William Golding has had a passion for ancient Egypt since his schooldays, and he has written two memorable essays about it, as well as a novella, The Scorpion God. Ten years ago visited Egypt for the first time, and experienced all the exasperations and difficulties of modern travel to add to his intimate knowledge of the ancient world. Recently he accepted his publisher’s invitation to return there, on the understanding that this time he would live on the Nile, and sail through Egypt in a style that freed him to observe and explore the country from an unusual point of view. As a wartime naval officer and a lifelong sailor he believed that this would be an ideal means to write freshly about the landscape, the magnificent monuments and the people.
The reality of Mr and Mrs Golding’s journey in a motor cruiser last year, shortly after the excitements of winning the Nobel Prize, provides the material for this extremely entertaining and often very amusing travel Journal. Nothing went quite as planned, but Mr Golding’s vivid and honest account of what happened, and of what he saw en felt about the Egypt of the past and the living present - especially the actions of his Egyptian crew and the daily life of the ‘soupy grey-green river’ - will delight his innumerable admirers, and everyone who has travelled in Egypt or plans some day to go there.
The reality of Mr and Mrs Golding’s journey in a motor cruiser last year, shortly after the excitements of winning the Nobel Prize, provides the material for this extremely entertaining and often very amusing travel Journal. Nothing went quite as planned, but Mr Golding’s vivid and honest account of what happened, and of what he saw en felt about the Egypt of the past and the living present - especially the actions of his Egyptian crew and the daily life of the ‘soupy grey-green river’ - will delight his innumerable admirers, and everyone who has travelled in Egypt or plans some day to go there.
