Moon Palace is a novel written by Paul Auster that was first published in 1989.
106-550: Moon Palace is a 1989 novel by Paul Auster. Moon Palace , Lunar Palace , Palace of the Moon , or variant may also refer to: Moon Palace The novel is set in Manhattan and the U.S. Southwest , and centers on the life of the narrator Marco Stanley Fogg and the two previous generations of his family. Marco Fogg is an orphan and his Uncle Victor his only caretaker. Fogg starts college, and nine months later moves from
212-479: A 15-year-old son named Marco. In contrast to the general consensus, there are theories suggesting that Marco Polo's birthplace was the island of Korčula or Constantinople but such hypotheses failed to gain acceptance among most scholars and have been countered by other studies. He was nicknamed Milione during his lifetime (which in Italian literally means 'Million'). The Italian title of his book
318-458: A car accident Effing employs Marco, his grandson, as his new assistant. Marco must read all kinds of books to him, describe the Manhattan scenery to the blind man while he takes him for walks in his wheelchair, and eventually has to write Effing's obituary. Kitty is a girl with Chinese roots who falls in love with Marco and helps in searching for him during his Central Park period. This scene is
424-619: A certain Marco Polo, who in 1300 was mentioned with riots against the aristocratic government, and escaped the death penalty, as well as riots from 1310 led by Bajamonte Tiepolo and Marco Querini, among whose rebels were Jacobello and Francesco Polo from another family branch, is unclear. Polo is clearly mentioned again after 1305 in Maffeo's testament from 1309 to 1310, in a 1319 document according to which he became owner of some estates of his deceased father, and in 1321, when he bought part of
530-493: A clarinetist. Although he lacks ambition, Uncle Victor must have been a good musician because for some time he is a member of the famous Cleveland Orchestra. Like all Foggs, he is characterized by a certain aimlessness in life. He does not settle down, but is constantly on the move. Because of a thoughtless joke, he has to leave the renowned Cleveland Orchestra. Then he plays in smaller combos: the Moonlight Moods and later
636-494: A college dormitory, he rents an apartment in New York. Uncle Victor dies, which makes Marco lose track. After paying the funeral costs, Marco realizes that very little of the money that Uncle Victor gave him is left. He decides to let himself decay, to get out of touch with the world. He makes no effort to earn money. His electricity is cut off, he loses weight; finally he is told that he must leave his apartment. The day before he
742-537: A detailed account of his travels to a fellow inmate, Rustichello da Pisa , who incorporated tales of his own as well as other collected anecdotes and current affairs from China. The book soon spread throughout Europe in manuscript form, and became known as The Travels of Marco Polo ( Italian title: Il Milione , lit. "The Million", deriving from Polo's nickname "Milione". Original title in Franco-Italian : Livres des Merveilles du Monde ). It depicts
848-475: A different light on the title, as the moon is symbolic of the female or the mother. In 2009, Audible.com produced an audio version of Moon Palace , narrated by Joe Barrett, as part of its Modern Vanguard line of audiobooks. Marco Polo Marco Polo ( / ˈ m ɑːr k oʊ ˈ p oʊ l oʊ / ; Venetian: [ˈmaɾko ˈpolo] ; Italian: [ˈmarko ˈpɔːlo] ; c. 1254 – 8 January 1324)
954-530: A direct Chinese transliteration of the name "Marco" ignores the possibility of his taking on a Chinese or even Mongol name with no similarity to his Latin name . Also in reply to Wood, Jørgen Jensen recalled the meeting of Marco Polo and Pietro d'Abano in the late 13th century. During this meeting, Marco gave to Pietro details of the astronomical observations he had made on his journey. These observations are compatible with Marco's stay in China, Sumatra and
1060-605: A famous painter who disappeared. He sinks in depression and fear, and begins frequenting China Town and using drugs. But one day someone attacks him, so he rushes away and hits a street lamp, becoming paraplegic. He stops having such an unhealthy life, and decides to go to France. He comes back to the US in 1939 fleeing from the Nazis. Solomon Barber is Marco's father and Effing's son. He is extremely fat (which contrasts to Marco's period of starvation) and did not know his father nor that he has
1166-468: A father figure to Fogg. When Effing dies, leaving money to Fogg, Marco and Kitty Wu set up a house together in Chinatown. After an abortion Fogg breaks up with Kitty Wu and travels across the U.S. to search for himself. He begins his journey with his father Solomon Barber, who dies shortly after an accident at Westlawn Cemetery, where Fogg's mother is buried. Marco continues his journey alone, which ends on
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#17327727134021272-551: A father. This has a major impact on them: In this interview, published in The Red Notebook , Paul Auster looks at the meanings of the moon in Moon Palace: The moon is many things all at once, a touchstone. It's the moon as myth, as ‘radiant Diana, image of all that is dark within us'; the imagination, love, madness. At the same time, it's the moon as object, as celestial body, as lifeless stone hovering in
1378-419: A little bit over a year. Since he never returned home to his pregnant wife, everybody thought that he was dead. He decided to be 'dead' and changed his name to Thomas Effing. The first name Thomas was chosen by Julian Barber because he admired the painter Thomas Moran . The surname Effing echoes the inappropriate word f-ing (*fucking*). He adopted it to indicate that his whole life was "fucked up". He started
