City of djinns [WorldCat Entities]

"City of Djinns"@it

author

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http://worldcat.org/entity/person/id/2632371926

contributor

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creator

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http://worldcat.org/entity/person/id/2632371926

description

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"Sparkling with irrepressible wit, City of Djinns peels back the layers of Delhi's centuries-old history, revealing an extraordinary array of characters along the way-from eunuchs to descendants of great Moguls. With refreshingly open-minded curiosity, William Dalrymple explores the seven "dead" cities of Delhi as well as the eighth city'today's Delhi. Underlying his quest is the legend of the djinns, fire-formed spirits that are said to assure the city's Phoenix-like regeneration no matter how many times it is destroyed. Entertaining, fascinating, and informative, City of Djinns is an irresistible blend of research and adventure."@en
"In the course of 12 months in Delhi, the author peels back the successive encrusting layers of history, using both material and human remains of each of the eight cities of Delhi, interlacing innumerable stories with the present and ending with the Delhi creation myth contained in the great Indian epic "The Mahabharata.""
"Fasciné par Delhi, l'auteur s'intéresse ici tout particulièrement aux vestiges urbains des empires qui se sont succédé dans la région et à la renaissance perpétuelle de la ville et de ses habitants. Des portraits humains complètent ce voyage dans le passé, décrivant de vieux majors de l'armée anglaise, des personnages à la réussite fulgurante ou des sages croisés au coin des rues."
""Alive with the mayhem of the present and sparkling with William Dalrymple's irrepressible wit, City of Djinns is a fascinating portrait of a city. Watched over and protected by the mischievous, invisible djinns, Delhi has, through their good offices, been saved from destruction many times over the centuries. With an extraordinary array of characters, from elusive eunuchs to the last remnants of the Raj, Dalrymple's second book is a unique and dazzling feat of research. Over the course of a year he comes to know the bewildering city intimately, and brilliantly conveys its magical nature, peeling back successive layers of history, and interlacing innumerable stories from Delhi's past and present."--Publisher description."@en
"City of Djinns is the portrait of a city as has never been attempted before. Meeting an extraordinary array of characters, from the city's elusive eunuchs to the embattled descendants of the great Moghuls, from the nouveauriche Punjabis to the last witnesses of the British Raj, and investigating the resonances of these people and their ways with the India of the past, this is a unique and dazzling feat of research and adventure by one of the finest writers of his generation. Watched over and protected by the mischievous djinns - spirits invisible to the naked eye, 'like us in all things, but fashioned from fire' - Delhi has been saved many times over the centuries. From the desolate, run-down graveyards in which partridge-fighting has drawn crowds for hundreds of years to the exquisite palaces of the old city which now lie empty and crumbling, Dalrymple comes to know this bewildering place intimately. He conveys the magical nature of this city at the meeting point of all the great cultures of South Asia, a city that has been destroyed and rebuilt, forever being reborn under the care of its guardian djinns."
"Alive with the mayhem of the present and sparkling with William Dalrymple's irrepressible wit, City of Djinns is a fascinating portrait of a city."@en
""When he was seventeen, William Dalrymple visited Delhi and was transfixed by this ancient city's multiple layers of history, myth, and legend. Five years after his first trip he returned, this time newly married, to record his fascination on paper."--Page 4 of cover."