Customer Reviews
A book like a dream! - By: , 23 Sep 2002 
What a gift! Touching, enchanting, creating poetical, partly mystical imagesin the reader's heart & mind that are lasting - maybe a lifetime. A book with the power to change vibrations & cause a feeling of spiritual satisfaction that all too often seems to be lostin our materialistic day-to-day life. Everyone who longs for a book which leaves unforgettable impressions, which opens gates to new, fascinating worlds, will be grateful for having found "The Saddlebag"!
A finely spun web of a story -but not for the faint-hearted - By: , 07 Nov 2000 
Accounts of eventsin history, can never depict absolute truth - any event can be viewed, interpreted & understoodin a multitude of ways from every possible perspective, even by those who witnessed it first hand. This novel takes as its starting point the theft of a saddlebag from a merchant on the Mecca-Medina pilgrimage route. The contents of the saddlebag - rolls of parchment conveying holy texts - then begin to weave a spell on a caravan of characters who come into contact with it. This is a Canterbury Talesin middle-eastern guise. All on the route - they are not named but archetypically carry their occupation as their identity - are journeying towards knowledge, self-realisation. All will find the saddlebag's secret uprooting & transforming of their perceptions of what is the truth. Reading this book is like looking through a multi-faceted prism at a central event which is reenacted again & again - the raid on the caravan by bandits & the role the saddlebag has on its protagonists lives. Through the personal stories of each of the characters whom the event touches, one sees the truth unfoldingin various ways, each story gives a different angle on the event, each character interprets the events from his or her own viewpoint of experience, belief or peculiar fatalism. The language of the book is as rich & interwoven as an intricately-patterned Persian carpet (reading it aloud & letting the place names roll around the tongue is recommended). The characters so well drawn thatin some cases their various odours leap out of the page to perfume or revolt the readers nostrils. Some of the scenes are not for the faint of heart, but then death & destiny are not always sanitary experiences. This is a finely spun spider's web of a novel, courageousin conception, captivatingin its story telling, filled with a dark & at times, disturbing wit, highly recommended.
A multi-faceted gem - but not for the faint-hearted! - By: , 11 Feb 2000 Accounts of eventsin history, can never depict absolute truth - any event can be viewed, interpreted & understoodin a multitude of ways from every possible perspective, even by those who witnessed it first hand. This novel takes as its starting point the theft of a saddlebag from a merchant on the Mecca-Medina pilgrimage route. The contents of the saddlebag - rolls of parchment conveying holy texts - then begin to weave a spell on a caravan of characters who come into contact with it. This is a Canterbury Talesin middle-eastern guise. All on the route - they are not named but archetypically carry their occupation as their identity - are journeying towards knowledge, self-realisation. All will find the saddlebag's secret uprooting & transforming of their perceptions of what is the truth. Reading this book is like looking through a multi-faceted prism at a central event which is reenacted again & again - the raid on the caravan by bandits & the role the saddlebag has on its protagonists lives. Through the personal stories of each of the characters whom the event touches, one sees the truth unfoldingin various ways, each story gives a different angle on the event, each character interprets the events from his or her own viewpoint of experience, belief or peculiar fatalism. The language of the book is as rich & interwoven as an intricately-patterned Persian carpet (reading it aloud & letting the place names roll around the tongue is recommended). The characters so well drawn thatin some cases their various odours leap out of the page to perfume or revolt the readers nostrils. Some of the scenes are not for the faint of heart, but then death & destiny are not always sanitary experiences. This is a finely spun spider's web of a novel, courageousin conception, captivatingin its story telling, filled with a dark & at times, disturbing wit, highly recommended.
A brilliant and enigmatic web of stories - By: , 07 Feb 2000 What is written on the mysterious papers that fill the saddlebag? What is its attraction for the members of a pilgrimage partyin the middle eastern desert? If these questions do not interest you now they will occupy the whole of your mind while you read this book. Each of the characters involvedin the story finds some kind of answer to the paradoxes of their livesin the saddlebag, & as the book progresses we learn more & more about them so that ultimately we know them like old friends - or enemies. The writing is superb & delicate, the plot ingenious & satisfying, & the characters unforgettably human. A genuine masterpiece.
Excellent and definetly worth reading - By: , 01 Feb 2000 I think this book is one of the best books I have ever read, & ever will read. The author is a wonderful & exciting person to be with. I can see where her ideas for teh book came from. :)
