Although the title “La Route de la Soie, d’Alexandre le Grand à Marco Polo” (ISBN 9782268064994) by Jacqueline Dauxois sounds very
promising, the book is simply disappointing.
I expected to walk in the steps of Alexander to the east, who for a greater
part follows what is later called the Silk
Road, to be taken over by Marco
Polo who extended his voyage further east to China
With all my respect for the author/teacher,
all I discover is a very sketchy history that starts with Alexander the Great and ends with the Polo family returning to Venice , Italy China , to Rome , to Constantinople, the Mongols, the
Vikings and the origins of Russia
Obviously, the part about Alexander interests me most but I am not rewarded. Jacqueline
Dauxois lets her imagination run freely, giving details meant only to spice up
the story and describing situations in a non-historic light.
The main subject, the Silk Road itself, is hardly mentioned, its route(s) is not mentioned
(not even on a simple map), its importance is not explained and its legacy
shrouded in mystery!
Maybe I should have considered this book more
as a novel, in which case liberties are allowed, but the references the author
gives with names and dates lead me to believe otherwise. Maybe this is typically
French with their tendency to embellish their story (avec mes sincères excuses envers mes amis français). It’s up to the reader to
decide.
I differ with these remarks. I found this book very well written. One has to consider that Marco Poloa (and family) opened the "Silk Road" for westerners on account that the Arabs had conquered what we called Turkey & Constantinople and blocked the exisitng route. a new route had to be found. The author described the various countries on the way to China and recalled Alexander the great's conquests. Silk as a special garment is mentioned often as a rare commodity desired by kings, nobles and emperors.She also write about Marco Polo's role during his 20 years spent at the court of Kublai Khan, Emperor of China and grand son of Genghis Khan.
ReplyDeleteYou are totally entitled to have a different view on the subject and I certainly appreciate your comment.
DeleteThe matter of the Silk Road is a very complex and complicated one since there are numerous Silk Roads that were created and abandoned according to the political and economic situations in the countries concerned. Yet it is not only about silk for many other commodities, including ideas and religion that travelled between the east and the west.
Another highly interesting book on the subject is The Silk Road Journey with Xyuanzang by Sally Hovey Wriggins – maybe you know it?