Intercities / Stefan Hertmans ; [translator, Paul Vincent]

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hertmans, Stefan

Series:

Topographics

Language:

Dutch

English

Subjects (All):

Cities and towns--History.

Cities and towns.

History.

City and town life.

Physical Description:

235 pages : illustrations, portrait ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London : Reaktion, 2001.

Language Note:

Translated from the Dutch.

Summary:

In Intercities, Stefan Hertmans thinks about what constitutes identity in present-day Europe and Australia. Looking at people and cities from the periphery, he tries to discover an 'archaeology of streets and faces' which could bring him closer to himself. Set in cities at the margins such as Trieste, Marseilles, Dresden and Bratislava, and in major ones like Vienna, Sydney and Amsterdam, Intercities is about the feeling of being abroad, of losing part of one's self in order to gain a richer life. Mingling travel stories with philosophical reflections, Hertmans's poetic text proves the eighteenth-century observation that every journey is a 'voyage around your own chamber'. His book is a personal statement about living in Europe today which looks beyond the surface to the heart of contemporary urban existence.

Contents:

Check-In 7

Sydney: Parallel Worlds 14

Tubingen: Gothic Graffiti 31

Trieste: Lonely In-Between 40

Dresden 56

Intercity 77

Bratislava: The Age of Anachronism 93

Vienna 116

Marseilles: Urban Legends and Sardines 152

Never Run Away from a Kiss 181

Clouds. Home 199

Ultima Thule 223

Check-Out 229.

ISBN:

1861890931

OCLC:

45828622