City of Joy

by Dominique Lapierre

Hardcover, 1985

Barcode

2574

Call number

954.14 LAP

Status

Available

Call number

954.14 LAP

Pages

461

Description

One day in Calcutta a rickshaw puller took internationally bestselling author Dominique Lapierre to one of the poorest and most over-populated areas of this haunting city, where five million people live out their lives on the streets. The district was called Anand Nagar -- the City of Joy -- and being there would change the writer's life forever. At the heart of this extremely poor community, Lapierre found more heroism, more love, more sharing, and ultimately, more happiness than in many a city of the affluent West. Above all, he was overwhelmed to discover that this seemingly inhuman place had the magical power to produce heroes and heroines of all ages and from all walks of life. For Calcutta is the home not only of such saints as Mother Teresa, but also of countless other inspiring people, who are ordinary and completely unknown.… (more)

Publication

Doubleday (1985), 461 pages

ISBN

0385189524 / 9780385189521

Rating

(194 ratings; 4)

User reviews

LibraryThing member coffeebookperfect
Reading this book really will make you laugh (a very small amount) and make you cry, as if someone has stabbed a knife into your stomach and is twisting it with each character that graces the pages. A fabulous insight into Indian slum living and the corruption and cruelty that accompanies power.
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Similar to Eastern style in it's disjointedness (when compared with western novels) it will ease people into this style of writing whilst still allowing subjectiveness and a strong development of characters
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LibraryThing member Corrientes
Made into a movie starring Patrick Swayze, this is the inspiring story of an American doctor who experienced a spiritual rebirth in an impoverished section of Calcutta.
LibraryThing member Luli81
All that is not given is lost. I got lost and I found myself again reading this book. You'll learn to love India and its people.
LibraryThing member danoomistmatiste
Read this in the late eighties. There are very few books that have moved me to tears and this is one of them
LibraryThing member scottcholstad
Quite engaging. You can't get it out of your mind when you finish. Which is actually a good thing in this case. Recommended.

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