The Light Garden of the Angel King

by Peter Levi, Bruce Chatwin (Photographer)

From time immemorial Afghanistan has both been a fortress of faith and a mountainous crossroads. Through its high valleys merchants traded Chinese porcelains, bundles of indigo cloth, sacks of lapis lazuli, golden jewellery, emeralds and fine carvings from both east and west. Ancient scrolls and beliefs entered the land in satchels of Buddhist pilgrims and in the baggage of military invaders- from Alexander the Great to Mughal, Persian and Arab conquerors and even the ill-fated armies of the British Raj. In this resonant account, Peter Levi seeks the clues which each migration left, in the company of the young Bruce Chatwin. Since his journey in the 1970s, Afghanistan has suffered forty years of invasion and civil war, making it all the more poignant to rediscover, with Levi, not a rocky wilderness guarded by fearsome tribes, but ‘this highway of archangels/ this theatre of heaven/ the light garden of the God-forgiven angel King.’

Genres: Travel, History, Nonfiction, Middle East, Asia, Archaeology, Memoir

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Peter Chad Tigar Levi, FSA, FRSL, Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford (1984–1989) was a poet, archaeologist, sometime Jesuit priest, travel writer, biographer, academic and prolific reviewer and critic.

Reviews

[Daren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never really connected with the writing in this book. Against all my expectations, I found it to be fairly dry. Packed full of history - people, places, events, archaeology, culture - but ultimately, quite dry. Even Bruce Chatwin only got the odd mention, despite being his constant companion.

Despite being 185 pages long (excluding the note, poetry and index) it felt like a 400 page book! To be fair it is very small type.

Another reviewer nailed it when he said Sometimes, however, the beauty of the country or a particular episode touches the author in a different way and the book comes alive. Unfortunately these bits are not that many, which is too bad, for the trip he did, the incredible things seen and experienced really deserved a better storyteller. Couldn't have explained it better myself.

So high two star, low 3 star from me. Maybe I should have read this slowly and sparingly, with a couple of other books.

[Yigal Zur · Rating 3 out of 5]

it is a must for every traveler on the silk road who want to understand the clues that migrations, hordes of fighters. scholars and merchants. it is quite different in style from most travel books. dry and cryptic and you have to reread or jump to the gems that are thrown here and there.

[Rui Valente · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author's style is very descriptive, and as such the book resembles a 300-page treadmil, a dry archeological tour de force.
Sometimes, however, the beauty of the country or a particular episode touches the author in a different way and the book comes alive. Unfortunately these bits are not that many, which is too bad, for the trip he did, the incredible things seen and experienced really deserved a better storyteller.

[DoctorM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Levi--- classicist, ex-Jesuit, poet ---traveled through Iran and Afghanistan with the young Bruce Chatwin in the mid-1960s. "Light Garden of the Angel King" is his memoir of a trip into a world and time that's as alien and lost now as the ancient Hellas he studied. A fine, gentle, elegant account of a trip, a potrtait of a companion, and a lovely evocation of place. A travel lit classic.

[Wes F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad--not great. Was interesting to be reminded of how Afghanistan was back in the '70s when I lived there as a young teenager. Did some of the same things as Levi, but I didn't have his Oxford pedigree.

[Garry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written but also frustrating book reconstructed from the author's notes of his challenging travels in remote mountains in Afghanistan in search of ancient monuments and archeological sites.

While much of his writing is lovely and interesting, at times, the lack of editing out the less important details, lack of plot, or drama wears the reader down like a heavy backpack. I skimmed some of the second half.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mentioned in my review of Peter Levi's book of travel and archaeology in Ancient Greece, The Hill of Kronos, that Levi had travelled to Afghanistan with Bruce Chatwin. This book, The Light Garden of the Angel King, is the record of that journey, from Levi's perspective. It is a journal of archaeology and travel, rather than a journal of personalities. It is a journal of a poet, collecting images and events to mull over and use (the poems Levi composed whilst on the journey are in an appendix at the back of the book).