1484-576: A lonely California beach: "This is where I start, ... this is where my life begins." Marco Stanley Fogg, aka M.S., is the son of Emily Fogg. He does not know his father. His mother dies because of a car accident when he is eleven years old. He moves to his Uncle Victor, who raises him until Marco goes to a boarding school in Chicago . When he reaches college age, he goes to Columbia University in New York City . After spending his freshman year in
1590-560: A new life as Thomas, and was then attacked which resulted in an accident that caused him to become paralyzed. He travels to Paris, where he stays until the beginning of the Second World War. Next he moves into a big New York apartment with his housemaid 'Mrs Hume' and his assistant Pavel Shum, a Russian student he met in Paris. Effing later learns that he has a son, an obese history professor, but never contacts him. After Pavel died in
1696-482: A perilous one—of the six hundred people (not including the crew) in the convoy only eighteen had survived (including all three Polos). The Polos left the wedding party after reaching Hormuz and travelled overland to the port of Trebizond on the Black Sea , the present-day Trabzon . The British scholar Ronald Latham has pointed out that The Book of Marvels was a collaboration written in 1298–1299 between Polo and
1802-574: A portion of his estate; he approved of this and ordered that a further sum be paid to the convent of San Lorenzo , the place where he wished to be buried. He also set free Peter, a Tartar servant , who may have accompanied him from Asia, and to whom Polo bequeathed 100 lire of Venetian denari. He divided up the rest of his assets, including several properties, among individuals, religious institutions, and every guild and fraternity to which he belonged. He also wrote off multiple debts including 300 lire that his sister-in-law owed him, and others for
1908-513: A potential wife, and they asked the Polos to accompany them, so they were permitted to return to Persia with the wedding party—which left that same year from Zaitun in southern China on a fleet of 14 junks . The party sailed to the port of Singapore , travelled north to Sumatra , and around the southern tip of India, eventually crossing the Arabian Sea to Hormuz . The two-year voyage was
2014-662: A professional writer of romances, Rustichello of Pisa. It is believed that Polo related his memoirs orally to Rustichello da Pisa while both were prisoners of the Genova Republic . Rustichello wrote Devisement du Monde in Franco-Venetian language , which was a literary-only language widespread in northern Italy between the subalpine belt and the lower Po between the 13th and 15th centuries. Latham also argued that Rustichello may have glamorised Polo's accounts, and added fantastic and romantic elements that made
2120-645: A reference to the novel Around the World in Eighty Days , where the hero, Phileas Fogg, rescues an Indian woman from death; it can also be considered a reference to Pocahontas. Like Marco she is an orphan as her parents had died when she was a child. After Effing's death they move together, having a passionate relationship. But Marco leaves Kitty when she decides to have an abortion, and does not contact her until his father dies. But Kitty refuses to live with him again. Both Marco and Solomon are raised without having
2226-452: A responsible way, but he does not exercise adult authority over Marco. He forms a relationship based on sympathy, love and friendship. Marco loves his uncle's easy-going lifestyle, his humor and his generosity. Uncle Victor is also quite open-minded, likes movies and is fairly well-read, with 1492 books - a number obviously meant to remind us of the year when Columbus discovered America. Thomas Effing, father of Solomon and grandfather of Marco,
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#17327727134022332-428: A son. He inherits most of the fortune of Effing. He meets Marco after the death of Effing to learn about his father and finds a son. Marco, in the family cyclic pattern, does not know that Barber is his father. Barber had a relationship with one of his students, Emily, and never knew she was pregnant. Marco learns the truth when he sees Barber crying in front of Emily's grave. The name: "Marco" refers to Marco Polo ,
2438-577: A trading voyage before Marco's birth. In 1260, Niccolò and Maffeo, while residing in Constantinople, then the capital of the Latin Empire , foresaw a political change; they liquidated their assets into jewels and moved away. According to The Travels of Marco Polo , they passed through much of Asia, and met with Kublai Khan , a Mongol ruler and founder of the Yuan dynasty . Almost nothing
2544-420: A typical middle-class citizen. After he has finished his work on the translation, Marco searches for another job offer. He finds a job at Effing's, where he is hired for reading books to Effing and driving the old, blind and disabled man through the city of New York in his wheelchair. Effing is a strange man who tries to teach Marco in his own way, to take nothing for granted . Marco has to describe to Effing all
2650-579: A venture, the Polo family probably invested profits from trading, and even many gemstones they brought from the East. The company continued its activities and Marco soon became a wealthy merchant. Marco and his uncle Maffeo financed other expeditions, but likely never left Venetian provinces, nor returned to the Silk Road and Asia. Sometime before 1300, his father Niccolò died. In 1300, he married Donata Badoèr,
2756-426: Is about 15 miles west of New York City. He also attended high school there. In his childhood, Auster's father Samuel Auster was often absent. Samuel Auster was a businessman who left the house in the morning before his son was awake and returned home when he was already in bed. Auster always searched for someone to replace his father. Unlike his father, his mother gave Auster very much attention. In fact this may also put
