Travel to India

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi

Format: Paperback
Author: William Dalrymple
ReleaseDate: 25 March, 2003
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Rating:

Excellent story told by an excellent writer
Dalrymple tells the story through his own visits to various sites and people in the city and interjects modern stories that add color to the city and its history. Really this book is a history of Delhi, starting with modern times and progressing backwards to the very origins of the city. There is large emphasis on architecture, which show up in some of Dalrymple's other writings, but is especially appropriate for Delhi with its long history of grand architectural projects and civic planning, and its current collection of Moghul, Raj and modern buildings.

But in the end, it is Dalrymple's handling of the characters, his severe Sikh landlady and her eccentric husband with his romantic interest in Dalrymple's wife; the old-maid sisters living in their dusty mansion like antique relics of the Raj; the Anglo-English retired railway engineer, and the secretive eunuchs, that make this book really come alive.

On a darker, more journalistic and wide-ranging note. . . "The Age of Kali" is an excellent companion or just worth reading on its own. .

seems like Khushwant Singh's narrative....
Good quality and such books become a lifelong collection to be read again and again. Excellent book!! There is a touch of Khushwant singh's prose history narrative (check out Khushwant Singh's Delhi).

Superlative work of art
Some can be tasted, some viewed, some just felt and still others which are just to be believed. Delhi is a city of many flavors. . . . . . just taken for granted.
This little book by Dalrymple brings to life a new flavor on almost every leaf.
One moment you will have your heart racing finding yourself in the midst of a mehfil at the pinnacle of Delhi's literary history and a page later you will suddenly be transported to dereliction of today's old Delhi, description of mouth watering delicacies from Dara Shikoh's wedding is contrasted by thirst and hunger of Daulatabad death march.

The book is remarkably lucid and continuous yet it webs off to touch an aspect of Delhi's life and pulse, leaping off once in a while, only to loop back again to complete a full circle.
Alternating between past and present, like day and night, the author spans over 3000 years of Delhi's history and history of its peoples in an ingeniously funny and at the same time poignant way.
Dalrymple is a genius of pen and perception and City of Djinns is simply a superlative work of art. .

Related products:
click image or link for details on these India travel books.

	The Age of Kali: Indian Travels and Encounters
	Travelers' Tales India: True Stories (Travelers' Tales)
	Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure
	Lonely Planet India