A Must-Read

One of the most harrowing and heart-wrenching tales of survival (the other is Shackleton's legendary expedition) that I've ever read is "Skeletons on the Zahara"(the Z is 19th century spelling). A story written by Dean H. King based on Captain James Riley’s narrative (which inspired Abraham Lincoln and Henry Thoreau). Lincoln listed Riley's narrative along with The Bible, Pilgrim's Progress and a few other books as being the strongest influences on his life.

In his forward to ''Skeletons on the Zahara'', author Dean King relates that in the fall of 1995, while researching in the library of the New York Yacht Club, he came across a large book with the intriguing title of 'Sufferings in Africa'. A bestseller in its time, the book detailed the story of American sea captain James Riley and the crew comprising 12 American men of the ill-fated brig, 'Commerce', which was shipwrecked in Africa. The crew was sold into slavery and suffered untold horrors at the hands of slavers who travelled from oasis to oasis barter-trading their ill-gotten goods among themselves and their ilk. Dean King retells the story which, although written nearly two hundred years ago, has great importance to twenty-first century Americans who are facing a clash of cultures that very well may endure for a long time.

I couldn't put it down, read it through the night and was deeply affected by the poignancy and moments of moribundity of the 12 wracked and wretched men in deep Arab-African hinterland that the horrific accounts played on my mind for weeks after that.

Review from The Internet Writing Journal:-
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Captain Riley presented his manuscript to the head of the New York Historical Society in 1817, and the book went into three editions as well as being printed in England and a French edition. The book's account of the slavery of the crewmen and the disdain of the pious Muslim tribesmen for the "Christian dogs" had a powerful effect on many citizens in the U.S. who were grappling with a mirror image of equally pious white slave holders and their attitudes toward African slaves. The importance of Skeletons on the Zahara to the reader of today becomes clear as the sufferings of Captain Riley and his men at the hands of the desert nomadic tribes are chronicled in relentless detail. The difference in cultures is evident on every page as the reader follows Riley 's countless miseries from sun, exhaustion and starvation

The nomadic tribes fight over their American slaves, steal from each other and follow a code that is incomprehensible to the Western traditions of personal property and truthfulness in personal dealings. Yet on an individual level Riley gives true examples of coexistence and mutual respect. The Arab trader, Sidi Hamet, helps Riley get back to Western civilization because he believes that for some unknown reason that the captain is favored by Allah.

The surprising final act of Sidi Hamet comes at the end of the book and is another confusing example of the clash of cultures. Dean King writes in a quick-moving, factual style that carries the reader through the shocking cruelties of the wild desert nomads and the stark oppressiveness of the hostile terrain. Captain Riley's hopes rise and fall, but he never really gives up. -Sarah Reaves White.[ Link The Internet Writing Journal®.Copyright © 1997-2006 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


It has been described as a Homeric journey by some and Dantean odyssey by others. King is almost pornographic in his description of physical pain; Skin bubbles, eyeballs burn, lips blacken, and men shrivel to less than 90 pounds, and gulping camel urine was like drinking Evian!

I'm not sure whether the book is available locally as I've not seen any in our bookstores. (I got mine as a gift from a friend who bought it in the UK) It could be on the "banned" list as the Arab Muslims are coloured as violent and barbaric savages in the book (and we wouldn't want that, would we!) But be that as it may, try to get it via Amazon.com or other online bookstores and read it, I beseech you!

p.s. So what is the most harrowing book that you've ever read? Share it with me.