The Land Beyond

A Thousand Miles on Foot through the Heart of the Middle East

By: Leon McCarron

Narrated by: Leon McCarron

Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

There are many reasons why it might seem unwise to walk, mostly alone, through the Middle East. That, in part, is exactly why Leon McCarron did it.

From Jerusalem, McCarron followed a series of wild hiking trails that trace ancient trading and pilgrimage routes and traverse some of the most contested landscapes in the world. In the West Bank, he met families struggling to lead normal lives amidst political turmoil and had a surreal encounter with the world's oldest and smallest religious sect. In Jordan, he visited the ruins of Hellenic citadels and trekked through the legendary Wadi Rum. His journey culminated in the vast deserts of the Sinai, home to Bedouin tribes and haunted by the ghosts of Biblical history.

The Land Beyond is a journey through time, from the quagmire of current geopolitics to the original ideals of the faithful, through the layers of history, culture and religion that have shaped the Holy Land. But at its heart, it is the story of people, not politics and of the connections that can bridge seemingly insurmountable barriers.

©2020 Leon McCarron (P)2020 Leon McCarron

Well done

I loved the perspective, I felt like it was unbiased and that the author was truly trying to understand the people around his walk. I also love it when the author narrates a book. Well done Leon!

Enjoyable tour through the West Bank and Jordan

I always prefer books narrated by the author, especially when the book is a first-person account like this one. Leon McCarron does a good job with his performance - his Irish accent is light and understandable, his voice is melodic rather than monotone and his vocal inflections and emphasis add to, rather than distract from the narrative. It probably won't put you to sleep if you're sitting up, but you could listen to this book and drift off to sleep if you wanted to. I generally don't care about prononciations of words, but if that sort of thing bothers you, there were a few foreign words whose prononciations were decidedly anglicized.

He doesn't take himself too seriously, and it's a pretty lighthearted listen even though there are some heavy topics discussed.

I was a bit disappointed upon finishing the audiobook to learn that this audiobook was abridged - If I had known that then I may have just bought the print copy instead.

McCarron in some places gives good historical background on the places he visits, other times I felt I wanted more context than was provided.

The biggest flaw with this book the author himself notes twice and makes a half-hearted attempt to rectify at the end: the book is subtitled 'A Journey to the Heart of the Middle East' and the author uses the term 'Holy Land' a number of times in the book, yet he hardly spends any time at all in Israel or talking to Israelis - but spends the majority of time with Bedouin and Palestinian Arabs, and in the West Bank, Jordan (and a short stop in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt).
The last 45 minutes (the Epilogue basically) he spends some time in Israel and talks to some Israelis, but the final interview felt like it was cut off rather abruptly, and felt rather forced - like the author didn't really want to be there and was just trying to appear to be doing his due diligence.
Overall, the author does provide a *somewhat* balanced view of the Israel-Palestinian conflict - while it isn't outright anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian propaganda, the author's pro-Palestinian biases are made pretty clear.

(Full disclosure: I'm Jewish and recently moved to Israel).

All that being said, the point of the book was not supposed to be about politics, but about travel and walking, which I understand and taken in that way it was a good book.