100 Books in 2018

28/ travels in the land of serpents and peals by marco polo

read: 14.04.18

book: Travels in the Land of Serpents and Pearls

author: Marco Polo

blurb: In this selection from Marco Polo's famous travel book, the intrepid Venetian describes the customs of India, recounts the story of the king who died eighty-four times and explains how to retrieve diamonds from snake-infested caves... [Penguin Little Black Classic No. 16]

review: I came into this having put it off for about two months but I thought to myself that I needed to power through these Penguin Little Black Classics because I usually learn something interesting along the way. I really liked this account of India and thought it vividly described the beauty and culture of India at that time. It was really interesting to learn what Marco Polo took away from his journey, and I thought he was quite respectful of this new culture which differed a lot from his own.

On Goodreads a lot of people were complaining about his patronising tone which sounded like he was trying to tell a child a story but I actually liked that aspect of the recount because it made it much easier to understand what he was talking about. I went into it with no knowledge about 13th century India so I would have been completely lost if it had been very serious and academic. 

rating: 7.5/10