2862-682: Is also largely free of the gross errors found in other accounts such as those given by the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta who had confused the Yellow River with the Grand Canal and other waterways, and believed that porcelain was made from coal. Modern studies have further shown that details given in Marco Polo's book, such as the currencies used, salt productions and revenues, are accurate and unique. Such detailed descriptions are not found in other non-Chinese sources, and their accuracy
2968-467: Is also referred to in the book as Marco happens to see the 1956 movie adaption twice. "M.S." Uncle Victor tells Marco "M.S." stands for manuscript, a book that is not yet finished (everybody is writing his own life, his own story). "MS" also refers to a disease: the multiple sclerosis. Marco quite appreciates this strangeness in his name. Uncle Victor - the brother of Marco's mother - is a "spindly, beak-nosed bachelor" of forty-three who earns his living as
3074-577: Is based on a Latin manuscript found in the library of the Cathedral of Toledo in 1932, and is 50% longer than other versions. The popular translation published by Penguin Books in 1958 by R. E. Latham works several texts together to make a readable whole. Sharon Kinoshita 's 2016 version takes as its source the Franco-Italian 'F' manuscript, and invites readers to "focus on the text as
3180-568: Is inaccurate), no other foreign visitors to Yuan China mentioned the practice, perhaps an indication that the footbinding was not widespread or was not practised in an extreme form at that time. Marco Polo himself noted (in the Toledo manuscript) the dainty walk of Chinese women who took very short steps. It has also been noted by other scholars that many of the things not mentioned by Marco Polo such as tea and chopsticks were not mentioned by other travellers either. Haw also pointed out that despite
3286-581: Is known about the childhood of Marco Polo until he was fifteen years old, except that he probably spent part of his childhood in Venice. Meanwhile, Marco Polo's mother died, and an aunt and uncle raised him. He received a good education, learning mercantile subjects including foreign currency, appraising, and the handling of cargo ships; he learned little or no Latin . His father later married Floradise Polo (née Trevisan). In 1269, Niccolò and Maffeo returned to their families in Venice, meeting young Marco for
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3392-559: Is nothing in The Book of Marvels about China that could not have been obtained by reading Persian books. Wood maintains that it is more probable that Polo went only to Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) and some of the Italian merchant colonies around the Black Sea, picking hearsay from those travellers who had been farther east. Supporters of Polo's basic accuracy countered on the points raised by sceptics such as footbinding and
3498-427: Is still rated unfit because of his poor physiological and mental state. Marco feels very bad about living at Zimmer's expense, so he finally persuades Zimmer to let him do a French translation for him to earn some money. Then he meets Kitty again, and decides to leave Zimmer. They lose touch, and when, after thirteen years, they happen to run into each other in a busy street, Marco learns that Zimmer has married and become
3604-455: Is supported by archaeological evidence as well as Chinese records compiled after Polo had left China. His accounts are therefore unlikely to have been obtained second hand. Other accounts have also been verified; for example, when visiting Zhenjiang in Jiangsu , China, Marco Polo noted that a large number of Christian churches had been built there. His claim is confirmed by a Chinese text of
3710-575: Is the Elizabethan version by John Frampton published in 1579, The most noble and famous travels of Marco Polo , based on Santaella's Castilian translation of 1503 (the first version in that language). The published editions of Polo's book rely on single manuscripts, blend multiple versions together, or add notes to clarify, for example in the English translation by Henry Yule . The 1938 English translation by A. C. Moule and Paul Pelliot
3816-468: Is the embodiment of that misconception, an attempt to think of America as China. But the moon is also repetition, the cyclical nature of human experience. There are three stories in the book, and each one is finally the same. Each generation repeats the mistakes of the previous generation. So it's also a critique of the notion of progress. A more prosaic explanation of the title is that the Moon Palace
3922-407: Is thrown out, Marco decides to ask Zimmer, an old college friend with whom he has lost contact, for help. Zimmer has moved to another apartment, so when Marco arrives at Zimmer's old apartment, he is invited by some strangers to join their breakfast. At that breakfast he meets Kitty Wu for the first time. She seems to fall in love with him. The next day, Marco has to leave his flat, and finds himself on
4028-496: Is unknown, but scholars estimate it to be between 1271 and 1275. On reaching the Yuan court, the Polos presented the sacred oil from Jerusalem and the papal letters to their patron. Marco knew four languages, and the family had accumulated a great deal of knowledge and experience that was useful to Kublai. It is possible that he became a government official; he wrote about many imperial visits to China's southern and eastern provinces,
4134-685: The Catalan Atlas and the Fra Mauro map . Marco Polo was born around 1254 in Venice , but the exact date and place of birth are archivally unknown. The Travels of Marco Polo contains some basic information concerning Marco Polo's Venetian family and his birth in Venice; the book states that Marco's father, the travelling merchant Niccolò Polo , returned to visit his family in his hometown of Venice around 1269 and there found out that his wife, whom he had left pregnant, had died and left
4240-487: The Genova Republic . Rustichello wrote Devisement du Monde in Franco-Venetian . The idea probably was to create a handbook for merchants , essentially a text on weights, measures and distances. The oldest surviving manuscript is in Old French heavily flavoured with Italian; According to the Italian scholar Luigi Foscolo Benedetto, this "F" text is the basic original text, which he corrected by comparing it with
