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The Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo
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The Travels of Marco Polo

by Marco Polo

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,269222,558 (3.51)49
  1. 30
    The Travels of Ibn Battutah by Ibn Battutah (bookwoman247)
    bookwoman247: Both men traveled extensively in Medeival times. It's interesting to compare the two; one from a Western perspective, and one from a Middle Eastern /North African perspective.
  2. 00
    El libro de Marco Polo anotado por Cristóbal Colón. El libro de Marco Polo versión de Rodrigo de Santaella by Marco Polo (caflores)
  3. 00
    Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu by Laurence Bergreen (JGolomb)
  4. 00
    Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (Torikton)
  5. 01
    The Journeyer by Gary Jennings (Cecrow)
    Cecrow: Jennings tells 'the rest of the story' in this fictional work.
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English (17)  Dutch (2)  Spanish (1)  Hungarian (1)  Italian (1)  All languages (22)
Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)
This version is the Wordsworth Classics edition - so it is the William Marsden translation, from 1818 minus the footnotes, which was based on the 1553 Giambattsia Ramusio edition. There are more modern translations but this was readable enough though a bit repetitive and best read in small doses.

Mostly it seems to be descriptions of towns and places that Polo might have visited during his years in China and the route taken to get there. There are some more interesting sections about life in the Great Khan's court and some sections about Tartar life and the battles and rivalries between some of the main characters of the time.

I'm pleased to have read it but it is probably one I will not return to. ( )
  calm | Sep 11, 2011 |
"Travels of Marco Polo" -- a ghostwritten account of Polo's travels around Asia-- was a really difficult book to get into. Many of the descriptions become tedious (countless people are described merely as idolators who eat flesh and drink milk...) The most interesting bits, which are sprinkled throughout the book, focus on Tartar military history -- the conquests of Kublai Khan and his relatives. I also really enjoyed Polo's retelling of various legends (such as the diamond encrusted fish...) Overall, it was worth wading through the long descriptions to get to the good stuff, but it isn't a book I'd ever pick up for a second reading. ( )
  amerynth | Aug 15, 2011 |
Have attempted to listen to this audio (downloaded from audible.co.uk) several but so far have had difficulty getting very far into it.

The narrator is distant and badly recorded - it sounds like he's recorded it down a phone line. The most animation in his voice comes when he stumbles over words he seems not to know but should have practised before recording. Italian in particular seems to be his sticking point - definately an issue when recording a narration of an Italian travelling to the far east! Otherwise his voice is flat and uninteresting - there is narely a breath or change in tone when announcing the chapter changes that happen on a regular basis and that could, nay should, be pulling the listener back to the recording. Instead, it becomes a background noise that is easily tuned out, and therefore missing the possibly fantastical story
  nordie | Jul 20, 2011 |
In the country are many wild elephants and rhinoceroses, which are much inferior in size to the elephant, but their feet are similar. Their hide resembles that of the buffalo. In the middle of their forehead they have a single horn; but with this weapon they do not injure those whom they attack, employing only for this purpose their tongue, which is armed with long, sharp spines, and their knees or feet; their mode of assault being to trample upon the person, and then to lacerate him with the tongue. Their head is like that of the wild boar, and they carry it low towards the ground. They take delight in muddy pools and are filthy in their habits. They are not of that description of animals which suffer themselves to be taken by maidens, as our people suppose, but are quite of a contrary nature.

Marco Polo's tale of his many years of travels in the second half of the 13th century. Together with his father and uncle, Marco Polo travelled via Central Asia to far Cathay, where they spent many years at the court of the Tartar emperor Kublai-Khan, before eventually returning to Venice by sea, via Indonesia, India and Abyssinia.

Very interesting, although it tends to be a bit repetitive, with the descriptions of numerous towns and cities starting off with phrases along the lines of "The inhabitants are idolaters, subjects of the Great Khan and use his paper money". ( )
  isabelx | Apr 17, 2011 |
In some of the books I read this past year about European explorers discovering the world, etc., this work by Marco Polo was referenced as having been inspirational to many of them, such as Columbus and Vespucci. So, I wanted to experience it myself. However, the reading became too tedious and many times just plain unbelievable. I skimmed the latter half of the book and had to stop. I suppose if I had read this in, say, 1450, I may have been inspired, too. But, in 2010, it was just disappointing. ( )
  bigmoose | May 28, 2010 |
Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (240 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Marco Poloprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Øye, AgneteTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bringsværd, Tor ÅgePrefacesecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Latham, RonaldTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Masefield, JohnIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Book description
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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0140440577, Paperback)

Marco Polo was the most famous traveller of his time. His voyages began in 1271 with a visit to China, after which he served the Kubilai Khan on numerous diplomatic missions. On his return to the West, he was made a prisoner of war and met Rustichello of Pisa, with whom he collaborated on this book. The accounts of his travels provide a fascinating glimpse of the different societies he encountered: their religions, customs, ceremonies and way of life; on the spices and silks of the East; on precious gems, exotic vegetation and wild beasts. He tells the story of the holy shoemaker, the wicked caliph and the three kings, among a great many others, evoking a remote and long-vanished world with colour and immediacy.

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:40:15 -0500)

(see all 7 descriptions)

This extraordinary travelogue has enthralled readers for more than seven centuries. Marco Polo's vivid descriptions of the splendid cities and people he encountered on his journey along the Silk Road through the Middle East, South Asia, and China opened a window for his Western readers onto the fascinations of the East and continued to grow in popularity over the succeeding centuries. To a contemporary audience, his colorful stories--and above all, his breathtaking description of the court of the great Kublai Khan, Mongol emperor of China--offer dazzling portraits of worlds long gone.… (more)

» see all 2 descriptions

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