Lawrence of Arabia -- the book

[doc47]

My all-time favorite film is David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia”. I’ve got lots of others, but I’ve probably watched that one more times than any other, so I guess it is de facto my best-loved. I’m finally reading a book about the man, Hero by Michael Korda. I’ve rarely encountered a more readable biography and it is fascinating, from the detail in the book, to discover that the film is highly fictionalized. The film is based on Lawrence’s exploits but rides its camel romantically un-shod over actual history. The film is David Lean’s musing on the man’s character rendered visually and, with Maurice Jarre’s wonderful score, musically. It is more a filmic opera than a biography. The “reality” – if that’s what it can be termed – is far more complex and even more interesting. This doesn’t detract from the film. Book and film are two separate entities. Both are art in their own way.

 

In one way the film and the book have a similar characteristic: their length. When the film was released it was one of the longest ever done. It was, if you recall, in two parts with an intermission. The book, as well, is lengthy. The paperback edition, with notes, indices, etc., runs 762 pages, but neither the film nor the book ever bog down. That’s a remarkable feat, more so for a book, though.

 

And the book reveals that Lawrence’s character is even more complex and interesting than the film even hinted at. The historical record, too, is far more complex. Korda shows that Lawrence well knew about Anglo-French machinations in the Middle East and was tortured by the knowledge that he was betraying the Arab cause even as he was furthering it. The film chooses to emphasize, instead, the contradiction between Lawrence’s “passion for mercy” and blood-lust.

 

For those of you who have loved the film, take the time to read Korda’s book. I don’t think you will regret it.

[Pat Buzzard]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Selden]

The last time we went to see a special screening of a restored copy of Lawrence of Arabia, my first reaction was, "they don't make films like this any more." Imagine -- scenes that last more than 10 seconds without a cut. It really is Lean's masterpiece, and the desert is as much a star as any of the 2 or 4 legged actors.

 

One of T.E. Lawrence's most highly regrded works, The Mint is available online, full text, and this chapter, "The Road" is one of the most expressive essays ever on riding.

 

The Middle East, and the entire world, is still working through the mess that the Brits and the French created during and after the first world war.

[RockBottom]

Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" is a classic, must-read in my profession.

[Bob Palin]

The Middle East, and the entire world, is still working through the mess that the Brits and the French created during and after the first world war.

Nonsense old chap, we are working through the mess that was created by the British leaving. (See also: Africa)

 

LoA has been very influential in my life, probably a good part of the reason I live in the desert along with my uncle's stories from his WW2 time in north Africa. My father was a huge Orrance fan too, he used to take us to see the places where Lawrence lived and wrote about in England.

[DiggerJim]

Nonsense old chap, we are working through the mess that was created by the British leaving. (See also: Africa)

Truer than many might want to believe. One just has to look at India where the British left in the 50s and the Philippines where we stayed into the 80s. One has a dichotomy of infrastructure and lifestyles that are just mind-boggling (I've been in buildings in Mumbai where they have a world class data center and on the other side of the glass walls are microwave ovens sitting on plastic chairs and bathroom facilities that could get you a health code violation here); where people are by day working in some of the most technologically advanced areas but by night live in a lean-to up against the wall surrounding the office complex cooking dinner on a fire in what would be the sidewalk...the other looks like San Diego except cleaner (Manila is one of the most cosmopolitan and sophisticated cities in the 3rd world) and even though it too has significant poverty, it's not at a level that brings to mind the leper colonies of the 18th century.

 

[doc47]

Nonsense old chap, we are working through the mess that was created by the British leaving. (See also: Africa)

 

Never figured you for a pukka sahib, Killer....