The aim of the journey, for Levi, was to investigate whether the ancient Greek influence on Afghanistan was discernable through its archaeology, and how much of it still remained. Much as Levi does in The Hill of Kronos, he and Chatwin travel through areas where archaeology abounds, but the knowledge of it was minimal or non-existant. Travelling in Afghanistan has always been dangerous from a human and geographical point of view, and Levi has guns pointed at him, sleeps through an earthquake and suffers both extremes of heat and cold during his journey through the rugged hills and valleys of the country.

In this book he gets around quite a bit of the country, from Helmand, to Kandahar, Kabul, through Nuristan and to within sight of the Oxus River, he describes to us ancient citadels, ruined cities, nail-biting 'plane trips and interesting characters met along the way. There are some highly technical sections in the book about the finds Levi makes archaeologically, and these are well supported with footnotes. But, for me, it is his descriptions of the Afghan countryside, in its starkness and beauty, that are the best parts of the book.

Much like The Hill of Kronos, The Light Garden of the Angel King somewhat falls between two stools as a book, neither being a proper archaeological study, nor a full-on travel book. It is, however a good book.

Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/

[Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Angel King is Babur, first mugahl emperor of India, and the garden is the one where he is buried in Kabul, the city he preferred to all others, and where he asked to be taken after his death

It’s a travel book, about Afghanistan, Kabul and Herat taking lots of space and for good reason.

[Alan Parker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I'm finding this book very heavy going. Not sure if I can be bothered to keep trying. It's very thorough on history and light on travel writing. A more academic version of Bruce Chatwin, who was with Levi on this trip.

Gave up. Not fun to read.

[Bob Peru · Rating 3 out of 5]

too much ancient archaeology. the pure travel bits were good though. bruce chatwin makes only a guest appearance.

[Gypsy Fredrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. Of course I have always been interested in Afghanistan. So sad to think of all that has been lost of its history

[Neil Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Levi & Bruce Chatwin travelled through Afghanistan less than a year before I visited the country in 1970. My visit was relatively brief compared to Peter Levi, but it was a glimpse of a country now changed beyond belief, mainly through the interference of the Super Powers. Peter Levi had an interest in archaeology, particularly of the ancient settlements established by Alexander the Great & his successors. He is descriptive in his travels, particularly in their hike into the remote mountains of Nuristan. This book is recommended to anyone interested in Afghanistan as it was 50 years ago, & also in the Silk Road & the ancient, unexcavated archaeological sites of this remote mysterious land.

[Mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I viaggi non arricchiscono la mente, la creano”. Bruce Chatwin. Libro scoperto alla mostra “i tesori nascosti dell’Afghanistan” e comprato colpita dal bellissimo titolo. E’ la storia di un'amicizia eccezionale e di un viaggio in un Afghanistan che non esiste più. Stupenda la prefazione di Tiziano Terzani.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Afghanistan when it was still possible to travel in relative safety and before the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan.

[Emerson Grossmith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I already wrote about this book but here goes again. It's been awhile since I first read this--I had the hardcover version. Levi was a classics scholar and a perfect foil to a young Bruce Chatwin. Some people find this book too dry with archaeological sites mentioned ad nauseum. It was precisely for this reason that I love the book. I should also mention that I am or was an old Near eastern archaeologist who worked on ancient sites in Palestine (1991), Syria (1992), Jordan (1995), and finally, Yemen (1996). I have always wanted to go to Afghanistan but between the Soviets, the Taliban and the US--it is probably terra incognita now what with all the land mines.

I would place this book right up there with David Chaffetz's "Afghanistan: A Memoir", Robert Byron's "The Road to Oxiana" and "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush" by Newby.

It's a pity that despite being an excellent travelling companion, that Chatwin never wrote a book on his travels in Afghanistan--he wrote about every other place he travelled.
I will have to read this again.