34 replies to this topic

[tstan]

Heard on good authority today that WD plans to have a book on the momentous events of 1857 ready for the 150th anniversary. Set aside a bit of time before May 2007 for some serious reading!

[SHIMLA]

Hello tstan ! Great seeing you here !!

William Dalrymple's books are always worth looking forward to. However, the new book seems to belong to the same period as his "White Mughals".

[iwanttogoback]

isn't the rebellion a different story to 'white mughals'?
or is this another book you are talking about shimla.
cannot recommed the dalrymple books I have read too highly, especially 'city of djinns.'

[SHIMLA]

iwanttogoback, on May 11 2006, 05:00 PM, said:

isn't the rebellion a different story to 'white mughals'?
or is this another book you are talking about shimla.
cannot recommed the dalrymple books I have read too highly, especially 'city of djinns.'

OOPS, you are right, iwanttogoback !!! I got two books mixed up. The one I had in mind was "A flight of Pigeons" by Ruskin Bond, which pertains to the events during the mutiny of 1857.

Sorry !!

[Judi]

tstan, on May 11 2006, 10:35 AM, said:

Heard on good authority today that WD plans to have a book on the momentous events of 1857 ready for the 150th anniversary. Set aside a bit of time before May 2007 for some serious reading!

Great - thanks for that tip ..... I'll be looking out for it.

[timdog]

It's called "The Last Mughal", and focuses on the Emporer Bahadur Shah, and will tell the story of the Mutiny from that perspective. Aparantly it will be the first of a quartet of biographies of great Mughal Emporers. It's out in October.

[iwanttogoback]

thanks timdog - looking forward to it already.

[tstan]

Dalrymple will be back in autumnal Sydney at the end of May for the Sydney Writers' Festival.

[kullukid]

tstan, on May 11 2007, 01:59 PM, said:

Dalrymple will be back in autumnal Sydney at the end of May for the Sydney Writers' Festival.

After visiting the Qutab Minar on my last trip i went to check out the empty/ruined Zafar Mahal which was the palace belonging to the last Mughal in Dalrymples book. It's only a 5min rickshaw ride from the Qutab Minar in a Moslem area. Despite it's close location to Qutab Minar there were no other visitors & the place seemed very neglected & left to fall down.In most countries this would be a Protected Heritage site bearing in mind it's historical importance the Palace of the last Mughal, if you are in the area check it out! Here's some photo's the first 3 are of the Zafar Mahal. KK
http://picasaweb.goo....uk/kulluk...=a Xi5LUpg9V4

[jyotirmoy]

I have written about the place where the last Mughal stood & watched the dust raised by the horsemen from east moving in to Delhi to prop him up as the ruler of India. He never imagined that he will spend his last days locked up in Burma far from the Meena Bazar of Delhi

[YETI]

I prefer his current writing to the historical stuff.

I didn't finish White Mughals because it bored me, but City Of Djinns and The Age Of Kali are both great. They're not about India but From The Holy Mountain and In Xanadu are both excellent, too.

The bit in The Age Of Kali where he gets into the Tamil Tiger training camp is incredible. He's lucky to be alive but he reports it like it's no big deal. Great stuff.

Anyhow, here's my one and only chance to shamelessly name-drop him. Sort of. The room I stayed in at Terekhol Fort in Goa was where he wrote The Last Moghul. And his brother was staying there, too. So there.

That's the nearest I get to celebrities. I tend to get restraining orders otherwise.

[Judi]

Dr Funkenstein, on May 11 2007, 05:22 PM, said:

Anyhow, here's my one and only chance to shamelessly name-drop him. Sort of. The room I stayed in at Terekhol Fort in Goa was where he wrote The Last Moghul. And his brother was staying there, too. So there.

That's the nearest I get to celebrities. I tend to get restraining orders otherwise.

You little Jumper Toucher, you !

[dzibead]

Dr Funkenstein, on May 11 2007, 09:22 AM, said:

That's the nearest I get to celebrities. I tend to get restraining orders otherwise.

See, this is why you need to write the book, so you kin be wunna them there celebrities yerself. (Then we can all brag about how we knew you when ...)

"Jumper Toucher" ! That's a new one to me. I'll have to remember that one.

I'm going to wade into The Last Mughal after I finish the current doorstop I'm working on: Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra -which is good, by the way.

[YETI]

I like 'Jumper Toucher', too. Sort of like 'Ambulance Chaser'.

[iwanttogoback]

there is a very vulgar australian expression which uses a male item of clothing, but it's not for mixed company...

i have to say that the expression 'jumper toucher' immediately brought it to mind. but then i have that kind of mind!

btw, i loved 'white mughals', as well as 'city of djinns', but i found 'in xanadu' awfully tedious - somewhat like brideshead meets the karakoram pass, but not as interesting as evelyn waugh.

dr f, iwantoreadyourbookwhereisit?

[Judi]

iwanttogoback, on May 12 2007, 04:55 AM, said:

there is a very vulgar australian expression which uses a male item of clothing, but it's not for mixed company...

Oh go on, iw, tell us! Mark your post For Women Only .... you can be sure then that none of the boys will read it and you can spare your blushes!

[jyotirmoy]

There is one "boy" here or not ?????

[priya]

I'm pretty sure I've worked out the "Jumper Toucher" bit, but I'm very curious about the item of clothing, iwtgb.........

[iwanttogoback]

well it's probably not just an aussie expression, but the term 'shirt lifter' came to mind...

[tstan]

A similar expression used in Sydney is "pillow biter"!