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Loading... Shadow of the Silk Road (2006)by Colin Thubron
This wasn't quite what I was expecting. I have a strong interest in textiles and thought that silk would be the focus of the book. Not so. The author has apparently covered this territory before and this book is the narrative of a second journey along this route. There is some interesting comparison with is past experience and a lot of introspection as he makes his way across this inhospibable route. The quality of his writing is meditative at many points and includes reflections on ancient history of the cultures and religions through the region. (  ) tangledthread | Apr 26, 2013 |  This is a definite. AlCracka | Apr 2, 2013 | I really like this book. I should have reviewed it as soon as I read it, but better late than never. I have recently started reading travel books, as I want to get into the travel writing habit, I need to update my blog now! However, what I like about Colin Thubron's writing, is that he gets into the essence, the spirit, of a place that he visits. You get a sense of the history, albeit short, and it keeps you going right through the book. While it is about himself, he rarely gets sucked into the habit of putting himself first in every aspect of the writing. Definitely worth reading (  ) RajivC | Dec 29, 2011 | Very interesting - Thubron is clearly a very hardy and monastic soul seemingly perfectly suited to this lonely trip. He treats all the people he meets with genuine interest and gentle humour and copes with rugged conditions without over romanticising them, taking pain and privation without seeming to notice. Its a melancholy book; the former glories of the region are recalled and placed in stark contrast to the realities of today - or rather to 5 or 6 years ago. One suspects that some of the route might be more depressing today. And yet although Thubron is occasionally surprised by changes to places he's visited before (particularly in China) he is never sniffy about modernisation (as for example, Paul Theroux often is) and seems to be comfortable with change. I hadn't read any of Mr Thubron's travel writing in book form before (i have read short pieces in Granta) but I have a couple of his novels. But so enjoyable is his company that I will be buying more at the earliest opportunity ( )1  Opinionated | Dec 18, 2011 | Very well written and excellent character study. Extremely difficult content at times, given the holocaust as subject matter. Disturbing, compelling, unlovely. ( )1 bigjamie | May 24, 2011 |
Yet in “Shadow of the Silk Road” Thubron departs from his countrymen in important respects. This is not his first trip across these deserts and mountains, and he saw many of these places before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Because he travels without a camera, Thubron never compares snapshots, only memories. In this, he is more poetic than his predecessors; the passage of time is his book’s most interesting feature.
References to this work on external resources.
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