4346-535: The Mongol Empire and China under the Yuan dynasty , giving Europeans their first comprehensive look into China, Persia, India, Japan, and other Asian societies. Born in Venice , Marco learned the mercantile trade from his father and his uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo , who travelled through Asia and met Kublai Khan . In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, exploring many places along
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4452-698: The South China Sea and are recorded in Pietro's book Conciliator Differentiarum , but not in Marco's Book of Travels . Reviewing Haw's book, Peter Jackson (author of The Mongols and the West ) has said that Haw "must surely now have settled the controversy surrounding the historicity of Polo's visit to China". Igor de Rachewiltz's review, which refutes Wood's points, concludes with a strongly-worded condemnation: "I regret to say that F. W.'s book falls short of
4558-448: The 'marvellous' fables and legends given in other European accounts, and despite some exaggerations and errors, Polo's accounts have relatively few of the descriptions of irrational marvels. In many cases of descriptions of events where he was not present (mostly given in the first part before he reached China, such as mentions of Christian miracles), he made a clear distinction that they are what he had heard rather than what he had seen. It
4664-587: The 14th century explaining how a Sogdian named Mar-Sargis from Samarkand founded six Nestorian Christian churches there in addition to one in Hangzhou during the second half of the 13th century. His story of the princess Kököchin sent from China to Persia to marry the Īl-khān is also confirmed by independent sources in both Persia and China. Sceptics have long wondered whether Marco Polo wrote his book based on hearsay, with some pointing to omissions about noteworthy practices and structures of China as well as
4770-464: The Europeans with a clear picture of the East's geography and ethnic customs, and it included the first Western record of porcelain, gunpowder, paper money, and some Asian plants and exotic animals. His narrative inspired Christopher Columbus and many other travellers. There is substantial literature based on Polo's writings; he also influenced European cartography , leading to the introduction of
4876-710: The Great Wall of China. Historian Stephen G. Haw argued that the Great Walls were built to keep out northern invaders, whereas the ruling dynasty during Marco Polo's visit were those very northern invaders. They note that the Great Wall familiar to us today is a Ming structure built some two centuries after Marco Polo's travels; and that the Mongol rulers whom Polo served controlled territories both north and south of today's wall, and would have had no reasons to maintain any fortifications that might have remained there from
4982-525: The Indies ), it is reasonable to think that they considered Marco's book as a trustworthy piece of information for missions in the East. The diplomatic communications between Pope Innocent IV and Pope Gregory X with the Mongols were probably another reason for this endorsement. At the time, there was open discussion of a possible Christian-Mongol alliance with an anti-Islamic function. A Mongol delegate
5088-489: The Mongols as ' barbarians ' who appeared to belong to 'some other world'. Doubts have also been raised in later centuries about Marco Polo's narrative of his travels in China, for example for his failure to mention the Great Wall of China , and in particular the difficulties in identifying many of the place names he used (the great majority, however, have since been identified). Many have questioned whether he had visited
5194-490: The Moon Men. In order to earn a sufficient living, he also gives clarinet lessons to beginners. His last job is selling encyclopedias. Uncle Victor is given to dreams, his mind restlessly shifting from one thing to another. He is interested in baseball and in all kinds of sport. His rich imagination and creativity allow him to invent playful activities for his nephew Marco. Uncle Victor carries out his guardianship for Marco in
5300-470: The Polos joined a caravan of travelling merchants whom they crossed paths with. Unfortunately, the party was soon attacked by bandits , who used the cover of a sandstorm to ambush them. The Polos managed to fight and escape through a nearby town, but many members of the caravan were killed or enslaved. Three and a half years after leaving Venice, when Marco was about 21 years old, the Polos were welcomed by Kublai into his palace. The exact date of their arrival
5406-736: The Polos with his last duty: accompany the Mongol princess Kököchin , who was to become the consort of Arghun Khan , in Persia. When the Polos arrived to Persia, they learned that Arghun Khan died, and Kököchin eventually became a wife of his son Ghazan . After leaving the princess, the Polos travelled overland to Constantinople. They later decided to return to their home. They returned to Venice in 1295, after 24 years, with many riches and treasures. They had travelled almost 15,000 miles (24,000 km). Marco Polo returned to Venice in 1295 with his fortune converted into gemstones . At this time, Venice
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#17327727134025512-520: The Polos' journeys throughout Asia, giving Europeans their first comprehensive look into the inner workings of the Far East , including China, India, and Japan . Polo was finally released from captivity in August 1299, and returned home to Venice, where his father and uncle in the meantime had purchased a large palazzo in the zone named contrada San Giovanni Crisostomo (Corte del Milion). For such
