City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi
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Product Description
Review
‘Delightful… Surely one of the funniest books about India’
Times Literary Supplement
‘Scholarly and marvellously entertaining… a considerable feat’
Dervla Murphy, Spectator
‘Dalrymple has pulled it off again’
Jan Morris, Independent
Product Description
A scintillating memoir of a year spent in Delhi by one of the best young writers at work today.
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.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am eternally grateful to Mr. Dalrymple for writing 'City Of Djinns' because it led me to view the city where I was born and where I now live in an entirely new light. I confess that despite spending ten of my sixteen years in Delhi I never went out of my way to find out its historical significance and my interaction with its monuments never progressed beyond a few cursory visits, acting as a (remarkably unqualified) guide to several NRI friends who were just as uncurious and complacent as I was.
It was only after reading this book for the first time about six months ago that I realized what I was missing out on, and since then I have made an attempt to set out and rediscover the city and its forgotten jewels. It amazes me how the author can see so much poetry in what appears to be a crumbling mass of ruins to the lay observer. Sometimes his description of the architectural features of a church or mosque or temple or tomb is a bit too erudite for me to fully comprehend, and then I have to look up the terms that he uses and agonize over photographs of that particular edifice, trying to see what all the fuss is about, but I think that's what really makes the book so delightful-there is a different and beautiful-sounding word for everything that is described.
The book, I thought, is very delicately structured, which is in keeping with the subject-Delhi, for all its bustle, lacks the cheery boldness of say, Mumbai, another great Indian city. There is a certain fragility about Delhi, which becomes more obvious as you venture into the Walled City, and it is exactly this elusive quality that Mr. Dalrymple has captured so beautifully in his book.
It was only after reading this book for the first time about six months ago that I realized what I was missing out on, and since then I have made an attempt to set out and rediscover the city and its forgotten jewels. It amazes me how the author can see so much poetry in what appears to be a crumbling mass of ruins to the lay observer. Sometimes his description of the architectural features of a church or mosque or temple or tomb is a bit too erudite for me to fully comprehend, and then I have to look up the terms that he uses and agonize over photographs of that particular edifice, trying to see what all the fuss is about, but I think that's what really makes the book so delightful-there is a different and beautiful-sounding word for everything that is described.
The book, I thought, is very delicately structured, which is in keeping with the subject-Delhi, for all its bustle, lacks the cheery boldness of say, Mumbai, another great Indian city. There is a certain fragility about Delhi, which becomes more obvious as you venture into the Walled City, and it is exactly this elusive quality that Mr. Dalrymple has captured so beautifully in his book.
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It seldom happens to me that I select one particular author and then want to read every book written by him; William Dalrymple is one such author. To me his works In Xanadu, From the Holy Mountain, City of Djinns a year in Delhi are not just historical adventures they are kleidoscopes of worlds within worlds.
Delhi is a city that i love and i love it for all the reasons given in City of Djinns. This book is a complete picture of a city ravaged and re built, destroyed and recreated but What makes Dalrymple's Delhi different is that it takes a human shape, a face you recognise.
All events past and present in City of Djjins are within the grasp of the reader. Dalrymple writes about the Persian Massacre, Indian Mutiny of 1857 and the bloody Partition of 1947 but never taking you too far from the present day rickshaw noises or the eunuchs inhabiting the mysterious inner streets of old Delhi so one is not weighed down by history rather mediating between the two worlds.
Dalrymple is profound, sensitive but above all witty. On the ever changing modern day Delhi I quote the author, "Delhi was starting to unbutton. After the long victorian twilight the sari was beginning to slip".
Delhi is a city that i love and i love it for all the reasons given in City of Djinns. This book is a complete picture of a city ravaged and re built, destroyed and recreated but What makes Dalrymple's Delhi different is that it takes a human shape, a face you recognise.
