The Street Philosopher and the Holy Fool

“The Street Philosopher and the Holy Fool” presents the reader with a completely fresh and unexpected face of Syria. This ancient land is only slowly opening up to foreign travellers and remains for many a sinister and forbidding destination. Based on five journeys to Syria, the genius of Marius Kociejowski’s book lies not in offering a straightforward guide to the country and its history and sights, but in describing an inner journey which brings him into contact with unusual characters, each of whom is an outsider of sorts. In the company of Christian stigmatic, Myrna; Yasser, an embittered Palestinian exile and a member of al-Fatah; a ‘desert father’, Paolo Dall’Oglio; ‘the prince of fools’ Abu al-Tahib, who speaks in parables and others, Marius Kociejowski walks the narrow line between reason and folly and finds out what it means to be a human in touch with other humans.