Book about adventures in Pakistan published in Chinese
The Chinese version of Travels in a Dervish Cloak has been published recently by the Commercial Press.
Travels in a Dervish Cloak is a memoir of Isambard Wilkinson, a foreign correspondent who took several journeys to the heart of Pakistan. It reveals real life in Pakistan with highs and lows of the author who loves this country with all its flaws and splendor.
According to Luo Xin, chief editor of the Chinese version, the book includes Wilkinson's travels in Pakistan between 2006 and 2009. It is both a classic travelogue and a travel guide, illuminating aspects of Pakistan that do not generally get media coverage.
His main purpose in his adventurous travels across Pakistan is not to explore the current political disputes, but to seek out the vanishing ancient traditions, the holy places, the saints and the tenacious local claims. In the midst of turbulence, he tries to glimpse the light of the past and the possibilities of the future.
Rather than subjecting the readers to a conflicted history of Pakistan or its state of affairs, Wilkinson has made his time in Pakistan charming, distinctive and engaging. He reminds us of great humanity and considerable charms of the place.
Enchanted by his Anglo-Indian grandmother's stories about the subcontinent, Wilkinson made his first visit to Pakistan as a schoolboy. “In a curious way I found myself experiencing nostalgia for a place I’d never known,” he said in the book.
From his grandmother's close friend in Lahore to devout soldiers, from the sprawling countryside in Islamabad to sufi shrines galore, the author lets the visually stunning of the landscape and the characters he met tell the story, all with humor and insight.
The book can now be purchased on Chinese online shops such as Dangdang and Jingdong, according to the publishing house.