny, poignant travelogue, underpinned by fine reporting"--Living South Magazine
Book Description
Bestselling author Mark Thomas finds a very British way to try to comprehend the Middle Eastern problem
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Mark Thomas is a comedian, an intelligent radical polemicist, British, and a keen rambler. In this book these four elements are brilliantly combined to provide an extremely funny, angry, well articulated, self depreciating, enthusiastic analysis, of the impact of the wall/barrier/fence built by Israel to separate itself from the Palestinians of the West Bank.
At the basic level, the book is a travelogue. Thomas, and his cameraman Phil (the hippy) set out to walk the entire length of the Wall. The initial intention is one of balance, to understand why the Israelis felt it necessary to build the wall and to understand how it has affected the lives of ordinary Palestinians. To achieve this balance the author walks on both sides of the barrier, meeting both Israelis and Palestinians. He is very honest about his own position, having been a long time supporter with the Palestinian cause, he lost sympathy with the suicide bombings of the second intifada, but then regained it with the Israeli white phosphorus bombing of Gaza.
Here, while trying to be equitable, the differences between the economic position of the two communities and their treatment by the Israeli authorities quickly fuel Thomas's anger, as does the fact that the barrier does not stand between Israel and the West Bank, but takes in around 10% of formerly Palestinian land on which settlements have been built. Thus we see Israeli settlers living in luxurious estates while Palestinians queue for hours to cross the border for work, Israelis in swimming pools while Palestinian children walk to school through sewage filled tunnels, or past rock throwing settlers.
However Thomas works hard to retain his balance, recognising the horror and consequent fear of suicide bombings (but questioning the effectiveness of the barrier in ending them) and seeing neither community as homogenous, taking the obvious view that ordinary Israelis and ordinary Palestinians just want to get on with normal life, away from the extremists and fundamentalists. One of the most telling voices comes from his Israeli "fixer", a lawyer who gets him out of scrapes and who says "I say all of this occupation and this wall has to end because we are better than this."
As well as being fascinating and slightly disturbing book, there is also a great deal of fun and enjoyment within it. Thomas's enthusiasm for walking and for the landscape through which he is walking is infectious. The main joy however is the parade of different characters with whom he walks or whom he meets on route. Itamar the Monty-Python quoting Israeli ex-soldier and Wael the Palestinian ex-fighter who are members of an organisation called combatants for peace. Arieh King, the scooter riding fundamentalist Zionist Estate Agent. Zayed the amateur taxidermist and zoo curator. Above all however, there is Richard Makepeace, British Consul General in East Jerusalem who is both very much a patrician, but also wonderfully subversive in a terribly British fair play sort of way.
In summary, while it is very much a book written from a particular political position, and thus won't be the taste of all, it is polemical in a very self-aware manner, and fundamentally fascinating, funny and hugely enjoyable.
Highly recommended.
At the basic level, the book is a travelogue. Thomas, and his cameraman Phil (the hippy) set out to walk the entire length of the Wall. The initial intention is one of balance, to understand why the Israelis felt it necessary to build the wall and to understand how it has affected the lives of ordinary Palestinians. To achieve this balance the author walks on both sides of the barrier, meeting both Israelis and Palestinians. He is very honest about his own position, having been a long time supporter with the Palestinian cause, he lost sympathy with the suicide bombings of the second intifada, but then regained it with the Israeli white phosphorus bombing of Gaza.
Here, while trying to be equitable, the differences between the economic position of the two communities and their treatment by the Israeli authorities quickly fuel Thomas's anger, as does the fact that the barrier does not stand between Israel and the West Bank, but takes in around 10% of formerly Palestinian land on which settlements have been built. Thus we see Israeli settlers living in luxurious estates while Palestinians queue for hours to cross the border for work, Israelis in swimming pools while Palestinian children walk to school through sewage filled tunnels, or past rock throwing settlers.
However Thomas works hard to retain his balance, recognising the horror and consequent fear of suicide bombings (but questioning the effectiveness of the barrier in ending them) and seeing neither community as homogenous, taking the obvious view that ordinary Israelis and ordinary Palestinians just want to get on with normal life, away from the extremists and fundamentalists. One of the most telling voices comes from his Israeli "fixer", a lawyer who gets him out of scrapes and who says "I say all of this occupation and this wall has to end because we are better than this."
As well as being fascinating and slightly disturbing book, there is also a great deal of fun and enjoyment within it. Thomas's enthusiasm for walking and for the landscape through which he is walking is infectious. The main joy however is the parade of different characters with whom he walks or whom he meets on route. Itamar the Monty-Python quoting Israeli ex-soldier and Wael the Palestinian ex-fighter who are members of an organisation called combatants for peace. Arieh King, the scooter riding fundamentalist Zionist Estate Agent. Zayed the amateur taxidermist and zoo curator. Above all however, there is Richard Makepeace, British Consul General in East Jerusalem who is both very much a patrician, but also wonderfully subversive in a terribly British fair play sort of way.
