In Xanadu

by William Dalrymple

Book Overview

While waiting for the results of his college exams, William Dalrymple decides to fill in his summer break with a trip. But the vacation he plans is no light-hearted student jaunt - he decides to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679728538
• ISBN13: 9780679728535
• Release Date: July 1990
• Publisher: Vintage Books USA
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful ...

A very impressive travel book that mixes humor, history and travel anecdotes into a delectable concoction that'll hold you in rapt attention and inspire you to plan something similar on your own. A history undergraduate from Cambridge University, William Dalrymple embarks on a 12000 mile long journey that retraces Marco Polo's epic 13th century journey along the Silk Route (from Jerusalem to Xanadu). His journey takes him through the glorious Mongol empire (founded by the very enigmatic Genghis Khan). However, now the Silk Route passes through Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and China. An overland passage through these closed countries is an incredible travel feat. William writes very witty humor and there were many occasions when I was almost rolling on the floor clenching my stomach. I am impressed by William's rich & deep insight into the history of the region; the book can very well double up as a history textbook. The writing gets progressively better as William treads into deeper territory. I have done a fair bit of traveling in the last few years. There is something intoxicating about traveling on a whim, taking unplanned detours, confronting tough immigration and above all doing it all on a shoestring budget.

Jerusalem to Xanadu on $1100

William Dalrymple travelled 12,000 miles overland from Jerusalem to Xanadu in order to retrace the journey of Marco Polo, and I think the Venetian probably had the easier trip--- in 1271 Marco Polo didn't have to smuggle himself along the Silk Route by burrowing into the back of a coal truck. The author calls his journey a `quest' rather than a `vacation,' since it involved not only a goal, but also a great deal of hardship and suffering. However "In Xanadu" is an excellent book to take on vacation. It is a lucid and sometimes hilarious account of a very low-budget journey through Asia ($1100 financed the entire trip through Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, and the breadth of China.) And best of all, no matter how badly your own vacation turns out, you can always pick this book up and find Dalrymple in a more miserable spot than you are. There is also beauty and moments of scholarly excitement when the author identifies some feature of the landscape with a passage from Marco Polo's journal. I particularly liked his description of a nocturnal train trip through Turkey. He sees dry flatlands transformed into lush pasturage and wonders at the source of water. Then the train comes upon a river, and Dalrymple unfolds his map: "Its Turkish name, the Firat Nehri, meant nothing to me. Only when I followed the thin blue line down through Syria and out towards Baghdad, did I see the river's more familiar name --- the Euphrates....Is there another river which carries with it so many associations?...The river which ran through the Garden of Eden, one of the five rivers of the Apocalypse! Following its course on the map, its banks are littered with the names of the ancient cities it once gave life to: Mari, Nippur, Uruk, Larsa, Erdu, Kish." The above paragraph is a rare flight of fancy for Dalrymple. His normal style is less flamboyant, laced with dry British humor where he tends to be the butt of his own jokes. Sometimes the reader is left to discover the humor of the situation through one of his dialogues. Here Dalrymple is in Kashgar, a Chinese city populated by the Muslim Uigurs. He is trying to explain through an interpreter, the lifestyle of the British `Chairman' Elizabeth II to an old mullah: "Salindi [the interpreter] frowned. `He wants to know how many sheep, donkeys and camels your chairman owns.' "'Tell him she owns no camels, but has very many horses and a great number of corgi dogs.' "The information was passed on. The old man nodded his head as he listened. "'Sir, this man is now asking about the dog which is called `khor-qi. He asks whether these `khor-qi' are good to eat.' "'Tell the old man that they are delicious.'" "In Xanadu" is travel writing in the grandly eccentric British tradition: a horrid climate and high adventure, laced throughout with dry wit. Be sure to get a copy for your next vacation. I'm going to loan mine to a friend who thinks she wants to visit Iran and Afghanistan (last year

A modern-day epic journey

This is an excellent first book by someone who's made quite a name for himself in travel writing - William Dalrymple. "In Xanadu" relates his journey following in the footsteps of Marco Polo to Xanadu, the old capital of the Mongolian empire. This was accomplished while he was a student at Cambridge and he got the idea because this was the first time most of the Karakorum highway was open to travellers, enabling him to follow about 80% of Polo's route for the first time in centuries.The author (with two friends, one for wach half of the journey) went from Jerusalem through Cyprus, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and China. Throughout his journey he researched the traces of Marco Polo and the other aspects of history. As such, he inserts lengthy historical digressions into the book. It's recommended that you persevere with them as they make the reading so much richer.He writes with an energetic and lively humour. The journey was one to have made it impossible not to produce outrageous situations. They encounter every trouble imaginable from Red Guards to sickness and go through seemingly every mode of transport.A great way to see 12000km and over five countries through the eyes of an eccentric and erudite your Scottish historian. A fabulous read that will leave you hungry for more Dalrymple.

A Wonderful Journey

Praise has been heaped upon this book, and deservedly so. As a first book by a young author it is an astounding achievement. It is captivating, well-informed, witty and warm. He moves skillfully from historical accounts to present-day portrayals of people and places, from anecdotes to lessons in art history. Almost anyone can travel, even to remote and dangerous places, and many can write about it, but few can match William Dalrymple in giving an evocative and intelligent account and in taking the reader on a wonderful journey.

Excellent writing

Like all of Dalrymple's books to date, this early one is rich in scholarship, which is spoon fed to the reader in the author's inimitable style. Buy it!