Anne,
I've enjoyed reading your dialogue with Ali, though the one primary question-that is to hear an Arabic take on the novels-for which I anticipated a more honest and open response was dismissed with amusing rhetoric and creative assumptions.

I too am curious to hear how Whittemore's portrayal of the Middle East, especially Jerusalem and Cairo, resonates with someone who has significantly experienced these cities. My experience, at this point, is limited to textbook knowledge of the history of the Middle East, and thus my opinion of Whittemore's Middle East may differ considerably from one's who was born in and experienced, say, Jerusalem. In what ways is Whittmore's portrayal accurate? In what ways is it imaginative? Dramatized? For the same reason, Anne, your understanding of the Deep Southern USA may drastically differ from my own-I am a Georgian-after reading Dickey's Deliverance. Is Whittemore's Middle East looked at with indignation? Disgust? Insult? Appreciation? Exultation? This is the Arabic take that I want to hear. How do these novels make you feel as a native of Jerusalem or Cairo? Where, in the novels, is Whittemore way off base? Where is he fair? Where is he truthful?

As for Whittemore's archetypes, the implication that they are purely imaginative is terribly unfounded and insultingly simplistic. Because the background of the novels is based on factual, documented historical events and places(i.e. Smyrna 1922, The Easter Uprising 1916, The Black and Tans 1919-1921, Codex Sinaiticus 1859, St Catherines Monastery) and several of the characters are clearly based on historical figures (i.e. Strongbow/Sir Richard Burton and Yossi/Eli Cohen), I feel that the inclination would be toward assuming that all of Whittemore's characters are fantastical and rich adaptations of actual historical figures and the action of the novels, in large part, is driven by his dialectical approach to tragic, but actual historical events, rather than suggest because of one's own imaginative assumption that Whittemore is nothing more than a ex-Yalie spook with an affinity for arak and cheroot ceegars that the archetypes used for his novels are purely illusory. The Quartet is inventive and (certainly) imaginative, but the roots of this inventiveness and imagination are embedded in a researched, educated, and pondered historical accuracy from a man whose ties to the region run deeper than most of us suspect.