In summary, while it is very much a book written from a particular political position, and thus won't be the taste of all, it is polemical in a very self-aware manner, and fundamentally fascinating, funny and hugely enjoyable.
Highly recommended.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The nature of Mark's task, that is, to walk the length of the Israeli separation fence/wall/barrier/whatthef**kismandoingtohisneighbournow?metaphor, gives this book a compelling drive that really keeps the pages turning. Along the way and deftly balanced, there are jaw dropping moments of unfairness, injustice and intolerance, all that you can expect from a Mark Thomas book. However here, Mark has beautifully honed his skill at drawing for us the individuals he meets; with few strokes of detail, he conjures the truth (as he sees it) of the person in front of him, bringing them alive with a perceptive and highly entertaining, light touch. Likewise, the rambler and the poet in him is a welcome 'Yin' to the political 'Yang'; his descriptions of the terrain, the wildlife, the villages and vistas, make the country as tangible as it's people. There is a moment, after a particularly difficult day, when he and his companions find respite in a tea shop. After some top, understated prose, Mark writes, "This is the best tea room in the world" - and suddenly man's beauty and humanity is restored. It's this sensitivity to his environment, along with the engine of the journey itself that engaged me even more than in Mark's previous books. Highly recommended; I learned a lot, laughed a lot and got angry. What more could you want?
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I really enjoy Mark Thomas's ability to treat serious issues with a twist of humour that enables people who wouldn't read a more heavyweight book (or watch TV programme) to become familiar with an issue. This book is no exception and it would be nice to see him write more.
In this book, Mark and his cameraman take a walk round Israel's illegal Separation Barrier, walking on both sides of the wall, with locals as guides, hosts and conversationalists. It's a moving, funny and witty description of the difficulties 'ordinary' people living by the wall have in trying to live their lives with a wall impinging on their life. His bewilderment at how some Israelis can justify the mistreatment of the Palestinians in the name of security is hauntingly genuine.
If you know very little about the situation in Israel, this is a good place to start; if you consider yourself to have a good understanding this provides a humane portrait of the reality; a light read of a heavy topic.
In this book, Mark and his cameraman take a walk round Israel's illegal Separation Barrier, walking on both sides of the wall, with locals as guides, hosts and conversationalists. It's a moving, funny and witty description of the difficulties 'ordinary' people living by the wall have in trying to live their lives with a wall impinging on their life. His bewilderment at how some Israelis can justify the mistreatment of the Palestinians in the name of security is hauntingly genuine.
If you know very little about the situation in Israel, this is a good place to start; if you consider yourself to have a good understanding this provides a humane portrait of the reality; a light read of a heavy topic.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good Book
Mark wears his heart on his sleeve, always has done. His political leanings are well documented, (mostly by himself) and one suspects that he was always going to tackle this... Read more
Published 3 months ago by John Stephenson
Excellent
My Sociology tutor recommended this book. I have to say it was a good purchase. It really shows you what both sides - (palestine and israel) have to go through. Read more
Published 4 months ago by naz
A one-sided view
Never mind the one-sided view presented by the writer here, which is not a surprise as he describes himself as a "liberal anarchist. Read more
Published 4 months ago by RoBee
Up there with his Arms Dealing book
Despite some of the nonsense spouted by one or two reviews below, this is a tremendous read that makes you laugh out loud and tear your hair out in equal measure. Read more
Published 6 months ago by chunk73
Extreme Rambling by Mark Thomas
Bought this for my partner, didn't really know much about Mark Thomas before buying book, my partner thoroughly enjoyed it and we recently saw Mark on tour and the show was based... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Maur
fascinating, motivating, amusin, annoying
This is an amazing book about the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Everyone should read this to better understand the conditions. Read more
Published 7 months ago by AnnikaGo
Extreme Rambling
Excellent book (and excellent show by the author at Lowry Theatre in Manchester). Not only a good read, but tells it how it is, managing to add humour to what is, for the... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Dints
A proportional response to the problem
It must have been quite difficult to write this book, so credit where credit's due! MT has managed to take a highly contentious subject and provide a near perfect mix of humour and... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Shamblesmaybe
No longer sitting on the fence ....
I'm sure there are other excellent, accessible books about Israel's separation barrier, but I haven't come across them yet. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Love Books
Waste of valuable natural resources
I'd define this not as extreme rambling but more as "Extremely unfunny, extreme socialist becomes an extreme contradiction by writing an extremely rubbish book and hoping to make... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Phileas Fogg
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