The Road to Oxiana
by Robert Byron
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Book Summary Information
Author: Robert ByronIntroduction: Paul Fussell
Foreword: Rory Stewart
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-05-18
ISBN: 0195325605
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of The Road to Oxiana
Book Review: A variation on "The Grand Tour"...
Summary: 3 Stars
The term "The Grand Tour" is primarily associated with the British upper-class, from the 17th Century onward, members of which would take year-long tours, or more, on "The Continent," with intellectual improvement, via exposure to other cultures and the antiquities, being the purported motive force. In the 1930's, Robert Bryon, of that class, undertook a tour with much the same purpose, but took it a step further, and would eventually reach Central Asia. It was an impressive and fascinating trip, and the relevance certainly extends to the West's involvement in that area today. The "Great Depression" was truly depressing life in England, and he had the means to get away. He started in Venice, in August 1933, stopped in Cyprus, before entering what was then called The Levant; that is Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. From there, he continued overland to Iraq, and then on to Persia (modern-day Iran), Afghanistan, and finally on to Peshawar, when, in those "pre-partition days" was part of India. He returned home in July, 1934, 11 months in total. Bryon died young, drowning when his ship was torpedoed in the Mediterranean in 1941.
So, the book is to be savored, since Bryon writes well, and is a perceptive observer, particularly of the status of the antiquities in the region, much of which cannot be really visited today by Westerners. In one case, the Buddhist statues at Bamian, which were viewed as "idols" by the Taliban, and destroyed; they will never be viewed by anyone again. Of course, in reading the book, part of the irony is that Bryon didn't think much of the Buddhist statues either! Specifically: "Neither has any artistic value. But one could bear that; it is their negation of sense, the lack of any pride in their monstrous flaccid bulk, that sickens. Even their material is unbeautiful, for the cliff is made, not of stone, but of compressed gravel...The result has not even the dignity of labour."
The heart of the book is Bryon's time in Iran and Afghanistan. And it was the weather that was the decisive factor in their itinerary. They crossed northern Persia (Iran,) and reached Herat, Afghanistan in November. And his comment has been felt by many, who came to Afghanistan in time of peace, or even war: "Here at last is Asia without an inferiority complex." Afghanistan has dealt rudely with foreign invaders, from the time of Alexander the Great; it still does. With the snows closing them in, they elected to return to Persia, and winter in its south, visiting Isfahan, Persepolis, and Shiraz. The travel was easier in those days, without the requirements for visas; but there was an attendant insecurity in remote areas; and in southern Persia, this centered around Firuzabad. In late spring, having retraced their route, they entered Afghanistan again on May 12. To reach Kabul, for all too many years, the transport was much easier on the southern route, through Kandahar. Byron elected the northern route, through what was then referred to as Afghan Turkestan. They eventually reached Balkh (the birthplace of the Aryan race, as it was dubbed!) and Mazar-i-Sherif. But did they actually make it to the Oxus River?
Bryon is wonderfully erudite, in terms of the historical significance of places, and the architecture. And he is reading Proust when he enters Turkestan, and remarks: "His (Proust's) description of how the name "Guermantes" hypnotized him reminds me of how the name "Turkestan" has hypnotized me. Byron resonates, but there is also much dissonance. The tone is set by Bruce Chatwin in the introduction: "In 1962- six years before the Hippies wrecked it (by driving educated Afghans into the arms of the Marxists) you could set off to Afghanistan with the anticipation of, say, Delacroix off to Algiers." I took much of the same overland route to India in 1971; never considered myself a hippie, and know that Chatwin is really complaining about the ability of those "without independent means" to travel. Bryon himself spoke of his inability to secure a "servant" to tend to their needs as they traveled. Bryon seemed to assume that the world's hierarchical power relations would be eternal. No comments about the impact of colonialism on the areas he traversed. In terms of the "natives," his tone is too often patronizing. Consider: "Poor Asia! Everything boils down to the inevitable nationalism, the desire for self-sufficiency, the wish to cut a figure in the world and no longer be called interesting for lack of plumbing. Afghan nationalism is not so undignified as Persian..."
I share many of the concerns expressed in the one 1-star review. Still, if one accepts the book from the perspective of one erudite, deeply observant, from his viewpoint, but blind from and for others, British upper class traveler, I'd rate it 3-stars.
Note: My version is the Picador one of 1981, with the Chatwin introduction; not the listed one with an introduction by Rory Stewart.
Summary of The Road to Oxiana
In 1933, the delightfully eccentric travel writer Robert Byron set out on a journey through the Middle East via Beirut, Jerusalem, Baghdad and Teheran to Oxiana, near the border between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. Throughout, he kept a thoroughly captivating record of his encounters, discoveries, and frequent misadventures. His story would become a best-selling travel book throughout the English-speaking world, until the acclaim died down and it was gradually forgotten. When Paul Fussell published his own book Abroad, in 1982, he wrote that The Road to Oxiana is to the travel book what "Ulysses is to the novel between the wars, and what The Waste Land is to poetry." His statements revived the public's interest in the book, and for the first time, it was widely available in American bookstores. Now this long-overdue reprint will introduce it to a whole new generation of readers. This edition features a new introduction by Rory Stewart, best known for his book The Places In Between, about his extensive travels in Afghanistan.Today, in addition to its entertainment value, The Road to Oxiana also serves as a rare account of the architectural treasures of a region now inaccessible to most Western travelers, and a nostalgic look back at a more innocent time.
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