In Xanadu: A QuestWilliam Dalrymple (1989) |
|
  image links to Amazon
|
THE A5 BOOK REVIEWIn Xanadu is a highly acclaimed and very enjoyable travelogue about a summer trip taken by William Dalrymple, a 22 year old Cambridge University student and now famous travel writer, on a quest to trace the path of Marco Polo. The book chronicles 12,000 miles of travels, starting from the steps of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem across Asia to find Xanadu, an ancient capital of Inner Mongolia and Kublai Khan’s summer palace. The journey takes him through Israel, Iran, Pakistan and across the width of China, traveling first with Laura, a woman he met two weeks before in England, and then later with Louisa, his ex-girlfriend. It is a fiercely intelligent book, filled with hilarious, dead-panned stories about the travails of the trip interspersed with brilliant ties to the historical context of the route. The best parts revolve around interactions with the people he meets along the way. In Xanadu is known as one of the best modern examples of travel writing as a winner of multiple awards.
Click here for reviews and prices for this book on Amazon.
|
ABOUT WILLIAM DALRYMPLEWilliam Dalrymple is a very accomplished Scottish writer, famous first for his travel books on trips through Asia and the Middle East, and later for several notable books on history. He is a regular contributor to numerous magazines, a prominent broadcaster on TV and radio, and a co-founder of the Jaipur Literary Festival, We recommend several of his books, including The Age of Kali and City of Djinns.
|
|
|
GREAT QUOTES FROM IN XANADU“For two thousand years Jerusalem has brought out the least attractive qualities in every race that has lived there. The Holy City has had more atrocities committed in it, more consistently, than any other town in the world. Sacred to three religions, the city has witnessed the worst intolerance and self-righteousness of all...”
"On another wall two monumental pictures of the Ayatollah were capped with the inscriptions in both Persian and English: BEING HYGIENIC IS DIRECTLY RELATED ON THE MAN'S PERSONALITY and ALLAH COMMANDS THE RE-USE OF RENEWABLE RESOURCES. We had expected anything of the Ayatollah. But hardly that he would turn out to be an enthusiastic ecologist." - William Dalrymple, In Xanadu, on signs on the wall on an Iranian bus station INTERESTING LINKS:
|
|
