Book completed
Dec. 26th, 2025 03:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eve_primeMarco Polo and His World, by Sharon Kinoshita. This 2024 book tells about Marco Polo’s adventures, with attention to three general areas: his life with the Mongol khan then ruling as emperor in China, the topics he found worth writing about that were considered marvels by the Europeans, and the topics he wrote about for the interest of his fellow merchants. She closes by writing brief summaries of the lives of three other people who lived in Asia at the same time (which was interesting but not particularly relevant). The main point I got from it was that while Europeans living in Europe might think of non-Christians as the out-group, this mentality wasn’t shared by merchants who traveled in other lands, and his book may have helped increase open-mindedness and curiosity.
I spent a lot of time looking things up on my phone that the author didn’t really explain or put into context – and I’m far more familiar with the times and places in the book than the average non-specialist who might read it. One example was the discussion of camphor and where it comes from: “the island kingdom of Fansur.” Where is Fansur, the reader might wonder? Several pages later, she mentions that it’s near Java (without also mentioning that Java is part of Indonesia, which I know, but does everyone?). I had to look online to learn that it is now a town named Barus on the west coast of Sumatra but back then it may have been on a nearby island.
Overall, I would say that the book is interesting, has plenty of illustrations, but if you decide to read it, make sure the Internet is handy – unless you’re like my mom, just reading for the flavor and not to actually learn something.
I spent a lot of time looking things up on my phone that the author didn’t really explain or put into context – and I’m far more familiar with the times and places in the book than the average non-specialist who might read it. One example was the discussion of camphor and where it comes from: “the island kingdom of Fansur.” Where is Fansur, the reader might wonder? Several pages later, she mentions that it’s near Java (without also mentioning that Java is part of Indonesia, which I know, but does everyone?). I had to look online to learn that it is now a town named Barus on the west coast of Sumatra but back then it may have been on a nearby island.
Overall, I would say that the book is interesting, has plenty of illustrations, but if you decide to read it, make sure the Internet is handy – unless you’re like my mom, just reading for the flavor and not to actually learn something.