Comments on: The Damascus tourist takeover – part 2

By: Jillian C. York

Jillian C. York — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:27:38 +0000

I’m not sure if I should…let’s wait for the person to announce it him/herself.

By: cheb

cheb — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:26:29 +0000

jillian – there is? please share….

By: Jillian C. York

Jillian C. York — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:24:35 +0000

Well, I hear there’s a new, excellent book coming out by one of Syria’s own bloggers…

By: Sasa

Sasa — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:40:19 +0000

“I will write a shitty book” – hahahahahahahaha.

Ok, just dug out my copy of Bradt:
“There are also many interesting features of the language which hint at the nature and attitudes of the Arab mind, notably the existence of only two tenses, perfect and imperfect. There is no future tense. In the Arabic concept of time there is only one distinction that matters: has it finished or is it still going on?”.

Diana Darke was the “first British person to buy a property in Syria”. Although a friend of mine – also a Brit – questions that statement.

Apparently, she still lives in Syria, and for that reason her book has a lot more credibility in my mind, than Lonely Planet, Rough Guide or Footprint. I learned a lot from her book – although that grammar clanger is awful. A few reviewers have also pulled apart other sections of the book, like her definition of meaning of the word Mesopotamia. You’ve got to look at this!…it’s the sixth review down from the top (by IP Lund).
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/1841621625/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_summary?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

By: Orientalista

Orientalista — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:25:59 +0000

To me the most worst travel book mistake is in Bradt’s “Syria” book. I don’t have it with me right now so I can’t give the actual quote, but it says that Arabic has no future tense, just whether actions are still happening or have ceased, which is some sort of insight into the “Arab mind”. What? And the writer supposedly speaks Arabic or has lived extensively in Lebanon and Syria – yet has never heard or said “I will go there tomorrow” “I will talk to you later” or “I will write a shitty book”. Seriously it’s near the back of the book.