Great Britain - Travel Essays & Descriptions, European Travel Photography - British, London - Travel

London Perceived

Name: London Perceived
Author: V. S. Pritchett
ISBN: 9781567921489

by V. S. Pritchett, Evelyn Hofer

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Overview

Here is a distillation of the London experience - a panorama of its history, art, literature, and daily life. Here is the city that Londoners know, a paradox of grandeur and grime, the locus of bustling markets and tranquil parks, of the ancient and modern, of palaces and pubs, of docks and railroad depots. Great Londoners of the past stalk these pages - Wren, Pepys, Defoe, Hogarth, Dickens, and of course, that consummate Londoner, Samuel Johnson, who said, "No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford." And here, too, are the faces of the people inhabiting London today - milkmen and master mariners, dockers and shopkeepers, messengers, Chelsea pensioners, and, inevitably, the London bobby. There is, as well, an analysis of the Londoner himself, enigmatic and enduring, with his remote but insistent respect for law, royalty, and ritual, his affection for argument, his toleration of eccentrics. This new paperback of the original 1962 edition offers a loving tribute to a great city's past and present.

Synopsis

An extended essay by Pritchett (1900-97) and striking b&w photographs by Evelyn Hofer present a personal view of the city, integrating history, art, literature, and daily life. The 1962 cloth edition was published by Harcourt Brace and World. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR