BOOKMONGER
Author retraces timeless
landscapes, tangled histories
From the moment I fi rst saw the cover of
“From Cairo to Beirut,” I could hardly wait
to delve into the book’s contents. This illus-
trated travel memoir by Redmond, Wash-
ington, author and illustrator Sunil Shinde
covers the region that many know as the
homeland of Judeo-Christian fi gures,
m ore reductively in contemporary times,
this is a region fraught with headline grab-
bing tension.
But Shinde, an India-born Hindu who
came to the Pacifi c Northwest as part of
the technology boom, off ers a diff erent
perspective in this immensely accessible
work that combines his interests in cul-
ture, history and religion, his passion for
travel, and a more recent enthusiasm for
sketching.
In 1839, Scottish artist David Roberts
made a six month trek from Egypt to Leba-
non, sketching temples, monuments, souks,
caravans and landscapes before returning to
the British Isles to produce illustrated plates
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This week’s book
‘From Cairo to Beirut’ by Sunil Shinde
Chin Music Press – 256 pp — $22.95
SHINDE’S BOOK ALSO
SUPPLIES COMMENTARY,
WHICH DEMONSTRATES
NOT ONLY THE DEPTH OF
HIS RESEARCH PRIOR TO
THIS TRIP, BUT ALSO HIS
CAPACITY FOR TAKING IN
HIS SURROUNDINGS.
that became all the rage. Queen Victoria
was one of his biggest fans.
Nearly two centuries later, Shinde
retraces Roberts’ steps and captures the
scenes in his own sketchbook. Some of
what he sees along the way is astonishingly
unchanged. From a historic bazaar in Cairo
to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem, where a ladder still leans against
a second fl oor window of the c hurch, pre-
cisely as it did in Roberts’ time.
Other spots show more evidence of
time’s passage. Camels have been replaced
by cars, historic buildings scarred with bul-
let holes from confl icts over the years, and
some antiquities have been plundered or
demolished by war.
Shinde’s book also supplies commen-
tary, which demonstrates not only the depth
of his research prior to this trip, but also his
capacity for taking in his surroundings. The
‘From Cairo to Beirut: In the Footsteps of an 1839 Expedition to the Holy Land’ is by Sunil Shinde.
sights, of course, but also the smells, tastes
and sounds, from Ed Sheeran’s voice croon-
ing over the loudspeakers in a Beirut mall
to the crack of a fi ghter jet cutting across
the sky.
Accompanied by guides who help with
interpretation and access, Shinde hopes to
learn what people are thinking, how they
are feeling. More than once, for example,
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he hears people in the Arab world refer to
Israel namelessly, as “another place” or
“another country.”
This book includes 250 sketches by
Shinde. The inclusion of another 25 litho-
graphs by Roberts was a gutsy decision on
the part of the author, for Roberts’ work
exhibits fi ne art fi nesse while Shinde’s work
is clearly more impromptu.
His human fi gures are particularly car-
toon like. “I am not good at drawing peo-
ple,” he confesses to one man who poses
for him in Petra, Jordan. His subject,
reviewing the results, agrees. And yet, Shin-
de’s work eff ectively captures the verve of
contemporary life, and with bird’s eye view
maps, phenomenal perspectives of Petra
and Tyre, the work engages the imagina-
tion. “From Cairo to Beirut” is an excel-
lent, mind-expanding read. I highly recom-
mend it.
The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd
McMichael, who writes this weekly column
focusing on books, authors and publish-
ers of the Pacifi c Northwest. Contact her at
barbaralmcm@gmail.com.