Messer Marco Polo (Capuchin Classics) - Softcover

Byrne, Donn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0955731216 ISBN 13: 9780955731211

Publisher: Capuchin Classics, 2008

Synopsis

Donn Byrne was a storyteller, the last, as he himself explained, of a long line of Irish storytellers. He belonged to the school of the romantic, the rhetorical, the magical—in short to the stylists of storytelling. Here is the convincing and unscholarly tale of Marco Polo’s courtship of Golden Bells, the daughter of Kubla Khan, and of his journey from Venice, “Bride of the East,” to the courts of Cathay, seen through the eyes and told in the brogue of the old Ulster Scotch-Irishman, Malachi of the Glens. Messer Marco Polo is a panoramic tapestry, richly woven of medieval colors, sights, and smells, the ivory, apes, and peacocks of a lost romance.  But beneath the sweetness and light there is the terror and tragedy of “the whistling and clangor of the stars as they shot by in their orbits.”  There is maturity and irony as well as freshness. When Messer Marco Polo appeared in 1921 it charmed the critics; now it is set to captivate a whole new generation nearly a century later.

About this title

About the Author

Donn Byrne (1889–1928) is the author of Hangman's House. Anthony Lejeune is the editor of The Concise Dictionary of Foreign Quotations and the author of White's: The First Three Hundred Years.

From AudioFile

This is a strange but often pleasant book. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., enters into the spirit of the narrative, using an Irish brogue and a surging pace for this retelling of the story of Marco Polo. At times, the combination is odd; to have Polo speak longingly of his Venice home or his Chinese love in an Irish accent is jarring. Since the book was published in 1921, the books place names and other references are so dated that it isnt always clear where the storyteller is. That said, this romantic account of what took Polo to China, what he found there, and his adventures along the way is pure fun. G.T.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: Capuchin Classics
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0955731216
• ISBN 13: 9780955731211
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 150