Shadow of the Silk Road

By: Colin Thubron

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Out of the heart of China into the mountains of Central Asia, across Northern Afghanistan and the plains of Iran into Kurdish Turkey, Colin Thubron undertakes a journey along the greatest land route on earth: the Silk Road. Travelling 7,000 miles in eight months, he traces the passage not only of trade and armies, but of ideas, religions and inventions. With a gift for talking to others, and of getting them to talk to him, Thubron meets some fascinating people and encounters some of the world's discontented margins, where the true boundaries are not political borders but the frontiers of tribe, ethnicity, language and religion.

©2006 Colin Thubron (P)2007 Isis Publishing Ltd.

Spectacular and delicious prose

Colin Thubron is a magnificent writer and historian. His prose is lyrical, his perceptions astute. I have recommended this book to several people, some of whom are writers themselves, and they have all loved it. It is a fascinating journey through history told with a deep understanding of the cultures and their history. I wish that Audible would record his other works, particularly "Behind the Wall" specifically about China.

Great Book, Great Narrator

According to Colin Thubron, ancient Romans, even while wearing silk garments from the East, imagined silk was harvested from a plant, and Easterners lived in an unreachable paradise. Meanwhile, the Chinese suspected Rome was a land without wars. Trade along the Silk Road had the aspect of a relay race. No one merchant traveled from one end to the other. Author Thubron decides to make the entire journey (east to west) and take us along for the ride. The Silk Road, we discover, wasn't just an extensive trade route but an elaborate conduit allowing for an interchange of cultures and religions along with material goods. I intend to read this a second time. Magnificent book!

bought it by mistake, but liked it anyway

What made the experience of listening to Shadow of the Silk Road the most enjoyable?

The author wrote very well, using many adjectives and describing sceneries as meticulously and as faithfully as possible. The narrator is excellent too. I was expecting a book about Silk Road history, but instead I got a travel book elaborating on the author's trip along the Silk Road. However I like it anyway. It is well written.

What other book might you compare Shadow of the Silk Road to and why?

I usually don't read travel books and I have no idea which book this can be compared to. I read Edith Wharton's travel short stories and don't like them as much as I enjoy reading her novels. So probably this is the source of my general dislike of this genre.

What about Jonathan Keeble’s performance did you like?

Yes. I like his voice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I only listen to audiobooks when driving to work or when doing home exercise, each half an hour. So I don't have big chunk of time to do it. Although I think it may be enjoyable to do it in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

I was really laughing loud when the book dwelled on poor peasants on the steppe who have blue eyes, a possible indication of Roman soldier ancestry. I think the author felt a little too sorry for them, probably because he is blue eyed himself. How about those black and brown eyed peasants? Don't you think the black and brown eyed peasants also deserve a chance to be transported in a limousine to somewhere grand to enjoy what their Roman ancestors have enjoyed, for example, binge eating and endless drinking? Probably it is uncharitable to say this. We all put too much emphasis on looks. It's an inalienable human weakness. I am not trying to pick on this author and especially I wish people will not pick on me when my book is published.

Qualified endorsement

Solid writing, but Thubron doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor (I wasn't expecting Bill Bryson) - that, along with lots of historical background information, made the story a bit dense for me. Definitely glad I paused halfway (he exits China at the end of the first part) to listen to something different.
I'm torn about the narration: Keeble did what he could with inflection to keep the story interesting, but his pronunciation was a bit ... odd.

A lot of road time

Lots of historical information in a serious story. I did not get the feeling that the author enjoyed the trip. Much more "just the facts". An interesting view on the age of religious mix in various regions and relative strength of belief and how that is represented by the individual. I was reading it for the history of the apple.

The Silk Road - Now and Then

I have just returned from China and Tibet and this book is extremely interesting because of the way the author travels the silk road and explores Chinese history throughout the ages in the various sites along the way. He seamlessly travels from 1000 BC to the Cultural Revolution to the Roman attempts to conquor China and how all these events have an impact on Chinese culture and philosophy as it exists today. He travels through China at the time of the SARS epidemic and his expereinces shed a great deal of light on the political and social institutions as they exist today. I found this to be a marvelous and interesting book.

