Taken Hostage at a Convent A Journey Through the Middle East eBook Ben Neynens
Download As PDF : Taken Hostage at a Convent A Journey Through the Middle East eBook Ben Neynens 
If Churchill were alive today, his riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, would surely be located somewhere in the Middle East.
With the region’s opacity so contradictory to its global importance, Taken Hostage At a Convent tells of a journey through those forbidding lands on a quest for familiarity.
From titillating encounters with Syrian convent nuns to sobering reflections on Egyptian museology, the narrative seeks to balance insight with humor, and create an engaging and accessible account of a journey through one of the most complex and intriguing regions on the planet.
Taken Hostage at a Convent A Journey Through the Middle East eBook Ben Neynens
I don't usually read books in present tense because I find them hard to read, but as a travel book this book accomplishes it's mission. It's good to find a travel book this is objective about the Middle East and the various cultures. Most travel books are disappointing because they are biased. Not this one.Product details
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Taken Hostage at a Convent A Journey Through the Middle East eBook Ben Neynens Reviews
Book Review of Taken Hostage at a Covenant A Journey Through the Middle East by Ben Neynens
I have to extend a thank you to the author for taking the reader on a marvelous adventure through the Middle East. The detail of the author is such that you experience what the sees, tastes and feels. This work seems to have been a labor of love and I am grateful not only for the incredible detail of his journey but also for the history presented.
The author's journey can be seen as a journey through complexities of cultures and how the author adapted and improvised. The author states in the beginning that he had been"to long in the lap of an endless, genteel sort of comfort..." Now he finds himself on an adventure flying from Vietnam to Oman via four legs of flying. He recognized that he would be "facing challenges to the human spirit" and that "through thick and thin (he) would be riding, day in, day out for one hell of a long distance."
Of his many cities and towns described, his visit to Alexandria seemed rewarding to him and the description of the library are still remembered. He states, " it is a public institution, a library no less, speaks well of the nature of the Egyptian people, who in choice of public expenditure have evidently decided to place literature and public learning in esteem above all these. I find that most impressive."
I recommend this book to people who love to read and enjoy adventure. This work was an enjoyable journey to be on. I hope this author will write about other adventures experienced as this adventure was well worth the read.
Terry Grondahl
I received this book free from Library Thing to read and review. If you are looking for a good way to view the Middle East through the eyes of a seasoned traveler, this is a good book to accomplish this feat. Frankly, I seldom read travel books or sagas of journeys others have made in various areas of the world, so this was a real different read for me. The author obviously can write well and has provided some wonderful verbal pictures of places I never would have thought of traveling through or of reading about. This is a real insider's view of the area, along with often humorous details and descriptions of the locale and natives. Some of the verbiage is rather formal, making me feel as if I had signed on for a travelogue. I wondered, as the book became very conversational, flowing richly into descriptions and stories of encounters why it had not all been written like this. It was interesting and refreshing to note how nice everyone and everything was, with few deviations into the nastiness a seasoned traveler generally comes to expect. I learned a lot about the region and the people who live therein, which will become quite useful to me as I listen to the daily news casts about that part of the world. I will at least know that there aren't terrorists waiting to kidnap you or worse still, kill you, waiting around every corner or in each small town. Instead, as a seasoned traveler also knows, there are wonderful people to meet, sights to see and experiences to be had. This is a different book from all the ones I generally pick up to read, and I am glad I did go through it because the story is richly done and wonderful to read while, at the same time, illustrating that people and places everywhere are, at heart, genuinely welcoming and good, if you just let them show it.
This is an interesting and surprisingly captivating book about the travels through the Middle Eastern countries of Oman, The United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and Syria, of one rather daring western bicyclist with a spirit of adventure. In a way it is a travelogue of the Middle East most people would never actually experience. I know, as an American born Lithuanian, I would not even consider taking such a journey myself, particularly alone and particularly as a female in the Middle East. That alone makes me grateful that I can somehow vicariously experience what it was like through the eyes of this young male who did not mind roughing it along the way.
Introducing the book, the author admits that "For a very long time, indeed, the Middle East hasn't received a very good rap. Quite frankly, most of the world perceives the Middle East to be an absolute nuisance....Yet in spite of all its reputation, I was convinced there must be a great deal more to the Middle East than bad news. I needed to visit. To unravel the mystery. To see the truth behind the tale. To discover the true Arabia."
From experiencing the Pyramids of Giza to the catacombs, Mount Sinai and the sight of Bedouin Camps in Egypt, the author departs for the country of Jordan. Here he visits Aqaba, Petra ("Jordan's busiest and most popular tourist destination), Kerak ("most famous for its Crusader castle, which was built in 1142...) and Amman, the capital and largest city. He had wanted to go swimming in the Dead Sea and did so only to find it a most disappointing experience..."Let's just say how on earth anyone might equate the properties of the Dead Sea with good health is beyond me. After bobbing about on the water for the thirty obligatory seconds, I leapt out in severe discomfort wondering if there might be a nearby bath of hydrochloric acid which could perhaps offer more comfortable respite."
It is from his experience in Syria, however, the author's final destination, from which the title of the book is drawn. After experiencing Damascus, "the oldest continually inhabited city on Earth". whose centerpiece is the Umayyad Mosque (one of the oldest and largest mosques in the world), the author finds out that the convent of Saint Takla rents out rooms for a reasonable price. Not only did it offer "the adventure of staying somewhere so historic, it also had the first decent shower I'd experienced since Vietnam. The hot water came quickly and there was an endless supply of it, the water pressure was consistent so you didn't shriek with cold every thirty seconds, and the bathroom itself was squeaky clean." Unfortunately there did turn out to be a catch. Two hours after declining food at the dinner hour the author found himself hungry and decided he would walk his way into town for a quick meal before returning to the convent for an early night's sleep. To his disappointment this was not to be "I walked my way toward the door that leads from the building annex housing my room to the courtyard at the centre of the convent. With a sort of bewildered surprise, I discovered that it was locked. That's interesting, I thought, and from there I made my way donwnstairs to the alternate exit. Bolted shut again....All windows with safe access to the ground outside were securely locked, and I tried every other door possible, but the place was a fortress. And, in fact, a prison. So I spent a night in Saint Takla convent, isolated in a building annex which I occupied alone."
All in all I rather liked this book. It would have been nice if a short sketch of a map could have been provided showing where the author traveled as well as a short paragraph or so telling us something biographical about the man. Otherwise the book is a truly unique, enjoyable and worthwhile read.
Enjoyable, well written read about the travels of the author around the middle east. Written in a easy to read, slightly humorous style
I don't usually read books in present tense because I find them hard to read, but as a travel book this book accomplishes it's mission. It's good to find a travel book this is objective about the Middle East and the various cultures. Most travel books are disappointing because they are biased. Not this one.
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