Travel to Afghanistan

The Road to Oxiana

Format: Paperback
Author: Robert Byron
ReleaseDate: 17 June, 1982
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Rating:

James Joyce in Central Asia
Byron wanted to write literature. M. His book therefore uses travel material with this goal. And indeed, it is interesting 1930's literature. He also worked hard to learn his stuff about Iran and Central Asia. However, an absence of linguistic ability and his numerous western prejudices prevent him to be sympathetic with the characters he meets. An unpleasant impression of his confirming western superiority pervades the book. On the other hand, it contains interesting informations, particularly on ancient architecture of Iran and Central Asia. .

A Fascinating Journey Through 1930's Iraq, Afgahnistan, Iran
Where Twain amused the reader with pretended naivete, Byron is very funny at times but also reveals his depth of knowledge of the antiquities and history of the area. This ranks first-rate among travel books, right up there with Mark Twain for informing and entertaining the reader. The ages-old failure of these regions to form constructive societies -- causing so much trouble now -- is clearly evident in Byron's perceptive writing.

A classic of travel litterature that still raises enthusiasm
I was talking with my father who has an encyclopedic knowledge on almost every topic (sic!) and he asked me if I had read this book. How did I come to read this book? It is a period that I am interested in Central Asia history and else, because I became aware that European culture has long ignored this part of the world. After a long search we found it in his library in an italian translation and a Bruce Chatwin presentation. He had read it because interested in Islamic architecture and art. This breif introduction is to underline how this book is not only a great travel book in the line of those written by foreign travelers in the 1930's, but also an original, well-documented and researched book on islamic architecture of the medieval and modern period. Actually, the author who was an amatuer historian of the arts (read his other books on Mount Athos and Byzantine art) intended this book to be a first-hand report on islamic architecture that had not been seen and described as a whole in those times at least in european countries. The english had a "great game" vision of Central Asia that consisted essentially of folklore, customs, a little history and much adventure with the fiend represented by the russians. What Byron went looking for instead was the the expression of the concept of space that had taken place in the east. He identifies the subtle transitions from roman-greek architecture to the islamic revolution, that will be successivelly reimported to Europe years later in the Romanic period. He is particularly fascinated by the arch and the dome and their evolution, and he is probably the first to identify the "iwan" as an architectural feature. As to tiles, that are the other main feature of islamic decoration, he captures the hues of the blues and turquoises, yellows and browns and the way they respond to light and mesmerizes the reader with their description.
The book can also be read on another level, that of the cultural background of its characters: Robert Bryron and Christopher Sykes, two of "the Bright Young Things" that populate Evelyn Waughs novels, the cultural elite of the London of the 1930's. What gives us still today a great "gusto" is the humor and, let's say it, the sarcasm of the outlook on life, manifested by this generation of authors. We get plunged into the life of the english abroad, the embassies, the consulates, the interplay with the other europeans (Herzfeld comes out pretty bad, with his jelousy on the discovery of Persepolis) and Asians (the afghan ambassador is unforgettable).
A book that is all this naturally becomes a classic, so no mystery as to the Bruce Chatwin's great preference. I highly reccomend it to esthetically minded virtual travelers. There is a beatiful closing remark on the Author's mother that conveys the concept of education that was true then and now!.

Related products:
click image or link for details on these Afghanistan travel books.

	A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush
	Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran
	The Valleys of the Assassins: and Other Persian Travels (Modern Library Paperbacks)
	The Places In Between
	The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq