Breeze of Persia

Author: Takashi Sagawa
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: This book is one of the Midnight Express Trilogy. A travel literature classic that has captivated Japan for over two decades and sold over a million copies! Midnight Express is the code name used by foreign inmates in Turkish prisons. They refer to escaping prison as "hitching a ride on the Midnight Express." The author views his own travels as a form of "escape"—a journey of spatial exile transformed into the threads of words, fueled by a compassionate heart. The ups and downs of emotions serve as the lifeblood of his writing, unfolding a social tapestry of joys and sorrows among various strata of people across the countries and regions of the Eurasian continent.
At the home of the Goddess of Mercy—India, the author lives with the children of the lowest echelons of Indian society, experiencing their lives, hardships, and helplessness. He observes, with sympathy, the frequent tragedies of life and death on the streets, while the death of a drug-addicted youth at the hotel where he stays compels him to leave the place as soon as possible. After a long and arduous journey, he arrives in Kathmandu, witnessing up close the lives of middle-aged marijuana users and a love tragedy with an exotic touch. He boards a bus that travels westward like a frenzied express, heading toward the "Silk Road," from Pakistan to Afghanistan, and unexpectedly settles in Kabul for a long time. Later, a letter from his hometown in Japan pushes him to continue his journey toward Tehran, finally completing his Silk Road trip.