In Xanadu: A Quest

Published in 1989, In Xanadu is Dalrymple's first book. In 1986, at the time of his travels he was an undergraduate at Cambridge on summer break, as was the second of his travel companions Louisa. Louisa, his recently ex-girlfriend accompanied him on the second half of his trip. Laura, whom he met at a dinner party a few weeks before departing, accompanied him on the first half.

His journey - retracing the steps of Marco Polo from Jerusalem to Xanadu, taking with him a vial of holy oil from the Holy Sepulchre (as did Marco Polo some 700 years earlier). This journey took in Israel, Cyprus, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and China. It departed from Polo's route due to Afghanistan being inaccessible, and the requirement to visit Cyprus between Israel and Syria. Technically other parts of the route were also off limits, but Dalrymple and his able assistants were able to circumvent those restrictions by charm, bluff and evasion.

Other reviewers are critical of Dalrymple's naivety, class privilege, even racism. Dalrymple was 22 when he wrote In Xanadu, a few years younger when he travelled. Yes, he shows some tendency to mock, he uses the influence of his university (Laura is more heavy-handed, utilising family friends and connections to obtain assistance from on high), and his writing lacks the polish of his later works. There are, no doubt, too many racial stereotypes noted, where he is critical of people and no doubt these would not have been written, or made it past the edit today. Many are untrue, as with many stereotypes, and I agree the book would have been better taking a higher road and omitting these. Often they occurred in the narrative when Dalrymple was at a low point, having struggled, been unwell, or was fatigued, so I guess they were expressing his frustration. Certainly this book lost a star for that aspect.

For me this is forgiven when I recall that at a similar age, I also set off into the wide world. It is true this book lacks the reflection and poise of his later books. It lacks the maturity, as did Dalrymple at the time of travel, so it is, in my view, while it is ok to criticise the author for his lack of maturity, the book for itself it genuine in its recording of his thoughts and experiences. I understand many will see this as a book that shouldn't be published, but I think it is reasonable to see an author grow and mature.

The history sections, which are not well edited and sometimes interrupt the flow of the narrative, do contain relevant background, although they needed a polish, but they fill in historical context. I recently battled through Polo's The Travels, and this no doubt helped me with the context.

In summary, there are plenty of books which follow parts of Marco Polo's routes. Some are better, many are worse. This is a book by a young author, who travelled a hard road and shares his honest story.

I originally read this book around 2004, and awarded it 4 stars (when I much later joined GR). This reading, it drops a little, to 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.