All events past and present in City of Djjins are within the grasp of the reader. Dalrymple writes about the Persian Massacre, Indian Mutiny of 1857 and the bloody Partition of 1947 but never taking you too far from the present day rickshaw noises or the eunuchs inhabiting the mysterious inner streets of old Delhi so one is not weighed down by history rather mediating between the two worlds.
Dalrymple is profound, sensitive but above all witty. On the ever changing modern day Delhi I quote the author, "Delhi was starting to unbutton. After the long victorian twilight the sari was beginning to slip".
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
William Dalrymple is probably the best travel writer of his generation, both in his ability to evoke a sense of time and place, and his skill for shedding light on history in an engaging and accessible way. In contrast to his first book, the brilliant 'In Xanadu', Dalrymple focuses less on
his own experiences and more on unpeeling the multiple and intriguing layers of Delhi's history. This is not to say he is an invisible presence in the book, but that his personal account acts more as an access point for historical discovery than a narrative in itself - Paul Theroux this is not. 'A Year in Delhi' finds Dalrymple digging deeper and deeper into Delhi's history throughout his trip, unravelling the various epochs of the city, from the British Raj to the roots of The Mahabharata. At once amusing and erudite, Dalrymple also has a gift for sketching the surreal characters he meets along the way, from Sufi mystics and taxi drivers to his eccentric landlady. This must be the definitive travel companion for a trip to this fascinating and ancient city.
his own experiences and more on unpeeling the multiple and intriguing layers of Delhi's history. This is not to say he is an invisible presence in the book, but that his personal account acts more as an access point for historical discovery than a narrative in itself - Paul Theroux this is not. 'A Year in Delhi' finds Dalrymple digging deeper and deeper into Delhi's history throughout his trip, unravelling the various epochs of the city, from the British Raj to the roots of The Mahabharata. At once amusing and erudite, Dalrymple also has a gift for sketching the surreal characters he meets along the way, from Sufi mystics and taxi drivers to his eccentric landlady. This must be the definitive travel companion for a trip to this fascinating and ancient city.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
City of Djinns by William Dalrymple
This is an excellent book. I read it while visiting India and found it very informative and interesting, especially when we were in Delhi. I would highly recommend it.
Published 2 months ago by Anoif Hanneh
Delhi experiences
Dalrymple has written some fascinating books but this one is relatively lightweight compared to others such as The Last Mughal. Read more
Published 10 months ago by banjulbell
Review
A most engaging and readable book, a 'must' for a visitor to Delhi. The author brings the city and its history to life in a way that an ordinary guidebook can only dream of. Read more
Published 19 months ago by e gould
A formidable read
This book was recommended by a friend, and i am so glad that they did. It is a wonderful read, easy, entertaining, and very well written. Read more
Published 20 months ago by BobbyC
mandatory if you really want to enjoy our contemporary (Anglo-)Indian...
This may not be the most exciting, thrilling book you'll ever lay your hands (eyes) on, and it certainly doesn't have a thick plot or anything like that if that's what you are... Read more
Published 22 months ago by RonRonCelup
A delightful insight into Indian history.
`City of Djinns' offers us a history of Delhi that gradually draws us back in time as the book progresses, interspersed with an account of the authors own time living there. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Spider Monkey
Utterly Utterly brilliant.
Read it and enjoy. He is such an engaging writer, the book is well researched and well put together. Read more
Published on 17 Nov 2009 by The Riddler
Dalrymple at his best
There are 9 Delhi's in History. Each rich incarnation laid over the preceding. Decaying buildings of grandeur a testament to the richness of Delhi's oft neglected cultural... Read more
Published on 29 July 2009 by Spilsbury
City of Djinns
I recently read city of djinns written by william dalrymple. It was such an honour to know that somebody has actually tried, visiting and living in delhi to know the real delhi. Read more
Published on 11 Nov 2007 by Mrs. V. Pandey
The Legacy of Partition
« City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi » William Dalrymple HarperCollins 1993
« City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi » was my travel reading for my first trip to India in the... Read more
« City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi » was my travel reading for my first trip to India in the... Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2007 by Jeane FREER
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