The Fearful Void
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'It was because I was afraid that I had decided to attempt a crossing of the great Sahara desert, from west to east, by myself and by camel. No one had ever made such a journey before . . .'
In October 1972 Geoffrey Moorhouse began his odyssey across the Sahara from the Atlantic to the Nile, a distance of 3,600 miles. His reason for undertaking such an immense feat was to examine the roots of his fear, to explore an extremity of human experience.
From the outset misfortune was never far away; and as he moved further into that 'awful emptiness' the physical and mental deprivation grew more intense. In March 1973, having walked the last 300 miles, Moorhouse, ill and exhausted, reached Tamanrasset, where he decided to end his journey. The Fearful Void" "is the moving record of his struggle with fear and loneliness and, ultimately, his coming to terms with the spiritual as well as the physical dangers of the desert.
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As one of the first Europeans to attempt the crossing of Northern Africa West to East, this book is perhaps better read before other, later books where other, similar journeys are undertaken.This was 1972, and the purpose of the authors journey was fear - fear of undertaking this journey! Moorhouse doesn't portray himself as heroic, as brave or as fearless. He contemplates failure quite openly for the second half of the book, and the journey ends a little less than half way to his original goal. But it really is a journey fraught with danger, and the honesty with which the story is told makes it a gripping read, and well worth seeking out.Really it makes the subsequent journey of Michael Asher ([b:Two Against the Sahara: On Camelback from Nouakchott to the Nile 116729 Two Against the Sahara On Camelback from Nouakchott to the Nile Michael Asher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406529056l/116729.SX50.jpg 1007369]) all the more remarkable.
