Imaginary Cities

Inspired by the surreal accounts of the explorer and man of a million lies Marco Polo, Imaginary Cities charts the metropolis and the imagination, and the symbiosis therein A work of creative nonfiction, the book roams through space, time and possibility, mapping cities of sound, melancholia and the afterlife, where time runs backwards or which float among the clouds In doing so, Imaginary Cities seeks to move beyond the clich s of psychogeography and hauntology, to not simply revisit the urban past, or our relationship with it, but to invade and reinvent it Following in the lineage of Borges, Calvino, Chris Marker and Kenneth White, the book examines the city from global macrocosm to the microcosm of its inhabitants perspectives It proceeds through opium dreams, sea voyages, the hallucinations of prisoners, nocturnal decadence, impossible Soviet skyscrapers, marauding golems, subterranean civilisations, apocalyptic prophecies and the work of architectural visionaries such as Antonio Sant Elia, Archigram and Buckminster Fuller It rethinks the ideas of utopias and dystopias, urban exploration, alienation and resistance It claims that the Situationists lacked ambition when they suggested, Beneath the paving stones, the beach Instead, beneath the paving stones, we may just be able to discern the entire universe Imaginary Cities demonstrates that each city dreamt up by artists, writers, architects and lunatics has a real life equivalent and that the great Marco Polo was no liar Imaginary Cities need not simply exist in fiction or the mind We already inhabit them. Download Imaginary Cities – kino-fada.fr I really liked the concept of this book but, in retrospect, should perhaps have been suspicious of its grand ambitions The blurb claims that it, rethinks ideas of utopia and dystopia and seeks to move beyond the clich s of psychogeography and hauntology The fact of the matter is, I got 164 pages in and not a single chapter was longer than five pages Indeed, most were a mere three pages long Each chucked a couple of vaguely worded ideas about cities at the reader, supported by several quo I really liked the concept of this book but, in retrospect, should perhaps have been suspicious of its grand ambitions The blurb claims that it, rethinks ideas of utopia and dystopia and seeks to move beyond the clich s of psychogeography and hauntology The fact of the matter is, I got 164 pa...Imaginary Cities, by Darran Anderson, is vast in scope and scale It looks at cities throughout time, their founding and evolution, the effect their existence has had on man The cities discussed are not restricted to those which can be visited They include cities which exist only in history, those of myth and legend, fictional cities, and those which were conceived but never born The cities are examined from a variety of perspectives but always with a view to their influences and effect This Imaginary C...Imaginary cities is a rich exploration of the city in myth, fiction and history The breadth of topics mentioned and the knowledge of Darran Anderson is breath taking, but there is so much going on and it s so wide ranging that it s a little bit difficult for it all to be memorable I enjoyed reading it all at the time, but looking back it s quite tricky to remember al...Imaginary Cities is definitely worth a read but just be aware of what you re getting into Do not expect to be taken by the hand and guided through a world view This islike a train ride whizzing past sites, trying to get a glimpse as it all flies past The author covers a remarkable amount of ground but in doing so sacrifices any real depth This is not necessarily a bad thing and I don t think I ve ever highlighted so many passages from any book but this makes it feel a bit unsatisfa Imaginary Cities is definitely worth a read but just be aware of what you re getting into Do not expect to be taken by the hand and guided through a world view This islike a train ride whizzing past sites, trying to get a glimpse as it all flies past The author covers a remarkable amount of ground but in d...Some interesting ideas but no cohesive structure to be found Could have benefited a lot from some serious editing, culling and redrafting.A vast and sprawling journey through the city as it has existed in the imagination, the ideal, and as echoed in reality past, present and probable future Working on review for publication Spring 2017 My review for The Quarterly Conversation can be found hereLike a very, very long essay, but one that lacks focus and draws no overarching conclusions Interesting for its many associations, all loosely related to the city , there are plenty deductions the author implies as obvious that I have an issue wi...Exceptionally well written kaleidoscope of dreams of space around us.Although packed with information to the level I had to use a pen as my bookmark, it still leaves the impression of being poetry in disguise.Thank you for the trip 10 10Fascinating, erudite, informative and compendious Recommended.I loved the associations and ideas in this, but reading it was something of a chore It s hundreds of pages of micro chapters, with very little cohesion or structure I give this book credit for adding to my TBR, but overall, it was too scattered and superficial for my taste.

• English
• 07 May 2017
Darran Anderson
• Paperback
• 576 pages
• 0992765595
• Darran Anderson
• Imaginary Cities