thanks,
Joseph

--Previous Message--
: : Ali,
: Truth to tell, I don't really care if there
: are no scholarly treatises on Whittemore out
: there.
: Coming from Australia, American literature is
: appreciated, when we can get hold of it,
: otherwise we don't buy into its hype.
: Speaking of treatises, if you scroll down a
: few messages on this board there is a reader
: who is indeed thinking of writing a MA thesis
: on Whittemore.
: Too tired think of archetypes at present, so
: will have to get back to you on that.
: Anne
: --Previous Message--
: Anne,
: > do you like the books?
: Sure, with qualifications.
: > I am assuming that you are Arabic, or of
: Arabic descent
: Yes.
: : There is a quality in Whittemore’s writing
: that appeals instantaneously to us devotees –
: it is as individual and inexplicable as taste
: in literature and music.
: Whittemore in a way deals with archetypes and
: even though real places and real history are
: the background to the action of the novels,
: cities like Jerusalem, Cairo and Damascus are
: at the same time imbued with a sort of
: mystique. I can’t see why a person familiar
: with those places, and with the history of
: them, should be any less susceptible to being
: entranced by the books despite their being
: written by a Yalie ex spook.
: Maybe the subject of another thread would be
: to explore in depth that quality, which
: perhaps from a prosodic standpoint changes
: from book to book -- these things are not
: always so inexplicable. *S* Also, I would
: be interested in knowing more about which
: Archetypes you refer to -- standard
: Orientalist Gunga Din type figures (that is
: to say, classic "Western"
: archetypes that bear little relation to the
: actual people living in the region), latter
: day Zionist low key chest thumping
: nationalist mythology (Jericho Pokier is
: particularly imbued with this)... Arab ones
: (and if so, which ones.... exactly)... or
: more original ones that Ted simply produced
: from his imagination (side issue: can these
: then be described as mythic archetypes -- I'm
: thinking of Moby Dick here)?
: I do think a serious, in depth critical
: treatment of EW's work is needed -- if not
: sorely so. When someone publishes it, my
: guess is that Whittemore will eventually be
: viewed much as Melville is today. Perhaps
: unbeknownst to most of us is a Ph.D. thesis
: in the making that is about to do the trick.
: Ali
:
: --Previous Message--
: Ali,
: : Individuals from all over the world have
: fallen in love with the Whittemore books as
: is evidenced by the contributors to this
: Board. One’s nationality hardly matters, it
: seems, so whether a person of Arabic descent
: would react differently to the books is
: questionable.
: There is a quality in Whittemore’s writing
: that appeals instantaneously to us devotees –
: it is as individual and inexplicable as taste
: in literature and music.
: Whittemore in a way deals with archetypes and
: even though real places and real history are
: the background to the action of the novels,
: cities like Jerusalem, Cairo and Damascus are
: at the same time imbued with a sort of
: mystique. I can’t see why a person familiar
: with those places, and with the history of
: them, should be any less susceptible to being
: entranced by the books despite their being
: written by a Yalie ex spook.
: Someone on another message board described
: Whittemore as being unusual - “an American
: looking at the Middle East with loving eyes”.
: Judging
: by your name, I am assuming that you are
: Arabic, or of Arabic descent.
:
: Anne
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: Anne,
: I don't think it is possible to do an
: "Arabic take" -- on anything, let
: alone the Quartet, for all the usual reasons.
: My view is that it's something of a strange
: notion (to think) that there is a standard
: "Arab" take on things, especially
: literature. But I'd like to suggest here
: that it may be possible to examine the text
: of Nile Shadows, for example, to determine
: the degree of, say, Orientalist, or, [choose
: your fav post neo modernist litcrit poison
: here], thinking permeating the text in the
: context of his description of Cairo in the
: early 40s. I mean: is this version more
: authentic than Billy Wilder's Allied war
: propaganda flic "5 Graves to
: Cairo", Ondaatje's sensual caricatures
: in "The English Patient", or the
: sections in Pynchon's V that take place in
: the Cairo of that era (I am think here of the
: passages involving the Ezbekieh Gardens, much
: of which appear to have been, um, lifted,
: from some Baedeker). Taking political sides
: on, for example, the question of the post
: nakba subjugation and displacement of the
: Palestinians is not really the heart of it
: for Whittemore (at least I haven't come
: across his empathy to it in his books): :
: let's face it: he was, after all, an ex
: American spook, of white shoe Yalie origin,
: who ended up doing, after coming in from the
: khamaseen (with apologies to Le Carre), the
: usual live cheaply somewhere in the exotic
: (Middle) East and cook up some
: phantasmagorical gum Arabico literary
: concoction, in between sips of uzo, araak,
: & (no doubt) puffs of Lebanese red mixed
: in with his cheroot ceegars. But in his
: particular case, he actually wrote real books
: -- instead of just idly spending his time in
: Crete (it could have been Malta, or anywhere
: else like that for that matter), and
: elsewhere, shacking up with various
: temporary, arty squeezes, living on the cheap
: off his CIA pension, and delivering
: unpublishable riffs and rants disguised as
: novelistic manuscripts. Instead, he produced
: Sinai Tapestry in this manner, which actually
: got published (thanks largerly to a Yalie
: connection), and which I first came across in
: '78. With all of this said, the point of my
: original post, when I sat down to think about
: it in replying to your kind post, gets at to
: whether the Quartet bears more than a
: tangential relationship to its actual subject
: matter, one that resonates as authentic with
: Arabic readers or readers of Arabic descent,
: and if so, what is it? Maybe understanding
: this may have a bearing on developing an
: appreciation for the strengths and weaknesses
: of his work in these books.
: Ali
: --Previous Message--
: Ali,
: You raise an interesting point. I would also
: like to hear an Arabic take on the novels.
: Whittemore himself, as far as I understand
: his books, didn't take sides and his approach
: to the Middle East was holistic.
: As you have raised this question, what are
: your views?
: I would be most interested in hearing them.
: Anne
:
: --Previous Message--
: Wish there were some of that here -
: particularly by readers of Egyptian, Syrian
: or Palestinian descent. Nile Shadows, for
: example, resonates differently when the
: locale is in one's blood, so to speak,
: however distantly. Just an opinion, of
: course.
:
: :
:
: : : :
: