Hav

by Jan Morris

Book Overview

"A touching love-letter, not to an Invisible City but to life itself" (The Independent) Enchanting travel novellas of a fictional Mediterranean city, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, now with a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0571229832
• ISBN13: 9780571229833
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Length: 301 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful combination of fiction and travel narrative

A travel book about a fictional city-state: what a fabulous conceit. Jan Morris handles it well, filling the book with details of the city -- its odd mishmash of cultural influences, its people, its architecture -- that made me wish I could visit. The pretense at many famous figures' involvement with Hav adds to the entertainment. And then the tragic changes, a city becoming more uniform and false, tourists remaining on one glitzy island away from the remains of the real city. I mourned for the destroyed Arab buildings and Chinese tower, though it pleased me to know that other people fear homogeneity. Overall, Hav is a fascinating book and well worth a read: a marvellous combination of fiction and travel narrative.