It’s not every day you come across a young and refined Saudi travel writer.
Abdullah Al-Jumah, a one-of-a-kind budding Saudi writer, legal adviser and postgraduate at Harvard, was inspired to write a chronicle on his travels across Europe at the beckoning of avid Twitter followers, who lived his journey with him online.
Madarek Publishing House published Al-Jumah’s Arabic account of his travels, entitled “Anecdotes from a Saudi journey across Europe” in Arabic in 2013, which quickly became a bestseller.
Unlike his two previous books, “Greats Without Schools,” another bestseller, and “Orphans Who Changed History,” the idea of writing his latest hit was inspired by the fact that his Tweets provided an interactive platform that was quickly gaining momentum.
“Through sharing my experiences with followers on Twitter, I felt I was traveling with several travelers and not all by myself,” he told French news channel France 24.
The book was a big hit at the Riyadh Book Fair, but the book-signing session by the author had been canceled twice thanks to an incredibly high turnout of fans, who caused bottlenecks at the fair.
Twenty-seven-year-old Al-Jumah is a lecturer at King Saud University, where he had completed his undergraduate degree.
The young writer had also studied at Bournemouth Business School in the United Kingdom before going on to pursue higher studies at the prestigious Harvard in the United States.
His book is a collection of 11 stories and anecdotes during the writer’s travels across nine different European countries.
Al-Jumah starts off his account with a surge of nostalgic emotions at his witnessing of Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, where his hero Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, was exiled.
The writer then moves onto New Forest, an area in southern England that includes one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pastureland and forest, for an adventure under the rain with his friends.
The author then takes readers into the narrow roads of Genoa in Italy. His tiredness subsides as he takes a closer look at the majestic dome of Florence’s famous cathedral and he almost misses his flight getting a load of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
He then experiences a Titanic-like journey across the Baltic Sea and lives the joys of aristocracy at the famous English Ascot Racecourse, in addition to many other gripping tales in different cities.
The book is juvenile-spirited and provides a glimpse into the author’s youthful and firsthand accounts from its cover to the inside text.
Al-Jumah shares historical information to juxtapose reflective insight.
Indeed, his tone shifts from sadness and fear to curiosity and joyfulness throughout his account.
His writing style is simple and clear, targeting youth who are not avid readers.
At one point in the book, his travel buddies were prompted to ask him why he refused to drink beer or frequent nightclubs, evoking a deeper current of debate and cultural elements for thought.
The author also talks about some of the stereotypes he encountered as a Saudi.
An Italian tourist he had come across, for instance, wonders why Al-Jumah wasn’t staying at a high-end hotel instead of a budget hostels.
In fact, most hostel receptionists told Al-Jumah that he was the very first Saudi they welcomed at their premises.
The writer also mentions certain Saudi phrases, reflecting his identity and helping readers identify with his journey.
His book, however, is not well edited, with numerous misspellings, grammar mistakes and the occasional overdose of detail.
The book lacks creativity when it comes to descriptions, many of which are repetitive, and the Saudi element of his title isn’t always reflected in his writing with the exception of the chapter entitled “The Reversed Flag.”
Nevertheless, most of his anecdotes managed to grip me throughout.
Indeed, this is a brave and novel attempt by a young Saudi who may just have introduced a new frontier in national literature.
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The interactive travelogue diaries of a Saudi across Europe