5618-516: The Silk Road until they reached " Cathay ". They were received by the royal court of Kublai Khan, who was impressed by Marco's intelligence and humility. Marco was appointed to serve as Kublai's foreign emissary, and he was sent on many diplomatic missions throughout the empire and Southeast Asia, visiting present-day Burma, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. As part of this appointment, Marco also travelled extensively inside China, living in
5724-492: The balance between his inner and outer self. This part devoted to Central Park may be considered an echo to the main themes of Transcendentalism and the works of Thoreau and Whitman. At first, the weather is very good, so where to stay is not a big problem. But after a few weeks the weather changes. In a strong rain shower, Marco becomes ill and retires to a cave in Central Park. After some days of delirium, he crawls out of
5830-442: The book a bestseller. The Italian scholar Luigi Foscolo Benedetto had previously demonstrated that the book was written in the same "leisurely, conversational style" that characterised Rustichello's other works, and that some passages in the book were taken verbatim or with minimal modifications from other writings by Rustichello. For example, the opening introduction in The Book of Marvels to "emperors and kings, dukes and marquises"
5936-557: The book that would convince him that Marco Polo did not go to China. Haw also argues in his book Marco Polo's China that Marco's account is much more correct and accurate than has often been supposed and that it is extremely unlikely that he could have obtained all the information in his book from secondhand sources. Haw also criticizes Wood's approach to finding mention of Marco Polo in Chinese texts by contending that contemporaneous Europeans had little regard for using surnames and that
6042-453: The books one by one in order to survive Fogg loses his apartment and seeks shelter in Central Park. He meets Kitty Wu and begins a romance with her after he has been rescued from Central Park by his friend Zimmer and Kitty Wu. Eventually he finds a job caring for an elderly man named Thomas Effing. Fogg learns about the complicated history of his parents, and Effing’s previous identity as the painter Julian Barber. During this time Effing becomes
6148-481: The cave and has wild hallucinations while lying outside. There, he is finally found by Zimmer and Kitty Wu, who have been looking for him for the whole time. Due to the fever he mistakes Kitty for a Native American and calls her Pocahontas . Zimmer (the German word for room) is a good friend, hosts Marco in his apartment, bears all his expenses, and helps him to recover. But when Marco has to go for his army physical, he
6254-534: The convent of San Giovanni , San Paolo of the Order of Preachers , and a cleric named Friar Benvenuto. He ordered 220 soldi be paid to Giovanni Giustiniani for his work as a notary and his prayers. The will was not signed by Polo, but was validated by the then-relevant " signum manus " rule, by which the testator had only to touch the document to make it legally valid. Due to the Venetian law stating that
6360-498: The daughter of Vitale Badoèr, a merchant. They had three daughters, Fantina (married Marco Bragadin), Bellela (married Bertuccio Querini), and Moreta. In 2022, it was found that Polo first had a daughter named Agnese (b. 1295/1299 - d. 1319) from a partnership or marriage which ended before 1300. Pietro d'Abano , a philosopher, doctor and astrologer based in Padua , reports having spoken with Marco Polo about what he had observed in
6466-466: The day ends at sunset, the exact date of Marco Polo's death cannot be determined, but according to some scholars it was between the sunsets of 8 and 9 January 1324. Biblioteca Marciana , which holds the original copy of his testament, dates the testament on 9 January 1323, and gives the date of his death at some time in June 1324. An authoritative version of Marco Polo's book does not and cannot exist, for
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#17327727134026572-407: The dormitory into his own apartment, furnished with 1492 books given to him by Uncle Victor. Uncle Victor dies before Fogg finishes college and leaves him without friends and family. Marco inherits some money which he uses to pay for Uncle Victor's funeral. He becomes an introvert , spends his time reading, and thinks, "Why should I get a job? I have enough to do living through the days." After selling
6678-597: The drawing in his volume Conciliator Differentiarum, quæ inter Philosophos et Medicos Versantur . Marco Polo gave Pietro other astronomical observations he made in the Southern Hemisphere , and also a description of the Sumatran rhinoceros , which are collected in the Conciliator . In 1305 he is mentioned in a Venetian document among local sea captains regarding the payment of taxes. His relation with
6784-405: The earlier dynasties. Other Europeans who travelled to Khanbaliq during the Yuan dynasty, such as Giovanni de' Marignolli and Odoric of Pordenone , said nothing about the wall either. The Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta , who asked about the wall when he visited China during the Yuan dynasty, could find no one who either had seen it or knew of anyone who had seen it, suggesting that while ruins of
6890-445: The early manuscripts differ significantly, and the reconstruction of the original text is a matter of textual criticism . A total of about 150 copies in various languages are known to exist. Before the availability of printing press , errors were frequently made during copying and translating, so there are many differences between the various copies. Polo related his memoirs orally to Rustichello da Pisa while both were prisoners of
6996-429: The emperor's lands for 17 years and seeing many things previously unknown to Europeans. Around 1291, the Polos offered to accompany the Mongol princess Kököchin to Persia; they arrived there around 1293. After leaving the princess, they travelled overland to Constantinople and then to Venice, returning home after 24 years. At this time, Venice was at war with Genoa . Marco joined the war effort on behalf of Venice and
