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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
The Travels is best during his journey to China and his experiences there. The differences between life in 13th century China and Europe are so fascinating, and I don't blame people for not believing him. His Travels are filled with intricate details about the culture, including his observations about the people in the various cities. He also delves into military exploits in the last book, making for a diverse but boring end to an otherwise essential read.
Short review: The inhabitants of the city are idolaters, use paper money, burn their dead, and are subjects of the Great Khan.
Short review: The inhabitants of the city are idolaters, use paper money, burn their dead, and are subjects of the Great Khan.
Read a 1932 version
Very exotic, adventurer, vibes. Such an interesting read, and a surprisingly accurate documentation despite its reputation for ‘lies’
Very exotic, adventurer, vibes. Such an interesting read, and a surprisingly accurate documentation despite its reputation for ‘lies’
The descriptive part is fairly dry, in short chapters each time about a certain region, usually pure travel information (about drought, food and such) and seldom about local customs or special stories. From p 46 on Djengis Khan and his conquest. No fantastic stories à la Herodotus, and in comparison with him Marco Polo's story is very thin.
informative
relaxing
medium-paced
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
slow-paced
informative
medium-paced
Definitely extremely dated, but I mean... it is from the 13th century. This gave me some very interesting insight into the state of the world during that time, but I don't think that any translation is going to fix the repetitiveness of the writing.
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
This was repetitive and boring. The prologue was a bit more intriguing where we learn about Marco Polo's father and uncle.