City of Lingering Splendour: A Frank Account of Old Peking's Exotic Pleasures
by John Blofeld
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Book Summary Information
Author: John BlofeldEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-05-01
ISBN: 1570626375
Number of pages: 280
Publisher: Shambhala
Book Reviews of City of Lingering Splendour: A Frank Account of Old Peking's Exotic Pleasures
Book Review: one of a kind
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been reading John Blofeld since the 80's. His writing is honest and straight forward. What is special about this work is the time frame. It is a first hand account and we are not brought down by the dreary chronology or dry scholastic jibberish of Western history academics. His introduction warns of his awareness of the flaws of the culture, but he wishes to show the strengths and beauty of a dying civilization. Truly unique, inspiring and thought provoking
Summary of City of Lingering Splendour: A Frank Account of Old Peking's Exotic Pleasures
In his early twenties, John Blofeld spent what he describes as "three exquisitely happy years" in Peking during the era of the last emperor, when the breathtaking greatness of China's ancient traditions was still everywhere evident. Arriving in 1934, he found a city imbued with the atmosphere of the recent imperial past and haunted by the powerful spirit of the late Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi. He entered a world of magnificent palaces and temples of the Forbidden City, of lotus-covered lakes and lush pleasure-gardens, of bustling bazaars and peaceful bathhouses, and of "flower houses" with their beautiful young courtesans versed in the arts of pleasing men. With a novelists' command of detail and dialogue, Blofeld vividly re-creates the magic of these years and conveys to the reader his appreciation and nostalgia for a way of life long vanished.General Books
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