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Loading... The Travels of Marco Polo (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature) (original 1928; edition 1997)by Marco Polo
Work InformationThe Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo (Author) (1928)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Have attempted to listen to this audio (downloaded from audible.co.uk) several but so far have had difficulty getting very far into it.[return][return]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 MARCO? ... ... ... POLO! If I never watched the Netflix show, I'd probably have little interest in this book. While this book is interesting, it's boring. With that said I found the background history more entertaining. I suggest you find a biography or a history book on this topic first. I made that mistake. Or read the introduction. It's important to know that while Marco Polo get's full credit for this, it's pretty obvious he didn't fully write this all. The best part of this and maybe the reason to read this book is when he starts talking about the Khans. It's interesting they didn't seem to mind Polo and Polo seemed to admire them and respect them. Unlike other explorers, all he was doing was observing and trading. He wasn't looking to convert, kill, or conquer people. However, I need to read more about Polo, because this is my impression after reading only this book. Basically, yes this is a classic and yes this inspired others, but in my option it's not worth reading unless you are interested. Now to find other books about Marco Polo and the Khans. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher SeriesCorticelli [Mursia] (6; 37; 147) — 16 more Everyman's Library (306) Limited Editions Club (S:5.08) Modern Library (196) Penguin Classics (L057) Penguin Clothbound Classics (2015) Tus Libros. Anaya (27) Világjárók (Klasszikus Útleírások - III.) ContainsIs retold inHas the adaptationIs abridged inInspiredNotable Lists
First published in 1931. None of the manuscripts which have come down to us represent the original form of Marco Polo's narrative, but it is clear that certain texts are closer to the lost original than others. Entrusted with the task of preparing a new Italian edition of Marco Polo, Benedetto discovered many unknown manuscripts. He carefully edited the most famous of the manuscripts (the Geographic text) and collated it with the other best known ones. · An invaluable index has been added to Aldo Ricci's of Benedetto's text, which includes all the identifications made in the Geographic tex No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)915.0420924History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography of and travel in Asia Special TopicsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. Penguin AustraliaAn edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia. W.W. NortonAn edition of this book was published by W.W. Norton. |
Marco rarely gets into his personal experiences. He doesn't talk about his feelings on seeing these fantastic places, or his difficulties, or even really of the people he meets. Sometimes he gets into some interesting cultural observations, mostly to do with marriage or sexual habits, but otherwise it's pretty dry.
Apparently he was charged with escorting a Mongol princess for part of his journey, and at one point he lost his fortune! At another he governed a town. But he mentions nothing of the first two points and only briefly references the third. I want to hear about the princess! Not 8 different cities, all populated by idolators who use paper money. Of course, if you were a medieval traveller, this information would be much more useful than any story about a princess, and I think therein lies the problem of this book for modern audiences. It's not written for us. It's not written for curiosity or entertainment or historic value, it's a description of the world as it was at the time, written for a medieval audience. ( )