Thubron Goes Where Most of Us Can't

I have been an independant scholar of all things "Silk Road" for the last 23 years of my life. This book tells a little less of what the Silk road was, and more of what it is and what it means to us, through a modern lense.

Thubron begins in China and ends in what was one of the ancient lynchpins of western civilization, Antioch. He takes 8 months to travel his chosen route (the Silk Road was really a series of many trade routes from as far east as Korea and Japan, and as far west as Venice.) and encounters greed, war, povery, and what some might call "terrible beauty". He revisits places he has been before, to find them forever changed, and this seems to change him as well. You can feel the wanderlust draining out of him as he goes. Aside from a near-bout with sepsis from a neglected dental problem, he emerges alive and realtively well, a much older man than can be measured by the date on his birth certificate.

The only thing I could have done without was his imaginary companion, the "Sogdian Trader", who haunts his sleepless nights. Thubron is a good enough writer to have done better with this part of the narrative.

Anyone interested in this part of the world would enjoy this book. Thubron has done the dangerous heavy lifting for us, and we can simply close our eyes and experience the journey.

Flawed performance - butchering language

The audio experience was rendered painful on every occasion that a Chinese word was spoken. The inept pronunciation of Chinese locations, events, and personages left them unrecognizable and left me, a person who happens to enjoy reading about China, and who is very knowledgeable about China, in the dark as to what the author was trying to say. It only takes a short time to learn how to pronounce Chinese words that are written in Pin Yin (there is a bit of mastery that must take place), but once absorbed, the words flow. And in an audio book, words matter, I am faulting Mr. Thubron for making what appears to be zero effort to be able to communicate the voluminous Chinese place and people names in a manner that is recognizable.

It is possible for a native English speaker to actually know Chinese, and for us, this audiotape is an abomination. It was not until the story left China and centered on Central Asia and the Middle East could I relax (but in my heart wondered if the Arabic speakers in the audience were hemorrhaging).

And note to all, since Mr. Thurbon adds to the muddling of the water, Daoism is pronounced with a "D" not a "T" sound - for the love of god.

In addition, though the story is lovely, like listening to a painting, it would also help not to have the sharpest, most grating British accent whip the words to a pulp.

Breathtaking, at all levels.

This book is wonderful. I have just listened to it for the 2nd time and found it richer and more interesting than the first. The author has good knowledge of the cultures he travels thru, and a very engaging way of writing. He touches on (1) the people he meets along the way, (2) the history of the area itself, and (3) his personal experiences (he can evoke a mental painting of what he sees and hears with a minimum of words - very rich). In addition, the lands he traverses are so mysterious and exotic - he truly made my world seem larger. The readier is tops, with an incredible array of voices and expression. He makes the book come alive. Buy it, listen to it, and take your trip to mysterious parts of our world which are certainly the silk road less traveled.

Some pronunciation issues - but a fun story.

The narrator does an absolutely miserable job with pronunciation of chinese words - if you're familiar with China, you'll find this a bit frustrating and frequently ask yourself where he's talking about. I wouldn't expect perfect mandarin pronunciation, but you could anglicize "xinjiang" as "shin jong" (shin like the part of your leg, jong like in Mahjong). I have no idea how to write the word based on the narrator's pronunciation.
This one isn't nearly as interesting to me as Jim Roger's excellent "Adventure Capitalist" which would have been documented about 3 years earlier, and does also spend a lot of time discussing that portion of the silk road.
The book sends an especially lengthy time covering the China portion of the journey, which think many will appreciate. Last, I personally prefer that the author spend more time talking about places he went and things that he heard, and let the reader decide the emotional impact.
If you're an old china hand who's been dreaming of retracing Marco Polo's journey, I would rate this a 3 or so - you'll probably not get the coverage you're looking for. If, on the other hand, you're looking for an exotic story about a far away locale and dream of one day making this journey with a guide, then this one is 5 stars all the way.