7102-601: The established view that Polo was in China, in response to Wood's book. The book has been criticized by figures including Igor de Rachewiltz (translator and annotator of The Secret History of the Mongols ) and Morris Rossabi (author of Kublai Khan: his life and times ). The historian David Morgan points out basic errors made in Wood's book such as confusing the Liao dynasty with the Jin dynasty , and he found no compelling evidence in
7208-471: The evidence supporting Marco Polo's credibility." Some scholars believe that Marco Polo exaggerated his importance in China. The British historian David Morgan thought that Polo had likely exaggerated and lied about his status in China, while Ronald Latham believed that such exaggerations were embellishments by his ghostwriter Rustichello da Pisa . Et meser Marc Pol meisme, celui de cui trate ceste livre, seingneurie ceste cité por trois anz. And
7314-400: The family property of his wife Donata. In 1323, Polo was confined to bed due to illness. On 8 January 1324, despite physicians' efforts to treat him, Polo was on his deathbed. To write and certify the will, his family requested Giovanni Giustiniani, a priest of San Procolo. His wife, Donata, and his three daughters were appointed by him as co-executrices . The church was entitled by law to
7420-492: The far south and Burma . They were highly respected and sought after in the Mongolian court, and so Kublai Khan decided to decline the Polos' requests to leave China. They became worried about returning home safely, believing that if Kublai died, his enemies might turn against them because of their close involvement with the ruler. In 1292, Kublai's great-nephew, then ruler of Persia , sent representatives to China in search of
7526-479: The few omissions, Marco Polo's account is more extensive, more accurate and more detailed than those of other foreign travellers to China in this period. Marco Polo even observed Chinese nautical inventions such as the watertight compartments of bulkhead partitions in Chinese ships , knowledge of which he was keen to share with his fellow Venetians. In addition to Haw, other scholars have argued in favour of
7632-591: The first time, at the age of fifteen or sixteen. In 1271, Niccolò, Maffeo and Marco Polo embarked on their voyage to fulfil Kublai's request. They sailed to Acre , and then rode on camels to the Persian port of Hormuz . The Polos wanted to sail straight into China, but the ships there were not seaworthy, so they continued overland through the Silk Road , until reaching Kublai's summer palace in Shangdu , near present-day Zhangjiakou . In one instance during their trip,
7738-572: The first time. In 1271, during the rule of Doge Lorenzo Tiepolo , Marco Polo (at seventeen years of age), his father, and his uncle set off for Asia on the series of adventures that Marco later documented in his book. They sailed to Acre and later rode on their camels to the Persian port Hormuz . During the first stages of the journey, they stayed for a few months in Acre and were able to speak with Archdeacon Tedaldo Visconti of Piacenza . The Polo family, on that occasion, had expressed their regret at
7844-481: The lack of details in his description of southern Chinese cities compared to northern ones, while Herbert Franke also raised the possibility that Marco Polo had not been to China at all, and wondered if he had based his accounts on Persian sources, in view of his use of Persian expressions. This is taken further by Frances Wood who claimed in her 1995 book Did Marco Polo Go to China? that at best Polo never went farther east than Persia (modern Iran), and that there
7950-530: The lack of details on some places in his book. While Polo describes paper money and the burning of coal, he fails to mention the Great Wall of China , tea , Chinese characters , chopsticks , or footbinding . His failure to note the presence of the Great Wall of China was first raised in the middle of the 17th century, and in the middle of the 18th century, it was suggested that he had never reached China. Later scholars such as John W. Haeger argued that Marco Polo might not have visited Southern China, in view of
8056-457: The lamp in Jerusalem . The long sede vacante between the death of Pope Clement IV in 1268 and the election of his successor delayed the Polos in fulfilling Kublai's request. They followed the suggestion of Theobald Visconti, then papal legate for the realm of Egypt , and returned to Venice in 1269 or 1270 to await the nomination of the new Pope, which allowed Marco to see his father for
8162-570: The long lack of a pope, because on their previous trip to China they had received a letter from Kublai Khan to the Pope, and had thus had to leave for China disappointed. During the trip, however, they received news that after 33 months of vacation, finally, the Conclave had elected the new Pope and that he was exactly the archdeacon of Acre. The three of them hurried to return to the Holy Land, where
8268-539: The new Pope entrusted them with letters for the "Great Khan", inviting him to send his emissaries to Rome. To give more weight to this mission he sent with the Polos, as his legates, two Dominican fathers, Guglielmo of Tripoli and Nicola of Piacenza. They continued overland until they arrived at Kublai Khan 's palace in Shangdu , China (then known as Cathay ). By this time, Marco was 21 years old. Impressed by Marco's intelligence and humility, Kublai appointed him to serve as his foreign emissary to India and Burma . He
8374-405: The places he mentioned in his itinerary, whether he had appropriated the accounts of his father and uncle or other travellers, and some doubted whether he even reached China, or that if he did, perhaps never went beyond Khanbaliq (Beijing). It has been pointed out that Polo's accounts of China are more accurate and detailed than other travellers' accounts of the period. Polo had at times refuted
