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Capital: The Eruption of Delhi

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Capital: The Eruption of Delhi
First US edition
AuthorRana Dasgupta
LanguageEnglish
SubjectDelhi
PublisherPenguin Books (US)
Canongate Books (UK)
Publication date
2014
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Pages464
ISBN9780857860040
954.56053

Capital: The Eruption of Delhi (also published as Capital: A Portrait of Twenty-First Century Delhi) is a 2014 book by British-born, Indian-based writer Rana Dasgupta.

Background and synopsis

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Capital is an exploration of the transformation of Delhi since Dasgupta first moved to the city in 2001. It explores the changes Delhi has experienced since the boom of the Indian economy, particularly through encounters with residents of Delhi, ranging from billionaires to slum dwellers and drug dealers to metal traders. These personal stories are interwoven with over a century of history of the city.

Reception

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Writing for The Observer Jason Burke praised Capital as an "intense, lyrical, erudite and powerful book" but wrote that Dasgupta's "unstated but apparent nostalgia for rural life...sometimes jars. There is nothing particularly bucolic about India's villages."[1]

In 2017 Capital received the Ryszard Kapuściński Award for Literary Reportage. It was also short-listed for the Orwell Prize and for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Burke, Jason (23 March 2014). "Capital review – Rana Dasgupta's perceptive exploration of modern Delhi". The Observer. London. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Capital by Rana Dasgupta". PenguinRandomHouse.com. Retrieved 7 October 2017.