Part 1 Introduction

Kublai Khan the Tartar emperor does not fully believe the Venetian explorer Marco Polo’s account of the cities he has visited. However, disenchanted with his colonial project and the “sense of emptiness” that arises from conquering lands without understanding them, Polo’s accounts awaken his curiosity and the sense that something worthwhile can be salvaged from the wreckage of empire (5).

“Cities and Memory 1”

The narrator describes the city of Diomira’s wonders, such as silver domes, bronze statues, and lead-paved streets. These will be “familiar to the visitor, who has seen them also in other cities” (6). However, a visitor who arrives on a particular September evening will feel envy towards others who believe that they have experienced an evening identical to this and thought they were happy.

“Cities and Memory 2”

The city of Isidora corresponds to the traveler’s dreams of a city when he was riding “a long time through wild regions” (7). Isidora is the definition of progress, with its cutting-edge inventions such as “perfect telescopes and violins,” and it is also an abundant, luxurious place, filled with a surplus of attractive women (7). However, while Isidora nurtured the traveler’s youthful desires and dreams, he arrives to it as old man and can only contemplate desire as a distant memory.