The Road to Oxiana
3 journalers for this copy...
From the back:
"At once poetic, scholarly and acidly humorous, Robert Byron's account of his pilgrimage through Persia and Afghanistan in the 1930s, in search of the origins of Islamic architecture, is a masterpiece of the genre. Bringing to life characters and landscapes with vivid authencity, The Road the Oxiana is a passionate ode to the pursuit of adventure, and an evocative portrait of a heroic, visionary traveller."
***
From Amazon.co.uk:
"In 1933, the delightfully eccentric Robert Byron set out on a journey through the Middle East via Beirut, Jerusalem, Baghdad and Teheran to Oxiana - the country of the Oxus, the ancient name for the river Amu Darya which forms part of the border between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. His arrival at his destination, the legendary tower of Qabus, although a wonder in itself, is not nearly so amazing as the thoroughly captivating, at times zany, record of his adventures. In addition to its entertainment value, The Road to Oxiana also serves as a rare account of the architectural treasures of a region now inaccessible to most Western travellers. Here, 'armchair travellers will find newspaper clippings, public signs and notices, official forms, letters, 'diary entries', essays on current politics, lyric passages, historical and archaeological dissertations, brief travel narratives (usually of comic-awful delays and disasters), and - the triumph of the book - at least twenty superb comic dialogues, some of them virtually playlets, complete with stage directions and 'musical' scoring.'"
Paul Fussell, from the Introduction to the OUP US paperback, 1982
About the Author
"Robert Byron was born in England in 1905 into a family distantly related to Lord Byron. He attended Eton and Merton College, Oxford, and wrote several other travel books before his untimely death in 1941 when his ship to West Africa was torpedoed while serving as a correspondent for a London newspaper during World War II."
"At once poetic, scholarly and acidly humorous, Robert Byron's account of his pilgrimage through Persia and Afghanistan in the 1930s, in search of the origins of Islamic architecture, is a masterpiece of the genre. Bringing to life characters and landscapes with vivid authencity, The Road the Oxiana is a passionate ode to the pursuit of adventure, and an evocative portrait of a heroic, visionary traveller."
***
From Amazon.co.uk:
"In 1933, the delightfully eccentric Robert Byron set out on a journey through the Middle East via Beirut, Jerusalem, Baghdad and Teheran to Oxiana - the country of the Oxus, the ancient name for the river Amu Darya which forms part of the border between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. His arrival at his destination, the legendary tower of Qabus, although a wonder in itself, is not nearly so amazing as the thoroughly captivating, at times zany, record of his adventures. In addition to its entertainment value, The Road to Oxiana also serves as a rare account of the architectural treasures of a region now inaccessible to most Western travellers. Here, 'armchair travellers will find newspaper clippings, public signs and notices, official forms, letters, 'diary entries', essays on current politics, lyric passages, historical and archaeological dissertations, brief travel narratives (usually of comic-awful delays and disasters), and - the triumph of the book - at least twenty superb comic dialogues, some of them virtually playlets, complete with stage directions and 'musical' scoring.'"
Paul Fussell, from the Introduction to the OUP US paperback, 1982
About the Author
"Robert Byron was born in England in 1905 into a family distantly related to Lord Byron. He attended Eton and Merton College, Oxford, and wrote several other travel books before his untimely death in 1941 when his ship to West Africa was torpedoed while serving as a correspondent for a London newspaper during World War II."
This just didn't grab me at all and since my tbr pile is beyond huge, I'm going to pass this on unread. Off to soffitta1 as part of the Global Village VBB now.
On its way!
Thanks for the book.
Another book I have had for too long!
Great travel read. Published in 1937 it is a snapshot of a world long gone, as a 21st Century reader, there are sad reminders about how the world was about to be torn apart as well as great changes in more recent times in that region.
Byron is humourous, doesn't take himself too seriously, but knows what he wants to see and is often frustrated by officials.
A quote or two to show you what I mean.
"I wish I were rich enough to endow a prize for the sensible traveller: £10,00 for the first man to cover Marco Polo's outward route reading three fresh books a week, and another £10,000 if he drinks a bottle of wine a day as well. That man might tell one something about the journey."
"Every morning I take a two-horse cab to the shrine of Khoja Rabi, where I sit and draw, at peace with the world, as long as the short winter days allow. It was built in 1621 by Shah Abbas, and stands in a garden outside the town. The gay tiles, turquoise, lapis, violet and yellow, have a singular melancholy among the bare trees and empty beds a-flutter with dead leaves. It suits my mood."
Another book I have had for too long!
Great travel read. Published in 1937 it is a snapshot of a world long gone, as a 21st Century reader, there are sad reminders about how the world was about to be torn apart as well as great changes in more recent times in that region.
Byron is humourous, doesn't take himself too seriously, but knows what he wants to see and is often frustrated by officials.
A quote or two to show you what I mean.
"I wish I were rich enough to endow a prize for the sensible traveller: £10,00 for the first man to cover Marco Polo's outward route reading three fresh books a week, and another £10,000 if he drinks a bottle of wine a day as well. That man might tell one something about the journey."
"Every morning I take a two-horse cab to the shrine of Khoja Rabi, where I sit and draw, at peace with the world, as long as the short winter days allow. It was built in 1621 by Shah Abbas, and stands in a garden outside the town. The gay tiles, turquoise, lapis, violet and yellow, have a singular melancholy among the bare trees and empty beds a-flutter with dead leaves. It suits my mood."
Journal Entry 5 by soffitta1 at Manningtree Station Waiting Room in Manningtree, Essex United Kingdom on Saturday, November 9, 2013
Released 10 yrs ago (11/9/2013 UTC) at Manningtree Station Waiting Room in Manningtree, Essex United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
On the shelves.
This book is going to have a special place in my affections, as it introduced me to bookcrossing. I found it at the book swap at Manningtree station. It's a book I'd always planned to read, some time, so grabbed it - two pages in, and I'm entranced by the charm, the wit and the pithiness. You don't need to amble on and on and round and round a situation, flinging adjectives and adverbs around like confetti. RB gets the essence of a place, a time, a person, in a very few words.
Thank you soffitta!
Thank you soffitta!