8480-490: The product of a larger European (and Eurasian) literary and commercial culture", rather than questions of veracity of the account. The book opens with a preface describing his father and uncle travelling to Bolghar where Prince Berke Khan lived. A year later, they went to Ukek and continued to Bukhara . There, an envoy from the Levant invited them to meet Kublai Khan , who had never met Europeans. In 1266, they reached
8586-528: The same Marco Polo, of whom this book relates, ruled this city for three years. This sentence in The Book of Marvels was interpreted as Marco Polo was "the governor" of the city of "Yangiu" Yangzhou for three years, and later of Hangzhou . This claim has raised some controversy. According to David Morgan no Chinese source mentions him as either a friend of the Emperor or as the governor of Yangzhou – indeed no Chinese source mentions Marco Polo at all. In
8692-699: The seat of Kublai Khan at Dadu , present-day Beijing , China. Kublai received the brothers with hospitality and asked them many questions regarding the European legal and political system. He also inquired about the Pope and Church in Rome. After the brothers answered the questions he tasked them with delivering a letter to the Pope, requesting 100 Christians acquainted with the Seven Arts (grammar, rhetoric, logic, geometry, arithmetic, music and astronomy). Kublai Khan requested also that an envoy bring him back oil of
8798-425: The sky. But it's also the longing for what is not, the unattainable, the human desire for transcendence. And yet it's history as well, particularly American history. First, there's Columbus, then there was the discovery of the west, then finally there is outer space: the moon as the last frontier. But Columbus had no idea that he'd discovered America. He thought he had sailed to India, to China. In some sense Moon Palace
8904-582: The somewhat more detailed Italian of Giovanni Battista Ramusio, together with a Latin manuscript in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana . Other early important sources are R (Ramusio's Italian translation first printed in 1559), and Z (a 15th-century Latin manuscript kept at Toledo, Spain). Another Old French Polo manuscript, dating to around 1350, is held by the National Library of Sweden. One of the early manuscripts Iter Marci Pauli Veneti
9010-522: The standard of scholarship that one would expect in a work of this kind. Her book can only be described as deceptive, both in relation to the author and to the public at large. Questions are posed that, in the majority of cases, have already been answered satisfactorily ... her attempt is unprofessional; she is poorly equipped in the basic tools of the trade, i.e., adequate linguistic competence and research methodology ... and her major arguments cannot withstand close scrutiny. Her conclusion fails to consider all
9116-405: The streets of Manhattan . Central Park becomes Marco's new home. Here he seeks shelter from the pressure of the Manhattan streets. He finds food in the garbage cans. Marco even manages to stay in touch with what is going on in the world by reading newspapers left by visitors. Although life in Central Park is not very comfortable, he feels at ease because he's enjoying his solitude and he restores
9222-403: The things he can see while driving the old man around. This way, Marco learns to look at the things around him very precisely. Later, Effing tells Marco to do the main work he was hired for: write his obituary. Effing tells him the main facts of his life as the famous painter Julian Barber and his conversion to Thomas Effing. He went to Utah with Byrne, a topographer, and Scoresby, a guide, to paint
9328-474: The truthfulness of the book and defined Marco as a "prudent, honoured and faithful man". In his writings, the Dominican brother Jacopo d'Acqui explains why his contemporaries were sceptical about the content of the book. He also relates that before dying, Marco Polo insisted that "he had told only a half of the things he had seen". According to some recent research of the Italian scholar Antonio Montefusco,
9434-464: The vast country. Byrne fell from a high place and the guide fled, leaving Barber alone in the middle of the desert. Barber finds a cave where a hermit used to live and begins to live there. He kills the Gresham brothers, three bandits, and takes the money to San Francisco, where he officially takes the name "Thomas Effing". He becomes rich, but one day someone tells him he's very similar to Julian Barber,
9540-682: The vault of the sky during his travels. Marco told him that during his return trip to the South China Sea , he had spotted what he describes in a drawing as a star "shaped like a sack" (in Latin : ut sacco ) with a big tail ( magna habens caudam ); most likely a comet . Astronomers agree that there were no comets sighted in Europe at the end of the 13th century, but there are records about a comet sighted in China and Indonesia in 1293. This circumstance does not appear in Polo's book of travels . Peter D'Abano kept
9646-492: The very close relationship that Marco Polo cultivated with members of the Dominican Order in Venice suggests that local fathers collaborated with him for a Latin version of the book, which means that Rustichello's text was translated into Latin for a precise will of the Order. Since Dominican fathers had among their missions that of evangelizing foreign peoples (cf. the role of Dominican missionaries in China and in
9752-438: The wall constructed in the earlier periods might have existed, they were not significant or noteworthy at that time. Haw also argued that footbinding was not common even among Chinese during Polo's time and almost unknown among the Mongols. While the Italian missionary Odoric of Pordenone who visited Yuan China mentioned footbinding (it is however unclear whether he was merely relaying something he had heard as his description
