Seven Pillars of Wisdom - T. E Lawrence

...reading his seminal work? Seven Pillars of Wisdom has been on my reading list for as long as I can remember. It slipped gradually as other romances and adventures intruded…it rose again during a visit to Cloudshill about five years ago, and this time it refused to go away. The insight into the man afforded by that small Dorset cottage nestled in the back of my brain and I knew that sooner or later I was going to have to attempt this mighty tome. ...
...evidence he himself presents in Seven Pillars of Wisdom, he came very close to doing both.

That, however, is one crucial fact about this book. It is autobiographical. Lawrence’s own Appendix lists dates and places from his “skeleton” diary and he confesses that on occasion he has “preferred memory to the calendar”. Other authors considering the events have stated that experiments have shown that some of the more daring exploits are ... more

Lawrence of Arabia! Even to those who do not know, it must sound romantic, exotic, adventurous! Of course Lawrence was all of those things…but what else was he, and did I really hope to find out by reading his seminal work? Seven Pillars of Wisdom has been on my reading list for as long as I can remember. It slipped gradually as other romances and adventures intruded…it rose again during a visit to Cloudshill about five years ago, and this time it refused to go away. The insight into the man afforded by that small Dorset cottage nestled in the back of my brain and I knew that sooner or later I was going to have to attempt this mighty tome. A planned trip to Jordan meant that there was no longer any excuse. (Ironic that the trip should then be cancelled.)

The Folio society colluded by offering me a sumptuous new edition. Not cheap it has to be said ~ but then such endeavours should perhaps be dearly bought.

At risk of putting off half the audience at the outset, let us be clear. This is not a ripping yarn. It is a serious analysis of what happened and how and maybe why. It is not an easy read. It is so full of detail in place names and people that, to be perfectly frank, I spent a large part of the journey utterly and completely lost. I could not keep track of who was who and what side they were on when (for some had an unfortunate habit of personal diplomacy which meant little in the Realpolitik of the fight for Arab independence, let alone the greater world war of which it was but a side-show to the British). Despite the wealth of maps and photographs, I could not follow where the action was taking place. This could be heavy going.

Round about 100 pages in, I decided a different strategy was needed. I would just go with the flow…maybe this would improve things.

It is worth the perseverance however. There are some aspects upon which Lawrence is in a class of his own. Amongst them:

 His understanding of “the Arab” ~ and of the differences between Arabs of various tribes.
 His descriptions of daily life among the nomads. The camps in the desert. The night rides. The pains and sufferings of his own as a European not brought up to this life. He tells of painstakingly trying to harden his body to the rigours of the life, of days in the saddle whilst trying to hold fever and dysentery in check, of lying on the sand and crying “unhelping” at the end of his endurance. He talks of hospitality and justice and how personal both can become.
 His fever-ridden ramblings on the nature of war are as full of insight as any I have read…they are also as delirious as your worst dreams.

What’s interesting is that although all of this was written years after the event, he captures the flavour of it as though it were scribbled in those long flea-bitten nights without sleep. Without a doubt the man can be unutterably pretentious, but he also has a sense of the ridiculous – his being offered a medal, for example, on the basis of his own despatch! – which makes me want to forgive him everything else.

What’s to forgive?

The whole adventure for a start. From the very outset Lawrence was playing a duplicitous game, with both the British and the Arabs. He was, let’s not forget, a soldier in the British army ~ not a particularly good one (by the army’s tenets) ~ and had therefore a primary duty to serve British interests. On the other hand, he had won the trust of many of the tribes throughout what was then known as Arabia, and they believed that he truly supported their cause of Arab independence (from Turkey & from everyone else). Did he do either? On the evidence he himself presents in Seven Pillars of Wisdom, he came very close to doing both.

That, however, is one crucial fact about this book. It is autobiographical. Lawrence’s own Appendix lists dates and places from his “skeleton” diary and he confesses that on occasion he has “preferred memory to the calendar”. Other authors considering the events have stated that experiments have shown that some of the more daring exploits are simply impossible given the distances involved. They may therefore be false, they may be exaggerated for effect, they may simply be mis-remembered, they may be accurate ~ no modern-day experiment can replicate the exact personnel, animals and urgency of war and/or rebellion involved in the original events. We will never know, but the warnings and caveats are well made.

What emerges from a first and surface reading (having abandoned the attempt to fix the actual events & places) is a man granted a “boys own” dream: to lead the ultimate masculine-romance of a life. It is a tale of daring-do and the action sequences are revelled in. The blowing up of railway lines, the taking of towns, the excitement of battle. Yet somehow, Lawrence remains sensitive to it all. When he comes down from the thrill, he has attacks of conscience. There are huge ambiguities in his make-up and it is greatly to his credit that he does nothing to hide them. He shares equally his vanity and his perception of self-glory, as his fears and failings. He shares his utter degradation, and his dissembling of it after the event. Looking back allows him an opportunity to cleanse himself, and so the book becomes not just a biography, but a confessional.

In the reading of it, we must also bear in mind that attitudes to many things have changed since it was written and try to avoid placing modern interpretations on historic realities.

~

Technicalities:

The Folio Society edition (2005) runs to 584 pages, including introductions, appendices and index. It is interspersed with photographs mostly of, or taken by, Lawrence. There are a number of maps covering the various theatres of action.

A short foreword by Wilfred Thesiger, who speaks of its ‘profound influence’ on his life, is followed by a considered introduction by Michael Asher. Contrary to my usual stance of leaving introductions until the end, this one should be read first. It gives an insight into Lawrence’s early life and one view of his personality ~ though not one to which I whole-heartedly subscribe ~ which provide starting points for trying to assess the man behind the self-portrait.

There is also a delightful exchange of messages between the author and his long-suffering editor who was trying to understand the vagaries of his rendition of Arab into English. This perhaps more than anything else made me think I might just have liked the man.

Folio Society books are of a certain quality, and when paying the full price, you do pay for that. This edition, only available to Society subscribers, is priced at £42.50. Whilst that sounds expensive, it is no more than you might pay for a special meal in a good restaurant. Have I got my money’s worth? Yes, already…and I know I will go back to read some of the more poetic passages purely for the pleasure of it, and I will also so back to study the book properly to try to understand the history more thoroughly.

For those not sure it’s for them, paperback versions are available on Amazon from £3.99, and numerous other editions to cover most tastes and pockets.

~

Recommendation:

I could not recommend the book to anyone who doesn’t already want to read it, or has a defined interest either in Lawrence, or that part of the world, or the history of the period. It requires a certain effort to read, although you will be well-rewarded for it.

Similarly I could not recommend this edition unless your interest is more than passing. If you enjoy the physicality of books, and have a certainty of returning to this one it is worth investing in something that will withstand your attentions.

By no stretch could the book be considered average, so I have to give it four stars ~ but that’s with the caveat that it isn’t for everyone.

hiker@Ciao
17.3.05
 

...less