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jroberts1995's review
4.0
I suspect that there are two main categories of readers with regard to John Man's Kublai Khan. The first comprises people who were expecting a conventional biography and were settling for nothing else; the second, those who abandoned such expectations in the early chapters and submitted to whatever route the author intended to take, content in knowing that they would reach the destination eventually.
John Man is in a league of his own on the subject of digressions. Unless you set a reminder to return to the cover page every fifteen minutes, you're likely to repeatedly forget that you're reading about Kublai Khan. Some of the author's departures are of meaningful historical interest: the story of the Syrian sect of Assassins, and how they came to give their name to the word, is quite fascinating. Other digressions are perhaps more niche in their appeal: for instance, a history of the trebuchet which takes the author from its ancient Chinese origins to 21st-century enthusiasts of the piano-throwing variety, and an explanation of why powdered excrement and the Mylabris phalerata beetle were used in 13th-century Song artillery.
Once I accepted Man's idiosyncrasies (including his initially distracting but undeniably enlightening drifts into the travelogue genre), I found Kublai Khan highly enjoyable and very informative, if not for the reasons I initially expected. The author has a rare presence in his work - and, in a genre where the author's imprint is typically made in what they write about rather than how they write it, I believe I've found an exception.
John Man is in a league of his own on the subject of digressions. Unless you set a reminder to return to the cover page every fifteen minutes, you're likely to repeatedly forget that you're reading about Kublai Khan. Some of the author's departures are of meaningful historical interest: the story of the Syrian sect of Assassins, and how they came to give their name to the word, is quite fascinating. Other digressions are perhaps more niche in their appeal: for instance, a history of the trebuchet which takes the author from its ancient Chinese origins to 21st-century enthusiasts of the piano-throwing variety, and an explanation of why powdered excrement and the Mylabris phalerata beetle were used in 13th-century Song artillery.
Once I accepted Man's idiosyncrasies (including his initially distracting but undeniably enlightening drifts into the travelogue genre), I found Kublai Khan highly enjoyable and very informative, if not for the reasons I initially expected. The author has a rare presence in his work - and, in a genre where the author's imprint is typically made in what they write about rather than how they write it, I believe I've found an exception.
nfleow's review
adventurous
dark
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
ladyvictoriadiana's review
4.0
Another very good biography by John Man. A lot of information about a historical figure that is generally not mentioned in German schoolbooks, written in an interesting way. As in the other John Man books I have read before, there are also some illusions to Man's travels and the people he met along the way. A great book!
canadianbookworm's review
there is so much of interest here, and yet it is not written in an engrossing manner.
Read to page 154 of 359.
Family chart at front of book was almost useless.
Picture insets were interesting.
Figures didn't come alive. There was too much jumping around.
Read to page 154 of 359.
Family chart at front of book was almost useless.
Picture insets were interesting.
Figures didn't come alive. There was too much jumping around.
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