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[dearmrlawrence]

"If I fear him, who loves him, how must he fear himself, who hates himself?"

[dearmrlawrence]

I’ve been reading this book recently and I’d recommend anyone who’s interested in the Middle Eastern theatre of WWI (so essentially any TEL fan) to read it as well when you have a chance. It is the English translation of the selected chapters of five Ottoman memoirs that were not previously available in English, written by five eyewitnesses to those defining events that TEL fans should be familiar with during that period. My favorite is absolutely the selected chapters of Mount of Olives (also known as Zeytindagi in Turkish), written so beautifully by Falih Rıfkı (Atay), who served as Djemal Pasha’s personal secretary in Greater Syria and later became one of the most influential journalists and writers in the Turkish Republic. To me, this book provides such an important account of events from the Ottoman perspective that was arguably lacking in my previous study of the period (you don’t have to agree with all the sentiments expressed in these memoirs), and I found Falih Rıfkı’s Mount of Olives to be an amazing comparative narrative after reading Seven Pillars of Wisdom. All in all, highly recommend.

[dearmrlawrence]

Also had dinner at this lovely spot…Where TE used to hang out for coffee when he was at Bovington…

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This is the most beautiful effigy I have ever seen and it’s not just because it’s TEL.

[dearmrlawrence]

So this happened recently…​​🛐ου φροντις🛐

[dearmrlawrence]

A 'shopping list' by T.E. Lawrence after the capture of Aqaba, written in pencil on the back of an army messages and signal pad in July 1917. Apart from staggering 16 000 pounds in gold, it mentions rice, flour and sugar for 2000 men, 150 boxes of dynamite, 2000 rifles, 6000 cigarettes but also 2 thermos flasks and 2 pairs of socks!

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"The uncrowned King of Arabia"

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Sorry… I watched a yaoi with a sad ending…

[dearmrlawrence]

I am recently going through some of the old findings I discovered throughout the last few years that I may not have posted on this account, so here’s a short letter written by Faisal in December 1932 in response to a letter written by Lawrence in November 1932. It’s very unfortunate that Lawrence’s letters to Faisal after the war were supposedly never discovered, but based on this letter it’s quite obvious that despite the seeming indifference to Arab affairs after the war, Lawrence remained keenly interested and kept in contact with the Hashemites, especially Faisal, on a constant basis. The meeting between Faisal and Lawrence in 1933 during Faisal’s official visit was also the last time they saw each other before Faisal unexpectedly passed away in September 1933.

[dearmrlawrence]

A little over six years ago this film and the last scene forever changed my life.

Well, sir. Going home. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)

[dearmrlawrence]

Brief Encounter (1945) - The Passionate Friends (1949) - Summertime (1955) - The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) - Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - Doctor Zhivago (1965) - Ryan's Daughter (1970) - A Passage To India (1984)

[dearmrlawrence]

Faisal’s joke about Lawrence being the little “donkey” leading the camels during the Arab Revolt (which was brilliantly acted by Ralph Fiennes and Alexander Siddig in Lawrence After Arabia, although there were no records of how Lawrence actually reacted to the joke). And the author’s description of their relationship and dynamic.

At the Paris Peace Conference, by James T. Shotwell

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Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif on the set of Lawrence of Arabia

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) directed by David Lean

Peter O'Toole as T. E. Lawrence

Omar Sharif as Sherif Ali

[dearmrlawrence]

— Faisal I of Iraq, Ali A. Allawi

[dearmrlawrence]

clean-ness + death

[dearmrlawrence]

I remember back in the day reading some analyses explaining how explicitly homoerotic these LoA movie scenes are: Peter O’Toole touching a phallic object, Omar Sharif towering over him, Peter O’Toole looking at his face from below, the his gaze moving towards the gun and (from the audience’s perspective) his crotch…What a mood. Love this art to capture the unspoken nuances in this moment.

[dearmrlawrence]

actually it's criminal that 1962 Lawrence of Arabia made up Ali's character and decided to transform Faisal into his father. Sharif Ali is the Emir Faisal in real life — dignified, corageous and impetuous, leading the rebellion on the ground, about 33 years old though looking older, and the one to actually gift the wedding robes to Lawrence. the character of Ali is the real life person of Faisal, and the movie character of Faisal (older, directing things from afar, dealing with the English through letters and at-a-distance diplomacy) is the real life person of Faisal's father, Hussein the Sharif of Mecca and King of the Hejaz. we could have had it all tbh