9858-511: The western explorer who reached China (Later M.S. "discovers" Kitty Wu and Uncle Victor gives him 1492 books, like the year of the discovery of "The New World" by Columbus). "Stanley" refers to the reporter Henry Morton Stanley , who found Dr. David Livingstone in the heart of darkest Africa. This could be related to the fact that he finds or discovers his father and grandfather. "Fogg" originally comes from Fogelmann (probably, deriving from German "Vogel" - "bird" and "Mann" - "man" ), which
9964-447: The work of Rustichello, who was giving what medieval European readers expected to find in a travel book. Apparently, from the very beginning, Marco's story aroused contrasting reactions, as it was received by some with a certain disbelief. The Dominican father Francesco Pipino was the author of a translation into Latin, Iter Marci Pauli Veneti in 1302, just a few years after Marco's return to Venice. Francesco Pipino solemnly affirmed
10070-456: Was Il libro di Marco Polo detto il Milione , which means "The Book of Marco Polo, nicknamed ' Milione ' ". According to the 15th-century humanist Giovanni Battista Ramusio , his fellow citizens awarded him this nickname when he came back to Venice because he kept on saying that Kublai Khan's wealth was counted in millions. More precisely, he was nicknamed Messer Marco Milioni (Mr Marco Millions). However, since also his father Niccolò
10176-567: Was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo (also known as Book of the Marvels of the World and Il Milione , c. 1300 ), a book that described the then-mysterious culture and inner workings of the Eastern world, including the wealth and great size of
10282-716: Was a Chinese restaurant (now defunct) in the Morningside Heights neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan , which was a popular student hangout when Auster was studying at Columbia University . Some aspects of the main character's life in Moon Palace mirror the life of the author. He was a descendant of an Austrian Jewish family, born on the Third of February 1947 in Newark , New Jersey , which
10388-440: Was a translation into Latin made by the Dominican brother Francesco Pipino [ it ] in 1302, just a few years after Marco's return to Venice. Since Latin was then the most widespread and authoritative language of culture, it is suggested that Rustichello's text was translated into Latin for a precise will of the Dominican Order , and this helped to promote the book on a European scale. The first English translation
10494-697: Was at war with the Republic of Genoa . Polo armed a galley equipped with a trebuchet to join the war. He was probably caught by Genoans in a skirmish in 1296, off the Anatolian coast between Adana and the Gulf of Alexandretta (and not during the battle of Curzola (September 1298), off the Dalmatian coast, a claim which is due to a later tradition (16th century) recorded by Giovanni Battista Ramusio ). He spent several months of his imprisonment dictating
10600-406: Was born as Julian Barber. He was a famous painter who lived in a house on a cliff. He was married to Elizabeth Wheeler, a young woman who, after the marriage, was a repeat victim of marital rape. Julian Barber eventually wanted to travel to the West and as his wife got scared he would not come back, she spent one night with him. He undertook the expedition anyway and lived as a hermit in the desert for
10706-484: Was captured by the Genoans. While imprisoned, he dictated stories of his travels to Rustichello da Pisa , a cellmate. He was released in 1299, became a wealthy merchant, married, and had three children. He died in 1324 and was buried in the church of San Lorenzo in Venice . Though he was not the first European to reach China , Marco Polo was the first to leave a detailed chronicle of his experience. His account provided
10812-478: Was changed to Fog by the immigration department. The second "g" was added later. Marco says about his last name: "A bird flying through the fog, a giant bird flying across the ocean, not stopping until it reached America" (this resembles the American Dream ). "Fogg" refers to Phileas Fogg , the protagonist in the novel of Jules Verne 's Around the World in Eighty Days . "Around the World in Eighty Days"
10918-494: Was lifted straight out of an Arthurian romance Rustichello had written several years earlier, and the account of the second meeting between Polo and Kublai Khan at the latter's court is almost the same as that of the arrival of Tristan at the court of King Arthur at Camelot in that same book. Latham believed that many elements of the book, such as legends of the Middle East and mentions of exotic marvels, might have been
11024-473: Was nicknamed Milione , 19th-century philologist Luigi Foscolo Benedetto was persuaded that Milione was a shortened version of Emilione , and that this nickname was used to distinguish Niccolò's and Marco's branch from other Polo families. His father, Niccolò Polo , a merchant, traded with the Near East , becoming wealthy and achieving great prestige. Niccolò and his brother Maffeo set off on
11130-667: Was sent on many diplomatic missions throughout his empire and in Southeast Asia, (such as in present-day Indonesia , Sri Lanka and Vietnam ), but also entertained the Khan with stories and observations about the lands he saw. As part of this appointment, Marco travelled extensively inside China, living in the emperor's lands for 17 years. Kublai initially refused several times to let the Polos return to Europe, as he appreciated their company and they became useful to him. However, around 1291, he finally granted permission, entrusting
11236-619: Was solemnly baptised at the Second Council of Lyon . At the council, Pope Gregory X promulgated a new Crusade to start in 1278 in liaison with the Mongols. Since its publication, some have viewed the book with skepticism. Some in the Middle Ages regarded the book simply as a romance or fable, due largely to the sharp difference of its descriptions of a sophisticated civilisation in China to other early accounts by Giovanni da Pian del Carpine and William of Rubruck , who portrayed
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