Excellent example of travel as ordeal. Vivid descriptions of harrowing experiences in an extreme environment. A delightful read. ( )

I've read a few of Moorhouse's travel fiction books now, and each one is a sublime exploration of a land I have never seen but desperately want now to explore. In 'The Fearful Void' Moorhouse travels by camel through the Sahara of Mauritania, Mali, and Southern Algeria, all in an attempt to rid himself of the fear that he feels is welling up inside. His ultimate goal is the Nile, though soon he learns that he has zero chance of attaining the river. However, it does not matter - in terms of the literary output - that he cannot reach his target; the book that results from his (mis)adventures should rightly be considered one of the treasures of literature, and it is only a shame and a pity that his work is now known more to the minority than the masses. ( )

If you've never read about a desert camel expedition, this is a fine book and somewhat innovative for its time, though maybe not for everyone. Paul Theroux (The Great Railway Bazaar) recommended it, and the first two-thirds remind me of Theroux's style with a curmudgeon narrator complaining about the missing comforts of home. Moorhouse later said he intentionally did this in response to older travel books where authors such as Wilfred Thesiger (Arabain Sands) come across as supermen not revealing how they felt physically and mentally under hardship. I think Moorhouse (and Theroux) took it too far though, appearing spoiled and self-centered.

Moorhouse intended to cross the Sahara desert from the Atlantic to Egypt. He wanted to do it alone, to face the "fearful void" metaphorically and find himself, but the reality was this was impossible and he grudgingly accepted aid from nomad guides, going through about 6 of them along the way. Most of the book is focused not on the desert, or Moorhouse's internal voyage of discovery, but the constant bickering between him and his guides! It's as if he went into the desert to get away from people and was surrounded by some of the most grubbing people of his life, a version of hell. So while the expedition was a failure (he didn't make it all the way), the central idea of the book appears to be a failure as well. The appeal of this book then is 'failure', an anti-explorer narrative in contrast to the 19th century form in which the plucky explorer sets out and achieves his goal against all odds. This was a necessary break with the past, and in the 1970's Moorhouse and Theroux were innovators, but compared to modern travel books it's a little awkward. Still, it's a neat account of traveling through the Sahara, he went over 2000 miles which is remarkable.

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2011 cc-by-nd ( )

I loved this memoir of a man's trek through the Sahara. It was the beginning of my love for reading and memoirs in particular, well written and memorable. ( )

Geoffrey Moorhouse: The Fearful Void: 1986: eerste druk 1974: 286 blz: Penguin

In oktober 1972 begint Moorhouse aan een tocht in de lengte door de Sahara, van Mauretanië tot aan de Nijl bij Luxor in Egypte. Deze tocht is nog door niemand voor hem gemaakt. Als voorbereiding op zijn monstertocht spreekt hij met enkele vermaarde woestijnreizigers zoals de Fransman Monod en Wilfred Thesiger. Beiden raden hem af om het in zijn eentje te proberen wat hij eerst van plan was. Verder leert hij Arabisch spreken en went hij zich in de Londonse Zoo aan de omgang met kamelen. Eenmaal onderweg blijkt hij nogal afhankelijk van zijn gidsen voor het omgaan met de kamelen en het vinden van de juiste route.
Het boek beschrijft prachtig wat er allemaal komt kijken bij een kamelentocht door de woestijn en ook hoe de omgang tussen Moorhouse en zijn gidsen verliep. Uiteindelijk haalde Moorhouse Tamanrasset in Algerije waar hij van de rest van zijn tocht afzag.
Uitgelezen woensdag 7 augustus 2002, waardering ***½ ( )